30 December 2014
Previous posts:
There was a small goof up in my Andaman plan. I was not
aware that the main attraction of Diglipur, “Ross and Smith” island was closed
on Tuesday. No, the Island is not closed
but the boats that transport people do not ply on Tuesdays. In Andaman most of
the tourist places are closed on Mondays and I had planned my trip accordingly.
So when I reached Diglipur Monday late afternoon it was disappointing to hear
the news!! The plan had to be changed a little.
The owner of “Pristine Beach Resort”, Alex (not our
driver!!) told me the list of places to visit in Diglipur. I was bit
overwhelmed by the list. Some of the places are:
·
Ross and Smith island
·
Mud volcano
·
Saddle peak, highest in Andaman
·
Albert cave
·
Kalpong power project, the only hydro power
station in Andaman
·
Ramnagar beach
·
Craggy island
We choose to visit Mud volcano in spite of less interesting
experience in Baratang Island. It was about 20 km further
north from Diglipur. Alex who was visiting it for the first time had to ask for
directions at couple of places. The drive seemed to be a long one as the road
turned from asphalt into mud and slush. Finally the road ended at the fringe of
a forest with a forest department board. We had to trek in the forest to reach
volcanoes.
The first volcano seemed to be a repeat of Baratang
experience. But there were more volcanoes ahead. My daughter seemed to be
disinterested in volcanoes and started cribbing about the walk. But then we
encountered some ‘good’ volcanoes. At one place it was required to make a long
jump over one of the volcano. My daughter got struck while jumping resulting in
muddy shoes and legs. She hated volcanoes!!
The experience of Diglipur volcanoes was but much better
than Baratang. There were many volcanoes and also some of them were big. My
daughter would have enjoyed better had she not got struck in its mud. She was
relieved only after washing her legs in a pond near the forest entrance.
Though Albert caves looked interesting we dropped as it
required some trekking and my daughter was not ready for it.
Behind the resort was Kalipur beach, a mangrove beach. For me it was a
refreshing experience to spend two evenings in that beach. First evening my
family accompanied me.
Second day it was a dog that joined me!! Dogs have this
strange phenomenon of accompanying strangers. He tried to get catch some marine
life unsuccessfully. He got bored with his failures and decided to return back.
The trees in the beach gave a new perspective. The island
nearby seemed to be ‘just’ reachable!!
The saddle peak seen from the beach. The weather was cloudy
throughout the day and hence I did not think about climbing it. It would take
about 4-6 hours for climb up and down.
The beach was also rich in ‘small life’. The tadpoles
jumping on a rock.
The most interesting creates were the ones inside seashells.
They looked like empty shells. Sit without making sound or movements and then
they slowly open up!!
This guy is hiding!!
Kalipur beach is also a turtle nesting place. They come at
late night and lay eggs. I was unlucky in that aspect. On the first night I was
lazy to get up in the night when turtles had appeared. On second night, I
waited till 1AM in the night turtles did not show up. I could not contain my sleep
any longer and headed back to resort.
Labels: Andaman, Diglipur, hill, mangrove, travel, trek, Valcano
