Andaman- Travelogue

We went to Andaman for our second wedding anniversary .
before going there , i had done some research on the net on what to see etc had read couple of blogs and they said " its a tropical heaven on earth blah blah"
my first impression of Andaman which happened to be port blair city and airport was this is slightly bigger than a village but much pollutated than a village - was filled with disappointment

all the disappointment disappered the moment i entered ITC's fortune Bay resot , the view from the lobby and the restaurant is worth it . the serene sea deep green at places , blue at others just staring at u , nothing for miles just the ocean and the occasional boat on it - Now i will call it paradise .

for travellers going to andaman , the place where u stay can make or break your trip , ITC is slightly expensive but for the view and the peace we felt in the resort I dont think we would have enjoyed andaman if we had stayed elsewhere

there is nothing much to do in andaman , its a place where u can laze around for hours with a book , sit in water neck deep , go swimming , do some customary site seeing but basically spend time with self,spouse and just relax.

its a place getting filled by tourist and the hotel travel desk is a place which u shld avoid, they are very expensive and for a trip that would have cost us 1500 they charged 4000. go to the market and book a taxi for the day - see the places it will be more economical .

Since andaman is closer to chennai I thought it will be full of tamil people , yes tamil people are there but not as many as I thought - there are many bengalis as this place is also accessible from culcata - infact the majority of the service people in the hotel are bongs - u will also find the omnipresent mallu .

the tourist guide will throw all these places at you
1. ross island
2.corbyn's cove
3.chidiya tapu
4.north bay coral island
5.cellular jail
6.city tour covering some measuems

please ignore all of them except for cellular jail

I will list down our iternary and based on our experience will list the best iternary for andaman
Day 1: morning we reached port blair around 10 - had breakfast - explored the resort and in the afternoon after lunch took the ferry to ross island - this is a old settlement of the british - except for the view of the sea near the light house I didnt enjoy the ruins

Day2: we went to place called mou terra - This is a MUST SEE PLACE , we went on a catamaran far into the ocean to a island called mou terra - this is a inhabitated island , not yet known to tourist - pure bliss , white sands,geen blue water , u can wade some 200 mts into water and it will be only hip deep - fun place to waddle , swim , have fun . and the best part is scuba diving to see coral
at first i was scared to jump in the middle of no where but the corals are worth a see u get fascinating insights about marine life and when a small fish almost kissed my nose I knew i would have missed a life time oppurtunity if i had not gone to see the corals . the whole day is for mou terra and in the end of it u are too tired to do anything else

Day3: morning we spent in the resort and in the eve took the complimentary city tour covering meusems and the cellular jail, except for the jail i felt others was a waste of time
dont miss the sound and light show at the cellular jail - they send chills down your spine but u get a perspective of what your history is .

Day4: we went to see oldest saw mill - waste of time , nothing to see here
afternoon we went to corbyn's cove again - its over crowded , dirty and not worth , our marina is much better and after mou terra u dont relish the public beaches
compared to corbyn's cove the road adjoining the hotel is abetter place to appreciate the water and absord the calmness of the ocean

Day5: packed our bags and left the paradise by the morning flight
hmmm even now when iam stressed I can picturise the view of the ocean from the loby and a calmness fills me

Now information for tourist
1.4 nights 5 days is sufficient for this place
2. take enough snacks from chennai as except for chips u dont get anything else here and moreover everything has to come form chennai so its expensive

places to be covered in andaman
1. take a helicopter ride over the islands (we couldnt do this as the copter was already full)
2.mouva terra - the corals are ammasing and the feeling that there are only couple of people in the next 100 kms is a wiered feeling and worth it.
3.cellular jail - sound and light show
4. havelok island - plan for a overnight stay in this place - the beach here is supposed to be very beautiful
5, if u have tme after all the above can go to ross island .
6. also can cover jolly bouy - its also an island similar to mouva terra .

Highlights of Andaman

1.scuba diving
2.catamaran ride
3.neck deep in middle of sea
4.endless view of clear oceam from the hotel room
5.the darkness being interrupted by the sole beam of a light house on the next island
6.no traffic sounds,not crowded only sounds are the boat motor sound and the boat horn
very relaxing and peacfull holiday

Kanchipuram Divya Desams

Of the 108 divya desams 15 of them can be covered using Kanchipuram as your base .
The temples are very beautiful, not at all crowded except for couple of them and you can have your moment with god at your own pace .

Kanchipuram is around 2hrs by car from chennai .
We left on Saturday 21st Apr around 8.30 reached kanchipuram by 10.30 , there are couple of motels on way where u can stop for breakfast and use the rest rooms but since we had packed hot idlis and mulagapodi from home we directly went to kanchipuram .

Kanchipuram is world famous for its silk sarees what is less known is that it is also a major religious center with the kanchi mutt based here and numerous temples which are many hundred years old .
Kanchipuram is logically split as chinna kanchi and periya kanchi .

we visited 2 temples on satruday morning
1. Sonnavanna seida perumal - tiruvegaa yatootakari perumal
2.Varadaraja perumal

then we had lunch at saravana bavan and checked into the hotel above saravana bhavan -"JayaBala" its pretty decent no frills clean hotel .

A point to be noted is that most of the vishnu temples are open only from 8Am to 11.30AM and in the evening from 4.30 to 7.30 PM , the Two shivan temples where 2 divya desams are situated are open longer morning 6.30 to 12.30PM and evening 4.30 to 8.30PM - one needs to plan accordingly

we covered most of the temples in the evening
3.Ulagalanda perumal - in this temple premises itself there are 4 divya desams so u go this temple u can cover all the four easily - the perumal here is very beautiful and gigantic with one leg in the air and other on mahaballi's head .
4.tiruneeragam - inside ulagalanda perumal kovil
5.Tirukkaarakam - inside ulagalanda perumal kovil
6.kaarvannan -inside ulagalanda perumal kovil

7.Parameswara vinnagaram
8.pavalavannar
9.ashtabhuyakaram
10.tiruvellukai - Narashimhar sannidi
11.tirupaadakam - pandava dhootar

we covered the baleance 4 on sunday morning started the journey at 7 and completed all the temples by 11AM
12.tiruppukuzhi - this is about 30 mins from kanchipuram it is situated on the chennai bangalore high road .
13.tirutanka - deepa prakashar / desikar sannidi this is the place where desikar was born . This place has lakshmi hayegrevar known for his educational powers.
14.Tirunilaatingal tundam : this divya desam is present inside the ekambreswarar temple . The aspect I liked about this place is that the vishnu sannidi has an battar who does archana and gives theertam and sadari and u are not forced to visit the ekambreswarar sannidi .the same cannot be said for kamatchi amman temple
15. Tirukkalvanoor : this divya desam is right inside the kamatchi amman's prakaram .it is not easy to locate at first , no officials/security people there have any clue about this sannidi after some 15 min search we found out about this sannidi and was disappointed - no battar to do archana - no theertam no sadari u just have to pray and leave and thats not it all there is only one entrance to the temple and u are forced to see kamatchi amman to see our perumal . Now there is nothing wrong in seeing kamatchi amman and getting her blessings but it should be your choice - u shldnt be forced to do it .

In all it was a very plesant trip and we came back with lot of joy and satisfaction .