Since childhood I had dreamt of going to Andaman. I don’t know why but I have always felt a strange pull, an unexplained attraction to Andaman. In the history classes in school, when we had read about the freedom fighters incarcerated in the Cellular Jail, I used to imagine their life, the days they had spent there, the hardships they had borne. The word “Kalapani” – which is what the Andaman Islands used to be called in the olden days- used to evoke feelings of abject terror in the minds and hearts of people. Why was it so, what really happened I would wonder.
Later, the attraction for Andaman further grew when my parents booked an Andaman Holiday Package. We were to sail to Andaman across the mighty Bay of Bengal in the massive vessel MV Harshavardhan. Having grown up on a diet of Tintin and captain Haddock stories, I couldn’t stop day dreaming about how this unique journey would be. I had also been told that we would be able to see schools of dolphins swimming alongside our ship, since we had booked our Andaman Travel Package in November – the peak tourist season in the islands and the best time to sight dolphins in the sea.
When I got married, my husband and I decided to go to Andaman for our honeymoon. We visited many travel agents and finally decided on an Andaman Tour Package which seemed to suit us best and cater to all our specific requirements.
This time though we did not have the luxury of sailing to Andaman. Our Andaman Holiday Package involved us flying to Port Blair from Kolkata. As we checked into the sea facing picture postcard resort, we were given a warm welcome by the staff there. The travel agent had already intimated to the resort that we had come on our honeymoon, so we were shown into a secluded cottage, surrounded by swaying palms. The room was beautifully decorated, not with the typical red roses that one would expect, but with blood red hibiscus flowers and fragrant frangipani flowers which are indigenous to the island. Candle lit dinners on the beach, couple massages at the in-house spa, special velvet cake, a private beach adjoining the cottage, exclusive use of the swimming pool – I couldn’t imagine a more romantic or a more perfect honeymoon.
Our Andaman Travel package also included sightseeing trips to the Havelock island, Baratang Island, mahatma Gandhi Marine Park, local sightseeing in Port Blair. We gorged on the delicious sea food available in Port Blair. We also went on a glass bottomed boat ride out into the sea from where we could see the amazing colours of the marine life – brightly coloured fishes, swaying coral and the crystal clear sea. We even went snorkeling in the sea, off this boat! This surely was the highpoint of our trip.
This really was my dream Andaman Holiday.