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Why India’s Andaman Islands Could Be the New Maldives
January 4, 2019 1:35 PM
by Ella Riley-Adams
Why India’s Andaman Islands Could Be the New Maldives
January 4, 2019 1:35 PM
by Ella Riley-Adams
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- a new direct flight from Newark to Mumbai featuring its new Polaris business class). Then, another flight to the islands’ capital city of Port Blair—about three hours from Mumbai, two from the southern city of Chennai—after which it’s a 20-minute drive to the ferry terminal, where your suitcase will be unceremoniously tossed in the hold of a passenger boat bound north. It’s a two and a half hour ride from there, which is bad if it’s raining or choppy, but has its perks on any other day. Eagle eyes will spot flying fish emerging from the ferry’s wake, and a DJ plays the Indian Top 40 (with a bit of Bieber thrown in) for families who can’t help but dance. Bollywood films are reliably rolling in the cabins.
Sunset on Radhanagar Beach
Photo: Courtesy of Matt Taylor-Gross- Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans, located on the western side of the island (on the opposite coast of the ferry landing and the crowds that come with it). Leave your bags at the open-air front desk and go straight to the beach. From the water, the place looks uninhabited—beachfront properties are prohibited. As you float in the Andaman Sea, your only apparent surroundings are the rugged forests that line the coast.
No sign of development is visible from the water
Photo: Courtesy of Matt Taylor-Gross- now open as a national monument, and worth a visit to understand a particularly brutal facet of the freedom struggle. At the start of 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that three of the Andaman Islands would be variously renamed to honor freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
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The Modi government has also invested in the expansion of shipping and tourism in the Andamans, while aiming to protect local tribes. The area made international headlines last year when an American missionary trespassed onto the Andamans’ North Sentinel Island and was apparently killed by its local people who have not been otherwise exposed to the outside world. (A visitor has to try very, very hard to end up in that situation—it’s illegal to go to North Sentinel Island, and it’s located miles across the ocean from any tourist-friendly locales.)
The path from the Taj to the beach
Photo: Courtesy of Matt Taylor-Gross- Tanaz Noble, is a formidable kayaker who’s broken records for paddling uncharted waters between many of the Andaman islands. She knows everything about the water and the stars.
Or, simply waft between wonderful meals at Taj’s three restaurants, enjoying the particular giddiness that comes with a good hotel. Coming back after sunset and a sumptuous dinner of Southern Indian cuisine (highlight: sweet rava kesari with jackfruit ice cream), it will be the four-poster bed, the soft light from the jute lamps illuminating the villa’s warm wood slats that seals the deal: it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get here
- Tanaz Noble, is a formidable kayaker who’s broken records for paddling uncharted waters between many of the Andaman islands. She knows everything about the water and the stars.
- now open as a national monument, and worth a visit to understand a particularly brutal facet of the freedom struggle. At the start of 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that three of the Andaman Islands would be variously renamed to honor freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
- Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans, located on the western side of the island (on the opposite coast of the ferry landing and the crowds that come with it). Leave your bags at the open-air front desk and go straight to the beach. From the water, the place looks uninhabited—beachfront properties are prohibited. As you float in the Andaman Sea, your only apparent surroundings are the rugged forests that line the coast.