Ravi saves the day...

Once I finished filling out my visa application form (adding that I would be staying with my grandparents on Katrine…their 40ft Cataraman) I guess someone at the office recognized the boat name and thought they were doing me a big favour by calling the taxi driver (Ravi) that my grandparents usually get to collect people meeting up with them for a charter. This was really nice of them, but unfortunately I was not informed of this plan…so Lee and I left the airport in search of a taxi to take us to a hotel. The plan was to meet up with my grandparents the next day, so we had time to kill.

Port Blair

We found a driver who told us he knew where we had to go, drove us down to the habour and told us to get a ticket and go to Havelock 7, because that’s where all the tourist go to. Not knowing what else to do we got into line in a very hot stuffy room packed in with people. While standing in line we saw two familiar looking faces…our Israeli friends! We agreed to take turn standing in line in the unventilated overly humid room.  Lee and I were standing outside having our breathing break, when this man walked over to me and said “Don and Jeanne?” You have to understand why this confused me and it took me a minute to respond, those are my grandparents names…After the initial shock I responded and spoke to this guy (who happened to be Ravi, who happened to know my grandparents very well!) He had gotten the phone call from the airport visa office and had come straight to look for us, when he realized we and left he knew we would go to the habour…and that’s how he ended up there, I asked him how he knew who I was and he said I look like my grandparents…how awesome is that?!

Port Blair Habour early in the morning

So safely in the back of Ravi’s taxi we were taken to a clean, nice “hotel” and told to take a shower and have a nap and then he would be back to take us out to a beautiful restaurant for dinner. I probably sound ridiculous when I say this…but that was one of the best showers of my life. In Goa we showered in cold water…EVERY night! So finally having warm water flowing over my body was a wonderful feeling!

Ghandi Park

Ravi took Lee and I to a wonderful place, the tables were outdoors and the view was stunning. We each ordered our entrée, which Ravi ordered another two or three dishes *Lee and I exchange confused looks* when the food arrived we learnt all about eating Indian style.  The best way to do this is to put all the dishes in the middle of the table, and pick and chose as you want…there is no yours or mines just ours. It was a great way to eat as you eat slowly and conversation flows.

Beautiful Port Blair

The next day, before we meet up with my grandparents we did a mini tour of Port Blair. This included a trip to a museum of the history of Port Blair which was interesting to see and a trip to an “aquarium” I emphasize the word because what we saw was NO aquarium! First of all you had to pay extra for each camera that would be using a flash, otherwise you had to turn off the flash. Secondly, all the fish in the aquarium were DEAD! Yeah dead fish in bottles…that’s all we got to see!

Mosaic on the History museum's wall

Indian elephants and trip abroad Bollywood bus...

My island adventure began when I meet up with grandparents ,after 7 years of not seeing them…this was greatly attributed to the fact that they have been sailing around the world since January 2001, when they set sail in Katrine, their dream yacht …THAT THEY BUILT!!! Yeah, talk about following your dreams and be inspirational! (But that is another story, check out their website for more info http://www.yachtkatrine.com/home.htm) It was such an amazing feeling to hug them and see them! 

My granddad and I at a Port Blair food market

We meet another girl that my grandparents had previously met on their travels. Debbie was a Dutch girl who immediately bonded with both Lee and I, she was crazy, funny and great to hang out with…which is a good thing as we were all going to be cruising around for the next 10 days together, living in close quarters.

Sunset aboard Katrine

We all planned our route which included a trip to Havelock 7 (the beach Lee and I almost ended up on days ago…). We anchored of the coast of Havelock 7, (every area on the island has a number, beaches and towns) and decided to make a trip to the town  of Havelock 3, to get there we had to wait at the local bus stop (enjoying some fresh chai while we waited) then we caught a bus there. The bus was decked out, all tinsel and Christmas decorations (it was the middle of February, just remember) and it was playing the most catchy Bollywood tunes, that Lee and I can’t help but giggle to.

Debbie, Lee, Don and Jeanne aboard the Bollywood bus

Once we got to Havelock 3, we agreed to split up and go about our shopping adventures only to meet up later again, on the most amazing beach. Lee and I enjoyed our shopping trip which involved buying an ‘Andaman's T-shirt’ (like real tourists) and buying small souvenirs for various family members. Later we met up with the Katrine crew and marveled at the beauty of the beach…it truly is a slice of heaven!

