I arrived tired and exhausted yet happy that I finally made it to Kolkata. The poor weather conditions in the Andamans caused the cancellation of the government ferries and it meant a 3am ferry ride that took four and a half hours to get us to Port Blair. Just my luck that I’d missed my flight in the morning to Kolkata from Port Blair and so, with the help of my travel agent, quickly organised for two more flights – one to Chennai from Port Blair and then another one to Kolkata once I’d got to Chennai. Fortunately when I got to Kolkata, getting to the hotel wasn’t as bad as it had been in Chennai and I arrived in a much better mood despite the constant travel.

After the seclusion of the Andaman Islands, Kolkata came as a bit of a shock to the system. Every person who knew I was heading to Kolkata said exactly the same thing, “there’s too many people in Kolkata”. Undoubtedly they were right. The entire city heaves with the sheer number of people walking the streets and driving around – the traffic still seems to flow unlike Bangalore though at the price of constant loud honking on the part of most motorists. As a pedestrian, you almost want to walk around with ear plugs to soften some of the noise.

I stayed quite close to Park Street, a place well known for its lively atmosphere and characters. It’s also well known by locals for having lots of tourists as the number of touts and hawkers demonstrate. As I walked around the New Market area just north of Park Street, easily eight or ten people in a period of half an hour approached me either trying to sell me “good hashish” or trying to persuade me to just look at their store. They normally come up to you and ask where are you from, and what are you doing, trying to build that rapport before trying to go into the hard sell. Others just confront you and ask you, “You want a good time? I have good stuff”. It’s frustrating when you’re just trying to get around from one place to another without being constantly distracted.

Kolkata is home to Mother Theresa and although I couldn’t find the place where she started her work, just down from Park Street is a memorial to the patron saint of this city. Other things worth doing include visiting the majestic grounds of the Victoria Memorial, the fairly large Indian museum, the Birla Planetarium (if you can get tickets), and a ride over the Howrah bridge – apparently one of the busiest bridges in the world connecting Kolkata to its sister city, Howrah.

Take a seat in the ever busy Flury’s offering delightful offerings ranging from pastries and freshly made continental food. Kolkata is also well known as the home to the first Indo-Chinese food (think Chinese food adapted to local Indian tastes) and plenty of Chinese restaurants offer this fusion food all over India now.

Find the pictures from my trip here.

I’d originally planned to head to Goa for both Christmas and New Year and a couple of co-workers said don’t bother heading there as it’ll be overcrowded, overpriced and it’s not that great. Asking them for alternatives, two places came up – the Lakshadweep islands off the west coast of India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off the east coast. Calling and emailing a few places, Lakshadweep appeared fully booked and so I ended up organising for a ten day stay in the Andamans instead.

Organised through Andaman Holidays, I had an amazing stay on the barely touched Havelock Island snorkelling, swimming, resting on a beach and scuba diving. All that sun also guaranteed plenty of relaxation and a generous tan by the end of it. The island is pretty good for meeting nice people as well as it’s a pretty chilled atmosphere and met some people from India, and many others from all different parts of the world. Eating at some of the more local places also mean striking up conversations with some locals who have some pretty interesting lives living on the island.

Even though it’s peak season for the crystal clear, sapphire blue waters of the Andaman Islands, Havelock at most had probably two hundred visitors. Given that there’s fifteen or twenty resorts and eco villas littered around the shoreline of the island guaranteed the beaches stay ridiculously empty for the most part. At some points, it almost feels like you’re on a deserted tropical island somewhere.

I thought I’d kill two birds with the same stone and ended up completing the PADI open water scuba diving course. Being qualified opens up new opportunities to do different sorts of diving around the world and doing training in the Andamans means seeing some of the best underwater wildlife in the world.

