Ok, so I am gonna do a little Star Wars thing here. I am gonna sort my experiences from the last. I am mentioning this because at the end of the blog I would be on a plane to Chennai and I just don't want you guys to be confused. See I am nice like that.
If anyone is planning to visit Andaman in the near future, I am emphasizing you, "Don't miss Ross and Smith island!". But wait, before describing the island, I gotta talk about my travel first because it was uh...adventurous?..fun? Looking back now it is. But you gotta experience that to manifest your feelings about it.
This island is located in the North Andaman where it is usually considered dangerous to navigate alone as there are local tribes present. Apparently, they eat you. That's it. No big deal. No, I am not exaggerating. A similar incident happened recently in March or April. Government or private buses are your best way to wade through the jungle and take you to the Northern part.
Our plan
Three people, me, goldpearl as his name is Thanga Muthu (no one calls him by the Tamil version of his name anymore!) and Siva, a solo traveller who joined us from Hyderabad set our minds to explore Ross and Smith island before we departed home.
A little piece of advice, PLAN your journey. Because the buses taking you to the North Andaman are available only on odd days and the buses to Port Blair are available only on the even days. Sunday is their rest day.
Moreover, the frequency of those buses is really low (just 3 per day, which makes 6 combining both government and private). And shockingly they adhere to strict timings. So you really can't count on hopping on one of them from just anywhere anytime. And even if by a miracle you do manage to catch one of them, there is no guarantee for seats. And trust me, you do not want to be one of the few unfortunate ones to ride standing. I will get to the "why" part in a minute.
Our planning was lit. On Thursday catch the 3a.m bus ( yeah, you read that right) to reach Diglipur around 4p.m, explore a bit, pin Friday to enjoy Ross and Smith, catch the return bus at 10p.m and reach Port Blair on Saturday morning. But not everything was mellow. We got the last three seats on the bus. Oh damn!
The fun vee
Sleepy, grumpy but damn excited we were all set to go. The morning ride was scenic as the bus quickly zoomed past the city limits and ventured into the forest area. As it traversed the jungle, I felt exhilarated looking at the lush green landscape. Though it was the scorching summer season, the forest was filled with mist and the morning air was frigid. It kind of invigorated me.
We were able to partially witness the sunrise from our first pit stop. I was under the impression that the rest of the ride would be just as scenic and animated. Noobie mistake. It was scenic but the ride was painfully wild.
Soon the sun displayed its dominance and we felt the heat seeping in. Probably the best way to envision the ride is to imagine yourselves in a roller coaster. Be it real or in a 5D theatre. You would vigorously get thrown to the side, hit your head on the rail, jump up and down the seat, right? Well our ride was exactly like that. But there are two differences. In the roller coaster, you would be protected by a seatbelt and the ride would last for 2-3 minutes max.
But on the bus or rather the fun vee as I fondly call it now, there were no seatbelts and the ride lasted for 12 hours. Do you understand the "why" part now? There were 4-5 pit stops. We would stretch our muscles, massage our paining joints and then get ready to endure it all over again.
The ferry ride and Jarawas- The Two Silver Linings
Over the course, there came some unexpected silver linings. Twice, along the journey, there wasn't a road path. Only backwaters. So the bus would board a ship, cross the waters, get down and be on its way. It was totally unexpected which made me feel head over heels about the journey itself.
We were really lucky to witness one of the local tribes, the Jarawas. There are estimated to be around 350-400 Jarawas in the Northern and Middle Andaman. They are natural hunters with a bow and arrow as their prominent weapon of choice (Some real-life Arrow and Hawkeye might be there!)
Finally, after 12 long hours of a bumpy excruciating ride, we arrived in Diglipur. We took a room in a cheap lodge as we were budget travellers. We then visited Diglipur beach which was stunning in and of itself.
Journey to Ross and Smith
We reached the ferry office by 8 A.M the next day morning. To our bad luck, the 4-member ferry wasn't available as it was under maintenance. Only the 8 member boat was available. We would have to additionally pay for the extra 5 members ourselves. We decided to wait (Budget travellers, remember?). It wouldn't have mattered if it took the whole day. As Ross and Smith was our only plan for the day, we were determined to reach that island however long it took.
To pass the time, we put on some music and started playing with the street dogs feeding them and us, biscuits. Snacking has always been one of my favourite pass time. After an hour or so, two people joined us. All 5 of us decided to wait for the remaining 3. With a lot of forbearance, we waited for almost another hour. I had seriously underestimated my patience level until that day. Finally, 3 more people came. Finally.
After getting our tickets, we came to know that we could only enjoy that island for only 3 hours ( For real!?). The ferry would come to pick us up and we had to get on it. Feeling petulant, annoyed, angry and probably every other enraged feeling, we boarded the ferry. Halfway through the journey, the water changed its colour to emerald green. It was a scintillating sight.
The water was filled with jellyfishes. The crew picked up those jellyfishes like it was no big deal. They even placed on my hand. Squishy and slimy, I held on to it for about 20 seconds before I let it down into the water.
As wet got closer to the island, we felt extremely privileged as we got to witness a sea turtle in the ocean. My god, it was straight from Finding Nemo. Graceful. Bewitching.
The magical Ross and Smith island
We set foot on the island. We just stood there for almost 10 minutes soaking in the view. It was absolutely magical. It was as if someone had opened a portal and transported us to a magical dimension. A narrow strip of land surrounded by pristine clear waters. On one side it was emerald green and sky blue on the other. Of course, it felt magical. How could it not?
When I visited the Elephant beach in Havelock, I was stunned by its pristine beauty. But this island was a whole another level. The refreshing breeze, the cool water and the picturesque surroundings would strip anyone of their worries.
We didn't waste a single second after that. Changing into our shorts, we ran like maniacs and splashed into the water screaming with uncontrollable excitement. We were fervent for the full 3 hours. We started with a game of catch and then resorted to clicking creative underwater pics.
We took some amazing underwater shots. I realized then that you didn't have to be a swimmer to take underwater pics. All you needed was the ability to hold your breath for 30 seconds, the guts to take a single dive and a water-proof mobile which in our case was the iPhone XS.
After revelling in the water for 2 hours, we finally dragged ourselves out. Grudgingly, of course. We took a quick bath, just walked along the island and clicked loads of photos. We kept praying for the ferry to be late but our prayers didn't seem to have any effect on the ferry crew as they arrived right on time.
Our brains were etched with the beauty of the island and the stunning landscape surrounding them. It would probably be etched forever. I don't think even dementia could erase the island off our minds.
And then in the evening, we were back to the fun vee. Our return journey was booked at 9 P.M so you could presume how much sleep we would have got. But this time, we got the middle seats. Didn't help. At. all.
It took 3 days for us to visit a single destination for only 3 hours, but oh boy, the Ross and Smith island was more than worth the torment we endured.
Next day, it was time to say goodbye to Andaman and to Siva. With lots of adventures, lots of fun, lots of laughter, cherishing memories me and goldpearl got on our flight with a heavy heart and flew home to Chennai. Until the next adventure.
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