Lee and I on the most amazing beach ever

Back at Havelock 7 we swam around and enjoyed the white sand and clear water, you know you are in paradise when you can see your toes while standing waist high in the water. Back on board a few hours later we got to see the elephants bathing themselves in the sea…wow that was such an amazing sight for me to see. I mean I grew up in Africa I have seen many animals (including the big 5…Lion, African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Leopard and the Rhino) and touched a few of them too, but to see these wild elephants frolicking in the sea was a sight to behold!

Elephants bathing in the Andaman Sea

Valentine’s aboard a rickshaw, a bus, a train and almost a plane...

Valentine’s day has arrived and instead of planning a romantic dinner and being pampered Lee and I are starting our voyage to the final destination of Port Blair. To get there we had to leave Patnem via rickshaw and get to Chaudi, where we had to catch a Bus to Margao, from there we had to catch a train to Chennai (formally known as Madras.) Most of the beginning of the trip was pretty uneventful…until we boarded the train! We were advised to chain (yes, chain) our bags to the seat we were occupying, which doubled up as a bed. The ac system aboard the train was totally modernized…fans chained to the ceiling! 

AC system

There were venders walking up and down the train selling all kinds of things such as food, toys and chai. The funny thing is they walk up and down shouting tempting offers of their wares, but when they see anyone pale skinned they raise the decibel by about 20, just in case you didn’t hear (of course they don’t realize that you can hear them, you just don’t understand their accent most of the time!)

Motorbike injuries, but still trying to sleep

Most liquids you buy are brought in plastic bags which means when Lee and I purchased Kerosene (paraffin) for fire dancing it was given to us in a small plastic bag. Chai tea was sometimes also sold in little plastic bags. Have you ever tried to pour the contents of a small packet into an even smaller container? A little tricky!

Lee holding our packets of chai

Lee and I being South African girls are pretty good at finding a solution, so when faced with the problem of no bowls for breakfast one morning, we decided to convert our empty juice container into a bowl, which meant ripping the container in half (as neither of us travel with scissors) once we had achieved our goal we poured coco pops and milk into our makeshift bowls, only to discover we had no spoons! Hmmm…

Makeshift breakfast bowl

The train journey was super loooong! It was pretty exciting to be travelling through the Indian country side but after 20 hours on a train, many millions of stares and more than one trip to the bathroom…I was about at my limit and ready to be done with the super long journey. While sitting on the train we became entertainment for most of our fellow middle class passengers. Most people stared openly at us without showing any social graces of hiding their long lingering looks.  A few people approached us and asked us where we were from and what we were doing in India and then my favourite question and one of the reasons I loved my time in India “What don’t you like about my country? And what can we change for you?”  I loved this question because even though there are down and out people in India, they still have faith in their country, and faith to me is one of the most beautiful traits to posses.

Some of the sights on the way

On Indian trains there are no exact times for anything. So when we stopped at various stations we were never sure how long the train would be stopped, which meant that we took turns to stand on the platform and stretch our legs. One person remained behind to both watch the bags and to make sure the train never left without both of us on board! When we did try to ask the conductor about times he just gave us what we will now refer to as the standard ‘Indian Head Wiggle” which basically means…well I’m still not entirely sure what it means. I would say it is probably equivalent to the South African saying of “Yes,no well, fine”

Dinner on the train (because we were too scared to venture too far from the train)

Bathroom trips on a moving train are slightly more challenging than peeing in a standard bathroom, it’s a big adventure! Not only are you dealing with the fact that you are peeing into what is essentially is a hole in the ground, but you are doing it while trying not to pee on your own shoes and trying not to fall over because the train is moving sideward’s as well as forwards!

View from the bathroom window

Finally we ended up in Chennai…and that’s where my next post will begin…

Food court in Chennai

Chennai shopping trips and late night card games...

We finally arrived at Chennai station at noon, and found a place where we could ‘check’ our bags in for the 10 days we would be in Port Blair. Then we found a taxi and headed to the airport where we booked our flights to Port Blair, they were the next morning at 5 in the morning…now came the truth time, do we A.) Book a hotel and sleep peacefully for most of the night and head back to the airport in time for our flight or B.) Spend that money on shopping and sleep in the airport? Hmmm…hard decision, well not really…we are girls…so shopping won hands down!

At the airport...finally!

We found a taxi guy that told us he could take us to a shop that stayed open ‘til 11pm. So the twosome travelers were on their way to Singapore Shoppe paradise. This place was crazy; it had a floor for everything! Shoes, make up, food, clothing … everything!  We had so much fun shopping as well as taking pictures people thought we were going crazy! Finally at closing time we made our way back to the airport with thoughts of our next adventure playing in our minds.

