Planning sightseeing tours of Port Blair, Andaman travel on a Budget

Port Blair: always the first stop of the trip to Andaman

Starting with the capital city, as from where ever you come (until you come by ship), you have to start your journey from Port Blair. There are lot of good hotels to stay in the city. But as we are talking about budget here, i have a very good option— Amit Lodge (+91 9434289106). I love staying here, it’s a very simple home stay, and basic amenities are provided and neat and clean. The best thing is the location. From 2nd floor you see the colour changing sea water, and the city market is at you right about 5 minutes walk away and the famous cellular jail at your left, again just 5 minutes walk away. The fish aquarium is down the street, Rajiv Gandhi Marine Park is another 6 minutes walk away from there. There is one more interesting thin to mention here, but I’ll come to that later*..

A good 2-3 nights even more can be well spent in Port Blair,

PLACES TO VISIT IN PORT BLAIR, ANDAMAN:

Below are some places which you can keep in your list while staying in Port Blair:

a. Ross Island: you can see the island from #Port_Blair, hardly 15- 20 minutes by boat. Boats are running at regular intervals form Rajiv Gandhi Marine Park. Better to check the current updates on the timing from the hotel/ locally. In the evening you can also enjoy a light & sound show.

>> No entrance required apart from ferry ticket & light sound show

b. Cellular jail– have at least 1-2 hours time to tootle around the huge Cellular jail (the jail had 7 wings when it was built, but later 4 wings had to be destroyed as population in the island was growing and huge space could be brought in by pulling down some parts of the jail) in case you are planning to only listen to the light and sound show. Cellular jail closes at 4 pm and the shows starts from 6 pm (i think I’m not wrong). When you move from one cell to the other, form one floor to the next, and also go behind the bars to see how you look or how does it feel… it seems the history has come to live all of a sudden. You can feel the pain those freedom fighters went through, the empathy comes from heart. No i don’t want get you emotional, it’s the fun of travelling, it’s the experience we gain, eventually which becomes some kind of learning for us

>> Entry ticket required, light and sound show ticket is additional. Camera charges additional

c. Chidiya Tapu, Famous for its colourful sunset-

Some 40 minutes drive from #Port Blair, an amazing place to enjoy sunset. A park has been built by the beach, where you can sit till 5 o clock in the evening to enjoy the beach. But the sunset is just after that! So what to do? Till 5pm, enjoy inside the park and when the guards come to you with a smiling face, you know it’s time for him to go home, take the car back to the city. Just after 5-6 minutes ride, on your right side, you will see few tea stalls, selling tea/ coffee and of course some freshly fried veg pakodas (crispi vegetable crockets), just stop by them, enjoy the evening snack and see sun going beyond the horizon, painting his final dramatic stroke on the sky, reflecting himself on the ocean as if he is checking his face before moving to west. And that’s mesmerising

>> No entrance required.

d. Corbyns Cove beach: 15 minutes by car from city center of Port Blair, a lot of beach activities are available, but, good for evening stroll. I recommend to go to this beach before Chidiya Tapu or any other beach, as you may not appreciate is that much as i didn’t going there at the end of my trip

>> No entrance required apart from ferry ticket & light sound show

e. North bay island: A half day excursion to North Bay from Port Blair- Before you go to Norht Bay, have a look at the back of a 20₹ note (the red old ones), just see that light house and the island in the picture? It’s #North_Bay_Island, i will also tell you from where the picture was taken, but a little later **. So appx 30 minutes by boat, small boats are running quite frequently. Taking bathing suits, enjoy the pristine beach, bathe, relax and once you are done, come back to main island by boat. Get some food from #Port_Blair, as there won’t be mush option available

>> No entrance required apart from ferry ticket & light sound show

f. Wandur Jolly Buoy & Red Skin: the journey to #Wandur is about an hour or a little more. The journey is very nice. From #Wandur you can take the ferry to Jolly Buoy or red skin, if Jolly Buoy is closed then tourists are taken to Red Skin island. i didn’t visit to Red Skin, i had decided to spend some time in #Wandur only. Again please carry some food with you as you won’t get much option there. every beach in #Andaman is well kept, and everywhere you can find a seating arrangement made with nice shade. Sitting there for hours, listening to the waves paying its own chords, is pacifying.

>> No entrance required apart from ferry ticket to Jolly Buoy / Red Skin island if you want to go.

g. Mount Harriet: another favourite of mine. Mount Harriet is part of #Port_Blair, not a different island, but travelling distance is more than ferry, hence it’s recommended to travel by ferry. The cars are allowed on the vessels, hence taking your regular tourist cars won’t be an issue. Upon arrival to the port, its looks like a small simple town. Once you enter the dense greenery, leaving the honking cars behind, suddenly you will be barred out, going up in the hill the forest looks like just bathed in water. Only the sound of birds takes you away. ** Earlier i said i will tell you from where the picture of the North bay island was taken, its somewhere in Mount Harriet. On my second visit i had seen the thatch from where the picture was taken. Once reached the peak of the mountain (i didn’t realise how long it took us to go up) your can spend a good 2-3 hours time even more if you go to Kala Patthar, which is kind of small trekking but i didn’t try for it, the jungle is damp and filled with leech. And I’m not adventurous.. neither a slightest bit!! There are 2 small cottages available for tourists to stay but pre-arrangements need to be made, and food is only available in the canteen if pre-ordered.

>> No entrance fees required. I have one suggestion here, while going to Mt. Harriet by boat, come to main city by road, which takes about 1 hour and a half, the journey is really nice. You can switch off the AC in Andaman, as this place is filled with fresh oxygen in its every tiniest part.

h. C P Ghat: though the island is painted to with enough green, C P ghat is kind of small region of Flora. A varies collection of plants/ trees across the globe has been kept here and maintained of course. About 45 minutes drive from main city, this vast garden gives a different feeling all together, quiet, birds chirping on the trees, you name any tree the gardeners will show you. From chillies to cocoa there is some impressing collection. This place is just an option which you may consider.

Here are some combination, which may help you to plan you itinerary in Port Blair to cover most of the above places:

o Morning first half: North Bay / Mount Harriet / Wandur- Jolly buoy or Red Skin island / C P Ghat

o Then in the late afternoon: Ross Island / Cellular Jail/ Chidiya Tapu/ Corbyns cove

o If there is a free evening- then go to Rajiv Gandhi Marine Park, if you are staying close by, then finish you dinner at the restaurant called Lighthouse restaurant (just right next to the fish Aquarium*). The food is mouth watering, fresh sea food, or even if you want veg, chicken, all available here, even chilled Beer.. so don’t miss having meal at least once. (more details please scroll down to “what to eat”)