Andaman’s: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9
Next day we promptly reached Bharatpur Beach at 11 and waited for the tide to rise the water level. Since this is the only beach where venturing into sea is allowed, almost entire Neil was here. We had fun going deep into the sea. We would take multiple trips into the sea and then rest at the sandy beachside.
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| Our second stint at Bharatpur Beach |
Andaman’s: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9
Early morning we went to Vijaynagar Beach which was opposite our resort. We wanted to see a Havelock sunrise. We were not disappointed although half a dozen puppies did follow us back to our resort. They probably mistook us as their mommy.
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| Sunrise at the rocky Vijaynagar Beach |
Andaman’s: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9
Our plan for the day was very simple. Reach the point where the trek to Elephant Beach starts. Cover the two kilometers to Elephant Beach on foot. Return back before dark. There was a small matter of rain that was easing in and out but with our raincoats and helmets we were mostly safe or so we thought. We parked our two-wheeler at a designated parking lot.
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| Muddy trek to Elephant Beach |
Andaman’s: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9
First look of Radhanagar Beach is queenly. The sea opens up with a panoramic view, there is not much crowd and the beach is immaculately clean. That’s not the best part. The best part is when you get into the water. I have not encountered a more perfect gredient anywhere in the world.
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| The queenly Radhanagar Beach |
Andaman’s: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9
Early morning we reached Haddo Jetty to take our ferry to Havelock Island. The ferry was modest and the journey was eventless. We reached Havelock around noon and a cab transferred us to our hotel in no time. Havelock is a moderately sized island so the first thing we did after checking in was to rent couple of two-wheelers.
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| The Blue Bird Resort, our hotel in Havelock |
Andaman’s: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9
It was raining when we landed at Port Blair. By the time we checked out the weather had dried out. This was the story throughout our 10 days stay at the Andamans. The cab pickup however was efficient. We checked-in into our hotel in no time. We had booked the same hotel when we would come back for the return flight ten days later.
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| Marina Park, Port Blair |
We were testing our new car for a long drive and decided to go for Abhaneri which is about 200km from our home in Gurgaon. Google Maps suggested we go via Nuh towards Alwar. We followed. It was a mistake. It took us a good part of morning and afternoon to just figure out where we can get on track. Now with Delhi - Mumbai Expressway open, it takes less than three hours.
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| Chand Baori, Abhaneri |
On our last leg Tungnath Temple was visible from more than a kilometer away. This last leg is straight. It took us about three hours in total to reach the complex. Holy chants and bells were ringing around the temple. Tungnath is the highest Shiva temple in the world and it attracts its due lot of worshippers.
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| Last leg of Tungnath trek, temple is visible now |
We reached Chopta before it went dark. Our hotel was far away from the entrance of Tungnath trek. Because Chopta area comes under military there was no electricity and no network. This was to discourage illegal construction around the base of trek.
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| Details at the entrance of Tungnath trek |
Next day we started afresh for Deoriatal. We had a hot water bath and a good breakfast in our hotel which also operated a well running restaurant. The entrance was right in front of our hotel so we were on the uphill trek quickly.
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| First leg of Deoriatal Trek |