Africa & India 2006: 17 - Andaman Islands

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The hotel had packed a breakfast to eat in the car, as we left at 5 AM for the 45-minute drive to the airport. This was supplemented by a hot & cold breakfast buffet in the excellent Sri Lankan Airlines lounge, where we also caught up on email on one of the dozen complementary computers. A final breakfast was served on the 1 hr 5 minute flight to Chennai on an Airbus A340. Sri Lankan Airlines definitely qualifies for the recommended airlines list - good food, service and equipment!

The driver from the Chola Sheraton was at the Chennai Airport to take us to the hotel. This is a quite exceptional hotel. We first noticed their attention to detail when Marilynn asked the driver to stop so she could buy water and he produced two chilled complementary bottles in the car.

The hotel has large suites, with a huge, well furnished living room, big bedroom with king size beds, a dressing room with vanity and a well appointed bathroom. Complementary mineral water, tea, coffee and fruit, free cloths pressing, free shoe shine and free drinks & snacks in the hotel bar from 7-8 PM come with the package. There are 5 phones and 2 large screen TVs in the suite, and the cost is less than what I pay in most Sheratons. Prices for food, drinks and services within the hotel are very reasonable as well.

We took advantage of the same day laundry service, and then hired a hotel car and driver to take us on city tour. The price for the four-hour tour was $35 in a car large enough that I could stretch my legs out in the back seat.

The beach in front of the city is worth seeing. The distance from where the golden sand starts at the access road, to the water, is about 300 meters, or 3 city blocks at the wide end. Further down were dozens of uniquely designed fishing boats pulled up on the sand, with their catch drying on the sidewalk beside the road. The very humble shacks they live in are on the opposite side of the road, right in front of the beach. Anywhere else that would be tremendously expensive real estate!

Other than some churches and temples, there was little to see other than life in a big city. Chennai has a population of around 5 million. Marilynn stopped to have her camera cleaned and to shop for silk, and I stopped to buy some essentials, but in the end we gave up trying to fill the four hour tour and returned to the hotel almost an hour early. After lunch I walked with Marilynn to a silk and fabric shop near the hotel where more purchases were made. I sat outside, as it was necessary to remove shoes to enter the store and I didn't want to go in that badly anyhow!

Happy hour in the hotel pub from 7 until 8 was a surprise. Marilynn drank white wine while I had several gin tonics, while eating enough of the complementary hot and cold snacks to decide to skip dinner. When something was said about complementary drinks we expected the normal 2 for 1, but when I called for the bill there was no charge at all, just a signature to confirm I was a hotel guest! The tip for the excellent service was quite large!

Friday, March 17, 2006

We left the hotel at 8 AM and made good time to the airport through the normal cacophony of honking horns that everyone ignores, for our flight to the Andaman Islands on Jet Airlines, another of India's private carriers. The competition among the start-ups has raised service to amazing levels - we could use some of this in North America! We were flying economy, yet had excellent food and great service throughout the flight, with may extras usually found only in first class. The Boeing 737-700 was clean, well maintained and comfortable.

A bus from the hotel in Port Blair was there to transport us to the Fortune Resort Bay Island. Here personal service was everything! When we asked about a tour, the tour director knocked on our door. When Marilynn asked about an a la carte meal rather than the buffet, the head chef knocked on the door to see what we would like. Between the phone ringing and the door knocking there was never a dull moment!

We booked a boat for a snorkelling tour, including equipment, on the reef off North Bay. Everyone was right on time, and we were soon bouncing across the bay in choppy water. A surprise tour of the reef in a glass-bottomed boat once we reached our destination gave us a good idea of what we would see. The rental equipment was primitive. Weights and flippers were not available, and the masks and snorkels had been sloshing around in the bilge along with spilled gas. It wasn't only the sights that brought tears to our eyes! My mask was held in place by a strip of inner tube in place of the strap, and the rubber had deteriorated to the point that water flowed in quite readily.

In spite of these minor problems we were transported to the reef by boat, then left to swim back in. The water was comfortably warm, but quite murky. A lot of coral had been killed off by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, but some species had survived and others were growing back. There was a fantastic array of coloured fish, and for the first time we saw tiger fish in the wild - 3 of them. It was like swimming in someone's tropical aquarium!

Back at the hotel we had drinks and giant local lobsters for dinner. Marilynn loved it, but I wasn't that keen on the preparation and flavour. Mine was far too much for one person to eat anyhow! We should have shared it!

The Andeman & Nicobar group of 572 islands & islets are a union territory of India, and have a combined land area of 8,249 sq. km., a little less than Cyprus. They cover 700 km from north to south. The British were first to settle in 1789, but the settlement was abandoned in 1796. It was populated once again as a prison colony after the first Indian war of independence in 1858, with the main prison at Port Blair and the maximum-security prison on Viper Island. According to the museum, Viper Island was hell on earth for those sent there.

The islands are located 1,190 km off the coast of India. The Indian army, navy and air force are repairing the base that was destroyed by the tsunami, and building three more military bases, including extending a WWII runway to accommodate jet fighters and transports. The intention is to cut supply lines to guerrillas fighting in the Assam area of India.

Forests cover 92% of the islands, and protected forest reserves cover 86% of the territory. About 50% of the forests have been set aside as Tribal Reserves, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, where no trees may be cut. There are 246 varieties of birds, of which 39 are endemic. On Little Andaman Island it is possible to visit elephant logging sites, and also areas inside the forest where baby elephants are taught the trade.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

After breakfast we checked out early and hired a driver to take us to the Cellular Jail. Three of the original seven wings, each connected to a central hub, are still in existence and in good shape. The prison was started in 1896 and completed in 1906, largely to confine those fighting against the British for the independence of India. The 689 cells, measuring 13' 6" X 7'6", were designed for one inmate each. The jail is well maintained, with a number of rooms converted into a museum of photographs of famous convicts who are now national heroes.

In our travels we have travelled most of the roads of Port Blair, a city that has little to offer the tourist. The black and yellow taxis, motor rickshaws and constant horn honking leave no double that it is part of India. The city itself is shabby - another place a paint salesman would starve!

We were to the airport early, so had a bit of a wait. The comfortable flight was ten minutes late leaving, but his was made up en route. We arrived in Chennai to a 39.6 C temperature, so were delighted when a hotel employee in a suit collected our baggage and whisked us to the waiting car, where the driver had two bottles of ice-cold water waiting for us.

The day room we have rented is not a suite, but is large enough to have a 3 piece sofa set. The baggage we left in storage was promptly delivered to the room and I set out to finish this so it can go out where I know I have reliable internet. Marilynn has bravely taken off on her own for the nearby fabric shops!

We fly for Kuala Lumpur at 10:30 tonight, then on to Hong Kong in the wee hours of the morning.