A friendly Goan called Vikas who’d been teaching diving for the last six years in Goa ran our course, and kept telling us the visibility in the Andamans is amongst the best in the world – it’s clear, clean waters the perfect place to learn and to go diving. Compared to Goa where it’s limited to about a metre, we could easily see ten metres at a stretch on many of our dives. Diving at South Button Island also means fantastically clear water – even at the surface snorkelling, you’ll easy spot all the wildlife at the bottom that’s ten or twelve metres away. Unfortunately I have no photos of the amazing underwater world we uncovered on our dives. I can say we saw amazing beds of brightly coloured corals teeming with even more brightly coloured tropical fish and I can’t recommend it highly enough for people. We spotted all sorts of fish, my knowledge of their names quickly exhausted as I try to take them all in. My favourites definitely remain the tiny, tiny clown fish (think of Nemo) playing in the anemones. It’s amazing how close you can hover over them and watch them play.

Entry into the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is via Port Blair – a fairly industrialised and not very scenic island amongst the Andamans. It has plenty of historical significance as it’s home to Cellular Jail, the place where the British kept all the Indian freedom fighters during the time for independence. The easiest way to get to Havelock is via the government ferries that depart two or three times a day from Port Blair. Unfortunately the visit of India’s president to Havelock and stormy waters forcibly meant taking alternative transportation (i.e. hire a boat) to keep to the schedule.

It was pretty exciting to have the President of India visiting Havelock island though it meant that you effectively couldn’t go anywhere by the road and also screwed up many people who’d planned to arrive or leave the island the day of her visit. On the day of her visit, the sound of many helicopters arriving and circling also broke up the quiet sounds of the waves lapping on the sand though it was just for half a day in the end.

Time magazine also voted Havelock’s Radah Nagar Beach (also known locally as Beach #7) as Asia’s best beach. The beach, shaped in a moon-crescent fashion is undoubtedly one of the best swimming beaches I’d ever swum in. Its water remains consistently clear even with the tiny breaking waves and unlike many of the other coral-ridden beaches on the other side of the island is entirely made up of tiny, soft granules of sand. Barefoot resort is the only resort on this side of the island and is also home to two now-retired elephants that give rides and also go swimming in the ocean from time to time.

If you visit the Andamans, I’d highly recommend indulging in the fresh seafood available – it’s a staple food on the island and many of the restaurants in the various resorts prepare them in many different ways. The Burmese style-sauce of the Wild Orchid’s restaurant (and it’s sister one at the Emerald Gecko) is definitely worth trying one night, as is the Tandoor version from one of the other places. Pristine Beach Resort, home to the Poseidon restaurant also offers very fresh crab (you can pick one from the bucket out front).

Find the pictures from the rest of my trip here.

The day started off very well – the thought that the driver I’d hired for the day trip to Mahabalipuram wouldn’t find where I was staying evaporated as soon as I saw the taxi parked downstairs. The driver asked me if I was the ‘Pitersk’ they’d written down over the phone after about 15 minutes trying to spell my name. “Yes, that’s me,” I resigned myself to.

The driver, whose name I understood as Ram Krishna, spoke enough broken English to get through the entire day. Our first major conversation, like many of the ones to follow throughout the day began with money – this time, 700 rupees to fill up the tank for the day. He honked at a petrol attendant for some attention and diesel and soon we were on our way. Every so often, he would look up in the mirror and start explaining some things. I find out that the traffic is very bad in Chennai, there’s always construction (pointing to another fly over to emphasis the point) and apparently plenty of people in Chennai. I think quietly to myself that it’s definitely not as bad as Bangalore. I also wonder if the overpasses they continue to build really work, or simply distract from the bigger problem of too many people and not enough public transport. My answer doesn’t come and we pass yet another flyover under construction.

