[mobike008]

I would like to share a short photolog of an official trip to Andaman & Nicobar Islands couple of weeks ago. It was an awesome experience spending a weekend with my colleagues enjoying our success together.

This activity was the most memorable part of entire trip. Your's truly enjoying the "Sea Walk" in Andamans

[mobike008]

Even though it was not entirely a pleasure trip, the fun we had was no less than any pleasure trip as I enjoyed this short break away from the hustle bustle of our daily lifes. Being in sales, we normally have an offsite/sales meet once every quarter and we take off to some nice location to enjoy our acheivements and also break our heads on what & how to achieve our targets for next quarter.

This year was phenomenal success for our team so a bunch of ~ 40 guys, took off to Andaman & Nicobar Islands to gell with each other over a weekend with some guys flying down from as far as Dubai.

We were two guys from Hyderabad and had a flight from Hyd-Chennai-Port Blair. As it normally happens with me, flight from Hyd-Chennai got cancelled which we came to know after reaching airport and a new flight was introduced scheduled to depart after 3 hours which meant that we would miss our connection.

We all enjoy our calm mornings but, I had my fair bit of excitement getting things worked out and just to make the connection with same airline, I had to buy two fresh tickets from Chennai to PortBlair which they charged me in an exorbitant manner. It's disgusting to see airlines make the killing even during distress but, then I suppose we should not be blaming them for such callous attitude !!!

Journey to islands was smooth and we landed at the airport and from airplane we were ferried in a bus to the terminal and we all laughed because it's just about 100 meters away, we could have walked as well.

We had couple of nice AC coaches waiting up for us and first point was lunch at Hotel Sinclair which has some gorgeous views of the sea which we enjoyed while having a sumptious lunch. Then we headed straight to the most famous attraction of the Islands which is the "Kala Paani or Cellular Jail".

We all came out dazed and a bit unnnerved after spending a couple of hours inside the jail at the overall cruelty of Britishers on our freedom fighters.

The most popular prisoner of this jail is Veer Savarkar who spent more than 30 years in that jail and then released and died at his home in Maharastra ( unlike what most people tend to beileve that he died in the jail). Btw, Port Blair airport is named after him.

Evening was lot of fun and frolic and next day morning, people who were adventurous enough went for "Sea Walking". We were ferried on a large boat to somewhere in the middle of the sea where a platform was constructed and then we carried to that platform in small groups via. a motor boat for this once in a life time experience activity.

Two people get off the platform at same time wearing a helmet that weighs 35kgs and professional divers are underwater who assist us to the sea floor below which is roughly 14-15 meters ( 40-45 feet) below water.

Some of the activities that we took part as our official trip over the 3 days on the Islands apart from some work during the day :-

1. Musical chairs
2. Painting
3. Sea Walking
4. Yoga on beach
5. Full Fledge Musical COncert with Grand Gala Dinner with Hawain Dress Theme


Overall, it was a fun trip with lot of camaderie and great way to connect with entire team.

It's time now for the pictures to tell its own story.

View of Andaman & Nicobar Islands as you land







View from Hotel Sinclair, our lunch pit-stop



Some views from the boat when we went sea-walking









Shot this picture top down with mobile. Thats how crystal clear the water was





My favorite picture from the Mobile in this trip

[mobike008]

From this post onwards, all pictures are taken from my camera so hopefully you can see better detail in these pictures

Our hostess taking care of us in the coach



View from the coach while going towards Hotel Sinclair










Beautiful view of the sea from the Hotel









Group Picture of our team. Iam somewhere in the right hand corner in the green tee





Glorious views from Hotel Sinclair. We spent a considerable time sinking in the beautiful views













Pretty interesting ceiling work at the hotel

[mobike008]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues Section

[mpksuhas]

Sadly A&N islands are off the tourist radar mostly. There were few of my friends who had asked if passport is required to travel to Andamans

Is this the sea walk was done off North Bay ?

Though it throws out logistical difficulties when travelling with a big group, you should have tried to visit Havelock / Neil islands for couple of days. Personally I feel any visit to Andamans is not complete without a stay in these two islands.

[gajadonga]

Nice start of the photoblog.The beaches seems to calm.The water pristine clear.
Nice to see the corals from your mobile camera.
Underwater photographs very clear pictures.
Waiting for more pictures from your side.

[Sandman689]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Attachment 1177702

as a bonus, exactly here we saw some flying fish.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Sadly A&N islands are off the tourist radar mostly. There were few of my friends who had asked if passport is required to travel to Andamans

Is this the sea walk was done off North Bay ?

