ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil

Tripoto
9th Mar 2019
Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

Untouched paradise : That' s the common name imprinted on tshirts sold in andaman and believe me it's the beautiful factual truth that you would like to witness in your lifetime .

Andaman is  known for exotic honeymoon destination in India and no doubt the place is heaven for couples. You can actually spend the best of your special time with your better half here . But what I realized is this place is magical for backpackers and soulseekers too. It carve its own niche with its serene beauty and calmness. Havelock and neil islands are the famous and crowded places where mostly everyone get to but there is something more beautiful and enchanting beyond those two .

To all the backpackers and wanderers over there ,who wish to feed their restless soul with peace and serenity , check out the itenary that we followed to explore the hidden jewel of andaman beyond the routine.

Day 1

19 Feb 2019 : We artived at port blair airport at around 10:30 am and headed to hotel. After a span of 3-4 hours we went to cellular jail. Cellular jail is commonly known for "kale pani ki saja" and holds a prominent significance in India's independence. Its interesting to know the adaption of andaman as a union territory and the saga of freedom fighters.

cellular jail

Photo of Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by Sonali Saraswat

Thereafter we headed to CORBYN's Cove beach.
I won't say it's a beautiful beach but as you are in andaman you'll love this too :p)
It has brown water and its rejuvenating to just sit  there and doing nothing .
p s. Almost every beach in andaman has maggi stalls there . You'll love having it by the beach side.
Also , you can always skip the light and sound show at cellular jail. 🙈

Corbyn's cove under Full moon ????

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat
Day 2

20 Feb 2019:  3 am in the morning . We decided to head on to baratang island  early morning and this is the usual time to depart from port blair if anyone wants to catch the first convoy.
The first convoy starts at 6 am from jariatanga pass and we reached there on time . There we took the entry permit and started on with the journey at 6 am towards baratang. Meanwhile  you can actually see the local "jarwa " tribes of andaman roaming here and there . Photography and videography is prohibited in that area. At around 9:30 we reached the outer baratang region from where one has to take the ferry to go to baratang island.

We boarded our ferry and  it takes around half an hour to reach baratang from there but honestly the scenic beauty that you"ll witness while being in ferry is unbeatable. You are surrounded by blue waters and tall beautifully trimmed green trees all around . The view looks spectacular and you  just can't help but get lost in the moment.
Also there are deep rooted waterlocked trees both your sides giving it a beautiful tunnel look .

We reached baratang island around 10.:30 and had to walk to 1.2 km to get to the limestone caves from there.
Those caves are naturally built years ago and they are marvellous creation of nature. The island has no electricity or networks. It's home for dense forests and beautiful crafted caves all around .

The first convoy

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

waterlocked trees all around

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

limestone caves

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

limestone caves

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

While in ferry

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

We returned through ferry at around 12 :00 pm and headed towards MUD VOLCANO region from baratang .
This place has the exquisite mud volcanoes due to change in temperature of the surface. These volcanoes are said to happen only in andaman in India.

Mud volcano

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

We left baratang and mud volcano at around 1 pm and heades towards rangat ahead. It's a 3 hour journey from there by road and it covers the middle andaman region .

Paving way to rangat marks the entry in middle andaman region and meanwhile you get to explore beautiful middle andaman.
            MANGROVE WALKWAY AND
               DHANINALLAH BEACH .

We had lunch in rangat and headed straight to mangrove walkway. As the name sounds , the area is covered with different types of mangrove trees all around and the most amazing part being the surreal silence all around!!!
pin drop silence is verified in whole middle andaman and the journey ahead.:) .
Trust me , birds chirping have never been soothing till date.
So we started walking to the mangrove walkaway for around 20 -25 minutes leisurely but what we actually saw was breathtaking .
The whole walkway opens up to be a tunnel to a beautiful silent  dhaninallah beach...❣❣

You stand there and you can just thank god that you are in andaman !!!! I did so many times. :)

The Mangrove Walkway

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

Dhaninallah beach

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

Dhani nallah

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat
Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

It was around 4 pm in mangrove walkway and we decided to head on to North andamans. Middle andaman has many more beautiful places  to witness but we scheduled it while coming back from north andamans.

So we started off around 4 pm again it continued till night. We reached Diglipur , north andaman around 8pm and it's late in andaman.
Andaman has early bright morning around 5 am and really dark night in around 6 pm in evening only.
The journey from rangat to diglipur, north andaman is tedious as roads conditions are really bad . But it's a great adventure to dive through the deep  forests on those narrow roads. Every adventure is beautiful in andaman🧡.

We reached diglipur at night and marked the day end with some amazing places checked.

p.s. Diglipur , is the last town of andaman which is in north andaman. It's a long and tiring route from port blair(south andaman) to  diglipur  (north andaman) but each and every bit is worth it.

Day 3

21 Feb 2019.
At Aerial jetty , Diglipur . 8:30 am

We left the hotel early in the morning and headed towards aerial jetty bay from where we were supposed to take the ferry to ROSS AND SMITH ISLANDS.

It's an half an hour journey from aerial jetty bay to ross and smith island.

ROSS AND SMITH ISLANDS: TWIN ISLANDS

And so we caught on our ferrys and started of the journey . Amidst the blue waters we could see the patch of sands and we knew we were there.
As we approached near , we could see the change in the colour of the water and wait ....

Two different islands seperated by the white sandbar in between and turquoise green water all around !! Holy heaven ! I was bewitched  with this amazing piece of creation and that's why they are called  twin islands.❣❣
You can actually cross the sandbar and move to other island .
Not only this, at times of high tide the sands get covered witg water and it seema other distant island for once.

Ross and smith has been my favourite for the whole of andaman. It' s beauty cannot be described it can only be felt and that really urged me to write Andaman: Beyond havelock and neil because many people just go to havelock and port blair.

Ross and smith is the actual UNTOUCHED PARADISE and is breathtakingly beautiful.❤

Turquoise water????

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

ross and smith

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

ross and smith

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat
Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat
Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

It's hard to leave ross and smith but you are actually allowed there for maximum of three hours . We left ross and smith and headed to rangat for the night stay.

While returning back to rangat we checked

MORICE DERA BEACH AND AMKUNJ BEACH.

Photo of ANDAMAN:Beyond Havelock and Neil by Sonali Saraswat

It's a very calm and soothing place to sit and just look at the endless sea.
well , each and every place in andaman seems the same but morice dera is way too private and calm place in middle andaman. Near to morice dera is the amkunj beach. The beach full of black huge rocks and mounts.
We checked in to rangat for the following night and took the ferry next day to havelock.

The journey is still continued to havelock and neil  but this was entirely dedicated to ross and smith .
This place has my heart which urged me to convey the Andaman which is beyond Havelock and neil. They are beautiful on their own way but there is something magical to NORTH ANDAMAN !!!!🧡❤

#Amazing tans
#Gorgeous islands.

p.s. I 'll come up with entire itenary to havelock and neil in the next one .