The Beauty of Andamans: Port Blair and Neil Island

Hello!

Welcome to my blog. This is my first blog post and I want to share my travel experience to Andaman islands with you. The quarantine period during this COVID-19 gave me enough time to reminisce about our beautiful and enjoyable vacation in Andamans in January 2018.

I am from Kolkata, India. If you are from India, one month is enough time to perfectly plan your trip and find cheap flight tickets if you are a little flexible with dates.

1. From Kolkata to Port Blair: There are many non-stop flights from Kolkata to Port Blair. We have booked our seats in Spicejet on 09.01.2018 morning as it was the cheapest non-stop flight at that time. The flight reached Veer Savarkar International Airport, Port Blair before their scheduled time and we reached our first hotel in Port Blair 'Hotel Heritage Inn'.

(left) Maa, Baba in flight, traveling to Andamans, (right) Entrance of our Port Blair hotel

On the same day in the afternoon, we went to see the cellular jail which was called 'kala pani' in the British rule and many independence activists including Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was imprisoned and tortured there.

This was called 'kala pani' because of the black color of sea water beside this jail building which made it impossible to break the jail and flee easily at that time. Port blair is an island surrounded by this black water and no flight available at that time.

After the tour of jail, there was a light and sound show inside this jail at the evening time which is important to watch to know more about Indian history of the time of British rule. Then we went out of the jail premises and there is a park with statues of the independence activists just opposite to this cellular jail. One can go there to seat, chat and eat street food.

2. From Port Blair to Neil Island: After sightseeing in Port Blair, we have departed for Neil island the next morning on 10.01.18. The travel agency handed over our cruise tickets from Port Blair to Neil island and dropped us at the port well in advance time.

Port Blair port

We were spending our time clicking pictures at the port and exploring it. There was a big restroom also.

Maa, Baba at the Port Blair port

Me at the Port Blair port

We went to Neil island from Port Blair in

Makruzz. Our tickets were booked in advance and we got nice front seats. But many people were booking their seats just 3 hours prior to the journey from ticket counters in port. Also, there is an option to book your cruise tickets online on the Makruzz website. Inside of this cruise is beautifully equipped with big glass windows to see the sea, a screen for movies, and a canteen.

Inside the makruzz: (top left) canteen at the back, (top right) glass front and screen, (below) we were enjoying the journey

This beautiful journey not lasted more than 2 hours in total and we reached our destination for the day. The waters near the port of Neil island has different colors like blue, black and at some places water is crystal clear.

A car was waiting there at the Neil island entry and took us to the most beautiful cottage among all the hotels and cottages we have stayed during our Andamans tour. The cottage named 'Hotel Jasodha' was just about 1-2minutes walking distance from Sitapur beach which is famous for the sun-rise viewpoint.

From left: Entry to Neil island, Hotel Jasodha

Here are some pictures we took at this cottage:

There are three main beaches in the Neil island: Lakshmanpur-II beach (Natural Bridge), Sunset beach and Sitapur beach (our cottage was in 1minute walking distance from this beach).

The above pictures are all taken at Lakshmanpur-II beach which is famous for the beautiful natural arch shaped bridge. After watching this in day time, we moved towards the sunset beach and watched sunset there. This was a secluded beach with breathtaking view.

Find the photos of Havelock, North Bay, Ross and Baratang islands in the upcoming posts.

Bye!