Though it throws out logistical difficulties when travelling with a big group, you should have tried to visit Havelock / Neil islands for couple of days. Personally I feel any visit to Andamans is not complete without a stay in these two islands.

the Havelock island is considered to be among the best destinations there. Having said that, there are quite a few remote and deserted beaches which are worth visiting. My personal favorite is the Ross and Smith island. At low tide there is 1 single island and during high tide it divides into two. And do I need to mention how gorgeous they can be?

[schakravarthy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Sadly A&N islands are off the tourist radar mostly. There were few of my friends who had asked if passport is required to travel to Andamans


Though it throws out logistical difficulties when travelling with a big group, you should have tried to visit Havelock / Neil islands for couple of days. Personally I feel any visit to Andamans is not complete without a stay in these two islands.

Totally agree with you! Almost all my friends asked me if passport and a visa were required to visit Andamans! It's not very surprising though, is it? I, for one, don't recall being asked to mark this archipelago in any of my numerous map-marking sessions in social studies classes back in school. We used to mark Sri-Lanka, but not Andamans! It's a part of India that has always stayed distant, both literally as well as figuratively.
!
That being said, It really is a glorious destination, isn't it? The pristine beaches of Havelock, the silence among the dilapidated buildings on Ross, the overwhelming sense of grief and anger at Cellular Jail, the tragic stories of Viper Island...it really is something else. The one week I spent there is among the best days of my life.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Is this the sea walk was done off North Bay ?

Yes, this was done off the North Bay. Havelock was one destination we missed going due to crunch in time and for the altogether different purpose we were there on the Island

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Nice start of the photoblog.The beaches seems to calm.The water pristine clear.Nice to see the corals from your mobile camera.Underwater photographs very clear pictures.

Thanks Doctor saab. The beaches were indeed pristine and unlike you see in India

Originally Posted by Sandman689

My personal favorite is the Ross and Smith island. At low tide there is 1 single island and during high tide it divides into two. And do I need to mention how gorgeous they can be?

This sounds pretty exciting, missed visiting the same.....

Originally Posted by schakravarthy

Totally agree with you! Almost all my friends asked me if passport and a visa were required to visit Andamans!

Well, cant blame them. Till the last day, even we had the same doubt as this location was revealed to us just 2 days before travel

Here are some pictures of the Cellular Jail, the jail itself is maintained impeccably but, the horrors that happened inside is enough to churn your stomach

[shomshree]

Originally Posted by mobike008

This activity was the most memeorable part of entire trip. Yours truly doing the "Sea Walk" in Andamans

It's a beautiful photoblog. Andaman is always a great place for adventure. Out of curiosity, saw there is a net behind you in the 1st photo. Is that to protect you from attack of something!

[himanshugoswami]

Avi,

words fail me....looking at your pics is almost like being there! (not quite, but almost )

Truly breathtaking vistas, brought to life by your amazing photography skills (and of course a brilliant DSLR camera )

[schakravarthy]

@mobike008 Can I share some photos I have on this thread? Please excuse my ignorance, I'm new here and am not sure if it would be appropriate.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by shomshree

Out of curiosity, saw there is a net behind you in the 1st photo. Is that to protect you from attack of something!

Mobike008: Sorry for turning the travelogue to a save nature campaign.

I had deliberately not commented on the same in first post. I personally believe any tourism activity should have the smallest foot print possible.

The sea walk though a superb experience is bordering on an activity which you can call a eco-hazard. First they feed the fishes in sea so that there is always a bunch of fishes around. You are encouraged to touch the sea anemons all while as you walk around corals. All this happens off a beach where salt water crocodiles sighted, North Bay beach is off limit for swimming due to crocodile sightings.
The big nets which you see in the pic is to protect tourists and fishes from prey including crocodiles.

[schakravarthy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

The big nets which you see in the pic is to protect tourists and fishes from prey including crocodiles.

The area in which the sea walk is conducted is like a miniature eco system. It offers a glimpse of most of the elements found in the sea, but within a small area. The nets demarcate the region within which the activity is to be conducted. This keeps the participant from straying away from the predetermined area.
As far as crocodiles go, I found the crocodile warning at all the beaches there. But that didn't stop anyone from wading into the sea. In fact, our scuba diving and sea walk sessions were at North Bay island.

[a4anurag]

Brilliant spot for a Holiday and the pictures are speaking a lot and I can gauge the amount you would have enjoyed there.

Good to relax in the hands of nature for a while when your in the tension always here at work, such holidays get the pressure off your head for a while at least.

Love the pictures and I am saving a few pictures that I will use them as Wallpapers!

Thanks and nicely written travelogue.

Anurag.