Our first stop of the day is Elliot’s Beach for the world famous Laksmi Hindu temple. This temple is pretty massive, and totally dedicated to the goddess of wealth. Unsurprisingly, this temple and the area around it took significant damage during the tsunami – the shanty shacks around it reassembled quickly, and the temple slowly following behind. It’s free entry this time though no cameras allowed. It’s one of the biggest temples I’ve entered, and we’re blessed in at least five separate places with a flower, some spiritual water, marks to the forehead and a number of clasps of a metallic bowl to the head. You ascend and descend around the temple as you pass all the blessings and at one point see a fantastic view of the surrounding area.

We drive further down the coast and although the roads appeared busy, I think that honestly they’re one of the best I’d been driven on so far. Definitely miles away from the nightmare bus ride to Ooty. We continue driving through passing through a toll booth – something that I think is universally complained about, with the driver fully getting into the cursing of the excess charges. I pay the INR50 toll for return to Mahabalipuram.

My driver stops for a brief meal and we finally enter Mahabalipuram (and another entry fee – this time I think only INR20). We head for the first sights, this one free and are a series of intricately made temples and features carved directly out of the rock in the hills. Strangely enough, the typical touts (selling jewellery, or asking for money) stay outside of the gate. Inside them instead, you’ll find a different breed of tout – these ones actually speaking English very well and keen to give you a guided tour for either a fee or a visit to their store later. I decline several of them, and manage to pick one up on the way who takes me around telling me all about it. The best bit here is really the Krishna’s Butter Ball that looks as if it would topple and crush a whole swag of people, yet remains stuck to the wallface. I have enough as it’s getting extremely hot, and the number of tourists at some of the points is overwhelmingly numerous.

I find my driver (by the number plate of the car) and we make our way to the next sight, another World Heritage Monument, the Five Rathas. A series of carvings, all out of stone stand out in the middle of an enclosed area and I sit down to watch the large groups of families and a handful of tourists descend on each temple for a show. I find the taxi driver once again and we make our way to the final destination, and probably my most favourite of the three, the Shore Temple.

Parking in the area is ridiculously busy, not only because of the temple, but because of the beach that lies adjacent. I walk down there first – a narrow alley bustling with stores selling random beach items and a couple of food and drink places. I stop for some chai to ironically escape the heat for a bit. Arriving at a beach is one thing to really look out for. Stores line the sand from one point to another, whilst people jump into the water – sometimes fully clothed (the women in saris, or men in singlets and trousers). Others strip to their underpants before taking to the water.

I walk back down the alleyway, and make my way for the entrance of the Shore Temple. Foolishly I end up paying the tourist fee once again (you can use the same ticket for the Five Rathas and the Shore Temple) and hopes it pays for some good maintenance. I’ve seen temples by the shore before, and the unique different here is that it’s completely carved out of a rock (or perhaps series of rocks). There’s something magical standing in amongst its pillars facing the ocean on almost all sides. I tire after the temple, and it’s getting late in the day, so we make our way back to Chennai. A quick nap ensures a relatively speedy ride home.

The rest of the photos are here.

The journey didn’t start off too well. The flight from Pune ended up delayed by an hour. The prepaid taxi didn’t really know where to go and then when we started, broke down very quickly. A rickshaw driver helped out (though of course, expected an inane sum of money for it). I eventually found the place I was staying at – a serviced apartment not quite being the thing that I expected – I thought it would be some sort of 3-star hotel. It’s just a place to stay.

We’ll see how tomorrow goes with a prepaid vehicle driving me to Mahallapuram.

I avoid catching a rickshaw tonight. It’s easy enough to call out MG road – it’s the getting back bit that I’m worried about.

Walking around the local neighbourhood of Mylapore ended up very interesting. It seems there’s a number of schools and colleges hosting students around the area – with a whole heap of them coming up to have their photo taken by me. I stumbled across, what looked like, a political rally – though for all I know, it could have been some sort of community celebration with Christmas coming up and all. People crowded the streets trying to get closer, and the rows and rows of plastic chairs setup remained full by the time I walked past. Turning up and down one lane, putting the directions into my consciousness to later backtrack, I find what looks like the jewellery street. Some of the stores actively clean and refine their metallic wares on the doorsteps, with the rest of their already polished wares beckoning the street-weary traveller into the doors. I manage to resist somehow.

