Have you had enough of hill stations? Ooty, Kodaikanal, Simla, Nainital, Mahabaleshwar, Matheran must have figured in your itinerary at some time or the other.
The scenic beauty of the hills have forever become a part of your memories. It is now that time of the year again when you want to get away from it all. Where to is the question that haunts you.
If you want to break the monotony and try something real different, then try cruising down to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
How does one go about it? Well, there are three places from where you can get to the islands -- Chennai, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam.
The Andaman & Nicobar administration runs services from these places to Port Blair.
There are five ships M V Harshavardhana, M V Nicobar , M V Nancowry, M V Akbar and M V Swarajdeep deployed on this service. Harshavardhana is owned and managed by the Shipping Corporation of India, while it manages the other ships, which are owned by the Andaman & Nicobar administration.
If you are in Chennai, get in touch with the deputy director of shipping services of the Andaman & Nicobar administration in Rajaji Salai or the deputy resident commissioner of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andaman House in Anna Nagar.
In Kolkata, the contact point is the Shipping Corporation of India at Strand Road. At Visakhapatnam get in touch with A V Bhanojirow Garuda Pattabhiramayya & Co in the Port area.
There are about five sailings a month from Chennai, about four from Kolkata and one a month from Vizag. The sea voyage from Chennai \ Kolkata \ Vizag to Port Blair takes around three to four days.
Passengers have to pay between Rs 1,140 and Rs 5,240 per head. They can choose between a single-berth deluxe cabin, a two-berth deluxe cabin, a first- or a second-class cabin and A\C bunk class.
Make sure to get in touch with the contact office from the port of departure seven days in advance with three copies of a passport-sized photograph.
Reservations are on a first-cum-first serve basis. The sail, though an experience by itself for first-time sea travellers, is not really the high point of the excursion.
"A trip to Andaman & Nicobar islands is for those people who love the sea. The islands are a haven for water sports. It is, however, not for those whose idea of a holiday is to stay indoors," says a senior SCI official.
The Andaman & Nicobar islands is not a destination but a journey in itself. The archipelago of 572 islands, islets and rocks is spread over 700 kilometres.
It is one of the few places in the world where you could actually get to meet primitive tribes at the Jarawas area. The Jarawas are of Negroid origin.
From the primitive one can move on to history--the cellular jail at Port Blair.
Many freedom fighters, the most notable being Veer Savarkar were jailed there at some point.
Today, it is a national museum. Another museum worth visiting is the Samudrika, the naval marine museum. This museum gives a good snapshot of the shells, the corals and the colourful fish found in the islands.
The next stop is Chatham island, home to one of the oldest and largest mills in Asia. The icing on the cake is clearly the Andaman Water Sports Complex. This complex has facilities for a host of water sports.
These include water skiing, water scooters, gemini boats, para sailing , sail boats, wind surfing and speed boats. You can also take a glass bottom boat if you want to take a look at corals and shipwrecks.
There are other attractions on offer such as the Viper island, an aquarium, anthropological museum, forest museum, Ross island and Forest museum.
For an evening out with the children, you have the Marina Park on the seashore which plays home to amusement rides and a toy train.
All this can be availed of on packages of 5 to 6 days ranging between Rs 4,500 and Rs 8,500 per head.
One such package is offered by Andaman Travels, which is authorised by the Andaman & Nicobar Tourist Guild.
There is a flip side to visiting the Andamans -- power shortages which could see the lights going out on you suddenly. And if you love your bubbly -- the bad news is that prohibition is in place.
However, the good news, according to those who have visited the island, is that there are ways of getting around it! So, if you are the adventure-loving kind, then you can sail to the Andamans and plunge into another sea of memories.
For flight details contact Indian Airlines (Port Blair): 91-3192-233108, Jet Air (Port Blair): 91-3192-236922. For ship information: Chennai 91-044-25220841, Kolkata: 91-033-22482354.
