Andamans
Long time no update! Getting to Goa saw the end of cycling for a little while as I first went to visit the Andaman Islands for a spot of diving and now I'm hooking up with Helen for three weeks of non bike related holiday in Kerala and southern India. Now, the Andamans were a great break, a wonderful place with turquoise water and white sand beaches, as you can see below. And you can still get a bamboo hut for a couple of quid a night. Nice.
Getting to the Andaman Islands involved first getting to Thiruvananthapuram, which I and many other people, are still calling by it's old name of Trivandrum. You can't but help wonder why. First I had to get to Madgaon railway station, and put the bike on a train to Trivandrum. Not as easy as it might sound. I got there with plenty of time to spare which proved to be just as well... I asked about the bike and was told to report to the luggage department which I duly did. They then explained that as the train did not originate in their station they couldn't guarantee that it would be on the same train as me but I wasn't to worry as if it wasn't then they'd put it on the next direct train. The day after next. By which time I'd be on my to the Andamans. Damn. So, what would happen in that case? Well, the luggage office in Trivandrum would hold it for 10 rupees a day. Hopefully. Oh=kay... After that it was just a case of filling forms out in triplicate, writing all over the bike and waiting for the train. As the time drew near I couldn't but help stop my bike on the wrong platform unguarded and unlocked. Still, it made it, as did I.
I left the bike in a hotel there, then caught another overnight train to Chennai the next evening, as my flight to the islands departed at 4:45 AM. Simple, no?
Plan was to have a beer about 6pm, eat a carb rich meal, have one more beer then get to sleep for around 9pm ready for the early morning flight. Of course it didn't quite work out like that and after meeting some French one beer turned into, er, many. The bar shut at 11, and I think I may have pissed off the hotel staff by getting some take outs and trying to carry on the party ("They can't go up, they're not staying here." "They're my frensss!!!"). Just as well in retrospect. I eventually hit the sack past midnight and thus got one and half hours sleep. An extra half hour of that was because my alarm call never came (wonder why?). Still, in the taxi with my half hour buffer only half gone and away, stinking of booze! Ten minutes later it dawned on me that I hadn't got my phone. Ah. Back! Back to hotel with all speed! Grabbed the phone and offered the driver an extra 200 rupees if he could make the airport in 30 minutes. Which he duly did.
And then... two weeks of relaxing and diving. Quality hammock time was had.
Getting to the Andaman Islands involved first getting to Thiruvananthapuram, which I and many other people, are still calling by it's old name of Trivandrum. You can't but help wonder why. First I had to get to Madgaon railway station, and put the bike on a train to Trivandrum. Not as easy as it might sound. I got there with plenty of time to spare which proved to be just as well... I asked about the bike and was told to report to the luggage department which I duly did. They then explained that as the train did not originate in their station they couldn't guarantee that it would be on the same train as me but I wasn't to worry as if it wasn't then they'd put it on the next direct train. The day after next. By which time I'd be on my to the Andamans. Damn. So, what would happen in that case? Well, the luggage office in Trivandrum would hold it for 10 rupees a day. Hopefully. Oh=kay... After that it was just a case of filling forms out in triplicate, writing all over the bike and waiting for the train. As the time drew near I couldn't but help stop my bike on the wrong platform unguarded and unlocked. Still, it made it, as did I.
I left the bike in a hotel there, then caught another overnight train to Chennai the next evening, as my flight to the islands departed at 4:45 AM. Simple, no?
Plan was to have a beer about 6pm, eat a carb rich meal, have one more beer then get to sleep for around 9pm ready for the early morning flight. Of course it didn't quite work out like that and after meeting some French one beer turned into, er, many. The bar shut at 11, and I think I may have pissed off the hotel staff by getting some take outs and trying to carry on the party ("They can't go up, they're not staying here." "They're my frensss!!!"). Just as well in retrospect. I eventually hit the sack past midnight and thus got one and half hours sleep. An extra half hour of that was because my alarm call never came (wonder why?). Still, in the taxi with my half hour buffer only half gone and away, stinking of booze! Ten minutes later it dawned on me that I hadn't got my phone. Ah. Back! Back to hotel with all speed! Grabbed the phone and offered the driver an extra 200 rupees if he could make the airport in 30 minutes. Which he duly did.
And then... two weeks of relaxing and diving. Quality hammock time was had.
posted by Bill at 2:43 pm
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