My belly rumbles, reminding me that it was at least nine hours ago since I’d fed it and was about time to have dinner. Biryani stores line the street – some of them look busy enough that the food is guaranteed fresh and yet I hesitate. I find what looks like a very popular and happening joint – I don’t mind that it has a “chain veg restaurant” from the outside. The crowds and the smell attract me in. I find a free seat next to a couple and after scanning the menu, ended up with a thali-like order. Funnily they even have three outlets in London (I’ll definitely have to try it when I get back).

Initial thoughts on Chennai – it’s definitely less dusty than Pune, definitely better roads than Bangalore. It has the humidity of what I expected from Mumbai – I’m not sure if I’m really going to enjoy the day tomorrow, so I’m hoping that taxi manages to turn up in the morning. The people seem very crowded and perhaps it’s the period close to Christmas, I notice many, many churches everywhere – probably a side effect from the days of the British rule.

I’m surprised that at least Port Blair is connected very well. I’m writing this in an Internet cafe, costing only INR30 per hour and it’s actually a very fast connection. I’m writing this in notepad while I wait for firefox to download – I just find it a much better browser and I feel a little bit safer with its security.

The flight to Port Blair left horrendously early at 7:20 this morning. Of course that means leaving even earlier from the place I stayed in. I promise to write more about the brief couple of days in Chennai.

The weather is fantastic at 27 degrees celcius and the (lack of) humidity levels make it almost perfect walking weather. What makes it perfect is the cool salty sea breeze blowing off the green and blue water. I find the marina, and walking along it, spot three different kinds of fish and plenty of crabs along the rocks. I think to myself can things get any better?

Lunch time arrives and I find myself at a place called the New Lighthouse Restaurant. It’s located by the water and serves very fresh seafood. I end up ordering a masala crab – the waiter picks up one and asks if this is okay. I look the squirming thing and think about how great it will taste so fresh. It costs me INR380. I also order a couple of rotis to soak up the masala sauce. A local guy, Arun, starts up a conversation and soon he’s telling me about all the different things to do, and some places to go on Havelock Island. I leave for there in the morning tomorrow and I hope that it’s going to be as good. He asks me to call him when I get back to Port Blair.

I start heading back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta as I’m due to meet a person to take me to see the evening light show at the Cellular Jail. I’ve heard a lot about this place before, apparently the place that the British held all the Indian freedom fighters. I find it interesting that this place of oppression now attracts tourists.

I can’t wait for the next ten days. I’m sure I’ll get sunburned though I know I’ll end up with a wicked tan. I’ll also be sure to be filling my belly with some very nice seafood.

I’ve been slack with blogging about personal stuff. It’s one item I’ve had to drop in priority since moving to Pune to run training. Every night we’ve been out (we do have to eat and drink!) so I haven’t had a chance to write about all the interesting stuff we’ve been doing. Now that this batch of trainees is finished, my plan is to definitely catch up on it.

For our most most recent training outing we did a (literal) one day trip to Mumbai. It started off early with a scheduled 6am bus ride that took about an hour to get going as we waited for the bus to finally arrive at our office. After which it took almost four and a half hours to finally get to Mumbai. For some people, a Bollywood movie made the journey go a little faster. For others, like myself, it ended up as a futile attempt to recover lost sleep.

After driving through lots of buildings, we made our way into the heart of Mumbai where we stuffed ourselves for lunch before heading off to the Gate of India. The Gate welcomes people as they arrive into port at Mumbai and sits just opposite from the original magnificent Taj hotel. It’s lit up at night and is buzzing with plenty of people and hawkers trying to sell items to the tourists that visit. It’s also the place of port to catch a ferry to the island holding the World Heritage Site Elephanta Caves.