Shopping..on the kids floor I guess

At the airport we found a bathroom that had a shower! After a much needed clean up session we made our way to the airport restaurant, where Lee and I sat and dined. Later we saw two Israeli guys that we had meet at the train station in Margoa, they had helped us find the correct carriage, as the train ticket numbers are pretty confusing and they had travelled on the train before. We ended up playing card games with these guys until the restaurant closed, which was a little before their flight to, surprise surprise…Port Blair. 

This is what 20 hours on an India train looks like! EWWW!

We were on the next flight but had a few hours to kill in the mean time, which meant we became part of the airport 3am entertainment, a ‘show’ which Lee and I had become accustomed to partaking in. We plugged in our cell phones to charge them, then began dancing to the tunes playing from the mini speakers all the while painting our toenails…I realize this was probably more personal moments than we needed to share, but we had a blast anyway.

All cleaned up

Finally up in the air on our two hour flight, and Lee and I were dead tired! We each got three seats to ourselves, which was amazing as we needed the sleep, we were woken up for breakfast (eggs, mushroom and all that jazz.) Once we arrived in Port Blair we were immediately ushered to a line of foreigners applying for visas, which is really easy (and free)… 

Port Blair

My 21st Beach Birthday bash...

The day of my birthday arrives and well, what a day! Lee woke me up with a special gift of jewelry that I have treasure since that day. Then Lee, Nadia, Bev and I all sang “Happy Birthday” to Lee’s dad, Duncan who also happens to be born on the best day of the year! Lee’s parents decided that it would be a good idea to send us each for a full body massage, personally I think it was an amazing idea! The massage was interesting to say the least. We were lead to a ‘room’ that was made out curtains, with two beds. We were told to lie face down on the bed. Naked. We opted to tops on.  I am not kidding when I say these two girls were not shy and massaged every bit of uncovered skin. Later they mixed a special oil that they promised would help with our blocked noses, and they left us to get dressed. I left that place (the Royal Touch) literally floating on air…I felt so relaxed!

The Massage place Lee and I went to

Later that afternoon, I headed over to Bev and Nadia’s room only to discover a sight to behold. Lee holding a plate with sesame balls (a honey covered treat). Nadia trying to light the two candles feature the numbers 2 and 1. Beverly jumping out of the shower dripping wet and stark naked. Cue them all singing  “Happy Birthday”. I was pretty speechless. Puts a whole new meaning to the term ‘birthday suit’.  Then all at once the girls started to excitedly tell me the same story, just 3 versions of it, which was very confusing! I’m still not 100% sure of the actual story but it went something like this…

Lee and I cutting the Birthday cake

The day before Beverly and Nadia had gone shopping in the town of Chaudi, which was pretty close to us. They had brought a birthday cake for me as well as Nutella, bananas and pancake mix. Everything had been stored in there room in the hopes that I wouldn’t find out…which I didn’t but unfortunately a ‘friendly’ neighbourhood dog found it instead! So they made a second trip to Chaudi to buy another one, which this time they decided to place on one of the blades of the fan so the dog couldn’t reach it. This worked pretty well…until someone turned on the fan, and I wasn’t there it see it, but I was told that the cake flew around the room then smashed into the wall…end of cake! Hence the sesame ball substitutes!

My Birthday cake

That night was Birthday Bash night! We got all dressed up and went over to the bonfire. We had a fun night of dancing and socializing with some really fun people. The DJ, DJ Mosquito played most of the night even convincing the police that we were celebrating a very special party and that they should allow us to keep playing music later than 10pm! His favourite song to play was a personal mix of his which the main lyrics were “welcome to Bombay, feel free to touch my holy cow”. Interesting…

Beautiful Indian Sunset

Close to one in the morning  and  Lee and I were the last two belly babes left on the beach, I turned to her and asked if she wanted to pack it up as it was no longer my birthday anymore, Lee response was the best, she turned to me and said ‘it’s still your birthday in South Africa’ from that moment I knew we would always be best friends! So we continued to party and have fun, shortly after that a lady came up to us and told us the owner of the place had a surprise for us, but was too embarrassed to give it to us. After much encouragement he finally came out with a birthday cake…it was the most Indian looking birthday cake ever, complete with green and orange icing and flowers! To was really special and a great way to end a lovely day! What a birthday to remember J

My Birthday Night

Still in Goa...