The ferry ride to Elephanata Island is a very moderate pace, taking about an hour to cover apparently 20km. Tacked on the end of the four hour bus ride and some people were understandably irritated. I found the ride very calming, with the best possible view of the Mumbai horizon that slowly fades into a hazed blanket of dust and pollution. We passed shipping boats, other ferries, a number of small islands and even the nuclear power plant that feeds the city the energy it needs to survive. Oddly enough I didn’t notice much wildlife and was expecting at least many seagulls or birds flying around. I think most people found the ferry ride back extremely memorable with the haze turning the sun into a blazing sphere descending into the horizon over very still water.

Elephanta Caves, I’ll admit probably wasn’t worth the 5+ travelling time. If you’re based in Mumbai I could highly recommend them and definitely get a guide since the stories behind the broken statues are generally much more interesting than the the remains ruined by the Portuguese a while back.

With time whittled away with stops in between, we managed to also briefly visit Colaba Causeway (apparently the shopping/market street of Mumbai), the Victoria Terminus (one of the train stations) and the spectacular Marine Parade (an arc highlighted with all the buildings) at night time.

As normal, the other pictures are available here.

As I see more and more of the country, I’m constantly amazed by how different all the parts are, yet still share enough to uniquely tie it all together. Pune has exactly the same sort of rickshaws as I’ve seen in other parts of the country, the only difference is that they actually use the meter most of the time and when you do have to haggle, it’s much less exhausting. They’ve even modified some vans into a rickshaw-like look that act as mini-buses driving along pre determined routes.

Our digs in Pune are, for India, very nice. I’m staying in a house with the other two trainers with each room having a nice little balcony to sit and relax on. It’s very close to the office and catching a rickshaw from there has been relatively easy. Most trips in a rickshaw are only about ten or fifteen minutes to other major places like ABC Farms and MG Road.

Pune is home to plenty of Universities so that means plenty of bars and restaurants at very reasonable prices. It also means a much more relaxed and younger crowd when you do go out.

The weather has been grand since getting here. Not a spot of rain. It also means everything is especially dusty and dry. I definitely prefer dusty and dry over wet and humid.

We’re seeing more and more of Pune as the days go by and its refreshingly not as manic as Bangalore.

I would have written this post a while back but unfortunately between a server transfer and some library upgrades, my photo gallery wasn’t working and I think the photos from this trip are really something. Probably three weekends ago now, I had the pleasure of staying in Ooty, one of the famous hill stations of India. Hill stations show yet another side to the ever complex Indian landscape, this time full of mountains, lush green trees and a refuge from the heat (at least in summer). The British first developed this particular hill station after taking it over. One of their legacies, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is now a World Heritage site. An hour long train journey winds through some of the hills and despite its tiny one metre gauge and overcrowded carriage seating, offers some of the nicest and most varied scenic views of the area.

Ooty is also famous for its vast number of tea plantations and many of them offer a tour of their operating facilities and very cheap tea. I highly recommend trying all the teas on offer. Chai is absolutely divine here and the tea plantation we went to offered another sweet Chocolate infused tea.

Getting to Ooty ended up nightmarish with a 13 hour bus ride up in almost torrential rain for the last four hours. The path leading up to this hill station was horrible with so many pot holes and sharp curves meaning a snails pace with the less than ideal weather conditions. Contrasting this with the return journey to Bangalore that only took about 7 hours back. We also stopped fewer times and I think the conscious effort to get back much quicker meant we also stopped for less time when we did.

Lake Ooty also offers a different experience though its water are brackish and appear blue green from the algae that seems to float all around. We didn’t notice that many birds and doubted the existence of plenty of fish given the rubbish and state of the water, though the surrounding trees helped to make it feel like a much nicer place.

I would have to highly recommend visiting Ooty, or any of the hill stations, if you visit India. They’re not only a great escape from the hustle and bustle of many of the other cities and offer just that extra different perspective to India you just don’t get to see that often. Check out the rest of the photos here.