I have to tell you, the other night we were invited to a beach party...on the next beach Palonem (which is more of a tourist beach). We thought why not? (This is after 3 nights of beach parties on our beach) We arrive at the party spot and it’s not on the beach but on an open grassy patch very close to the water. There were a lot of people there, some playing fire, some just chatting and there was some music playing. However the Goa police like the Mumbai police are quiet strict so they have firm laws about how late the music is allowed to stay on for, there limit is 10:30...not much of a party if you ask me! So THESE people thought of a Silent noise party, basically everybody wears headphones which work on a wireless network/frequency (forgive me if I am using the incorrect technological terms), so you all listen to the same music but there is no noise heard by anyone else! Crazy, but genius because when you want to have a conversation with someone all you had to do was take your headphones off! You must know we were pretty much just laughing at the people jamming at what appeared to be silence!

Fire dancer at the silent noise party

 While in India you don't make plans! This place is like a time warp! Hours go without you even noticing!! Its quiet sneaky actually, but it feels so good to be so relaxed and at ease with life. We have been doing lots of practicing recently, every morning and most afternoons...yesterday we did Martial arts, apparently I'm a natural...Rayson watch out! We have met some crazy people, some that just follow the party where ever it is! People are always willing to help and this place feels really different to Mumbai as people are relaxed and sometimes quiet slow, I think the salt water does something to their heads! But still it's better than Mumbai!

Sun Kisses

The fun side of the beach…

After much fun and learning on the beaches of India came the time where we were all ready to move onto different things, Nadia decided to go to Kerala to help out at an orphanage, Beverley decided to go to Pondicherry where she wanted to learn the “dance of Shiva” well Lee and I decided to stick together and move a little further down the beach the what we renamed “the fun side of the beach.”

Our first night on the "fun side of the beach"

We moved into a small place (I would probably have called it a shack or hut but was told by an American that we meet, that I should refer to it as a cabana.) Well this cabana was complete with a tiny porch and a pink mosquito net, totally cute! Fortunately the place was pretty cheap…unfortunately this meant that our mattress was so thin we had to put clothing underneath the mattress so we couldn’t feel the springs, our showers were with cold water (as they had been at Lotus Little Village) and our teeth brushing basin was outside in front of a palm tree (with a mirror nailed onto it.)

Brushing my teeth outside...hmmm

The people we met at Rasta Café (side note: rasta means road in Hindi, although it is spelt raasta) were really amazing people, they arranged a motorbike trip the one day for 8 of us staying at the Café, which meant we doubled up and had four motorbikes riding to the small village where we parked and went for a hike to a beautiful waterfall. I asked one of the guys what the waterfall was asked and he laughed and said “Up, down, mountain, tree waterfall” the hike was pretty intense but it was very worth it! Half way through the hike one of the girls (Liz) decided to turn back as she was tired from all the walking, later on one of the guys decided to go back to, to make sure Liz was safe. After our walk to the waterfall, swim in the waterfall and walk back we realized we had lost them both! So we split up Lee and I stayed with the motorbikes, and the other four went to find Liz and Trevor. We had quite a fun time while waiting for the others to return! First of all just about everyone in the whole village stepped outside at some stage to take a look at the strange foreigners (who were at this stage taking pictures of each other posing on the motorbikes), a little later on we discovered how Cashews grow (on trees by the way) and after that we realized how drinking fresh water from the village tap (which comes straight from a spring) takes a toll on your bladder! We asked one of the villagers if they had a bathroom, and they turned around and walked away, while Lee and I were standing and discussing our fate, we see the very same villager reemerge carrying a bucket of water, they show us to the top of a hill put down the bucket and walk away. Lee and I just looked at each other stunned! So basically what you do is pee and then ‘wash’ the bucket of water…hmmm…

"Up, down, mountain, tree waterfall"

A few days later we went on another motorbike trip but there were just 4 of us. The second waterfall wasn’t as impressive as the first, but we still had a good time. On the way back one of the guys thought it would be a good idea to teach me how to ride a motorbike (this is after I clearly told him I thought it was a bad idea because I am coordinately challenged) after two attempts of me trying to get the bike going (and after realizing I am in fact too short to reach the ground while sitting on the bike, he decided that if he sat on the bike with me he could help to stabilize it, this is a good idea however now I was trying to steer and worry about two people on the bike, well let’s just say it didn’t end very pretty! After getting it right and managing to drive so a while I asked him how I stop the bike, as I had had enough, he told me to keep going at the same time that a truck was driving towards, I guess I swerved a little too much and the result was scraped hands, elbow and head, broken sunglasses and flip flops and a huge bruise on my leg. Sometimes you just had to trust your gut instinct I guess! 

Motorbike accident injuries