Road Trips

Delightful Islands of Lakshadweep

Trip duration from Cochi - 1.5 hours
Number of days - 4 days/3 nights
Cost of flight - Rs. 8000/person (5000 if booked early)
Cost of accomodation/food - Rs. 13,000 per person
Activities:
Snorkelling - Rs. 50 for mask and fins
Scuba - Rs. 3000 per dive
Windsurfing - ??
Water skiing - 1-hour free
Kayaking - included
3-islands trip - included
1 fishing trip - included
TOTAL (2 people) - Rs. 42,000 ($1,200 CDN)


Cochin (Feb. 20, 2005) - The powerful noon-day sun was vaporizing the asphalt in Cochin as the plump ambassador taxi dropped us off at the airport. Cochin airport itself is an architectural and organizational rarity in India - spacious, clean, and no hecklers or beggars. The taxi driver was well-mannered and gratefully accepted the Rs. 500 fare and tip for the drive from Ernakulam.

I should not call this a road trip, but there was no way to get there by road. We chose a 12-seater Air India flight from Cochin. The cramped confines of the twin-engine, propeller driven plane encouraged close contact with our 8 fellow passengers. There were two newly married couples who were going to be with us at the resort on Agatti, a government officer headed for Kadmat, and three Britishers going to the island resort of Bangaram, the island next to Agatti.

Soon the plane gently rose above the verdant Keralite landscape of coconut palms and serpentine backwaters, and headed due west over a sparkling Arabian sea. In one hour we were seeing small outcrops of land and coral scattered down below, starting with Pittu which was probably a 100 square foot piece of sand. Eventually Agatti, the narrow 11-km island with the air-strip at one end stretched into view below us and the plane descended gracefully and taxied to the small concrete structure at one end of the lone runway.

It felt like we were in a Tintin comic book!

We were well received by the sparse ground staff and a representative from Agatti Beach Resort was on hand to help us gather up our luggage and walk to the gates of the beach resort located 100 meter down the single concrete road that ran the entire length of the island.

The beach resort consisted of a reception center that housed a desk and the obligatory gift shop adjacent to it. The dining area was the next building with an open verandha and a single room with a few tables and chairs. Beyond this was the kitchen. Spread out closer to the beach were a row of small cottages to the left and a row of air-conditioned rooms further to the right. In all very simple, but with a relaxed and affluent charm of a summer residence of the British Raj.

Our cottages were small independant concrete structures right on the beach. Walking to our cottage we were greeted by a heavenly sight - a golden stretch of sand beyond which was the aquamarine calmness of the arabian sea. The bright colors of the languid scene, and the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun had a calming, almost soporific effect on our minds. So this is what it was all about - a vacation on a tropical island.

It was a sensory overload to splash about in the water, feel the cool breeze on my moistened body, duck under the water and re-emerge further to look up at the overbearing blue sky and the strong sun, the un-ending coast line, and the wavelets as they constantly attacked the sand.

There were so many things we wanted to do. I wanted to do a few dives, try water-skiing, and Ana wanted to do some kayaking. We were quickly washing off the sand under the balcony tap, when we noticed that the little shells strewn on the sand were somehow moving about. Sure enough the shell closest to me developed a pair of legs and started hobbling around in the sand. Hermit crabs. Each with its own calcareous shell, depending upon its size. They were everywhere.

Soon it was lunchtime. The food was quite good. We had a choice of two vegetarian items, a non-vegetarian dish and there was rice or chapati. We decided to sit outside on the chair and tables laid out on the sand under the shade of the coconut trees. The dessert consisted of a tropical fruit salad which Ana dispatched with glee.

After a short nap I wanted to try some snorkelling. I had brought along my own mask and fins and was eager to explore the coral just off the beach. There was a wooden jetty extending into the sea at the end of which was a roofed platform with a couple of deck chairs for relaxing. This platform had concrete steps leading into the water. I jumped off these steps and dived to the sandy bottom about 10-feet down. Immediately I saw a lion fish. It had white and brown striped feather-like spines sticking out of its body, as it hovered motionless in the water. A "sting" from these spines causes excruciating pain, so I kept a respectable distance from it. There were other fish too - the blue parrotfish and damsel fish. The fish on the left is the yellow tang, another species that you can spot while snorkelling in the reefs.


It was evening time, and I met Thomas, the manager of Agatti beach resorts. He was a personable young man and he gave me an update of planned activities which included a ride in a glass bottom boat, fishing, and a trip to three neighbouring islands.

We could try scuba at some of the fantastic spots beyond the outer reefs, but to my disappointment we could not try windsurfing because the dive master was not on-site and he was the one who owned the equiptment. I was promised that I would be able to borrow it from him even though he was not on the island, but for some reason he had locked it up in his room and there was no way to access it.

A cautionary note about alcohol. Agatti island is strictly BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze)! The only island in the Lakshadweep that sells liquor is Bangaram, the neighbouring island, which prices it accordingly. I had brought all kinds of emergency supplies of liquor and was glad to share it with staff and guests. This consisted of two other newly married couples who were in the resort, Thomas and Mark. We sat at the dry bar on the sand accross from the gangplank and guzzled Kingfisher.

We slept well that night.

Agatti (21, February, 2005) - Next day we were taken on a glass bottom boat cruise. Part of the boat was shaded with a wooden bench extending on either side, and a small patch of glass in the center provided us a murky view of the sea bed as the boat sped along within the reef. The outer reef shielded the islands from the big waves and this kept the beaches on the island calm. Most of the seabed was tan crystalline sand, but there were outcrops of coral rock which showed up as inky blue blots on an otherwise acquamarine sea. The boat moved over these rocks and the finger coral that clothed these rocks was home to different types of fish. We also saw two or three sea turtles cruise along the boat.

This same boat was to take us to the outer reef area for some fishing. Pasha was the man incharge of the fishing expedition.

Pasha with his reserved and calm manner represented the all-knowing fisherman to us, and we were not afraid to ask him very stupid questions about life in the islands.

He was a man of action and soon had us all holding on to the plastic fishing lines that trailed behind the boat. But even he was unable to catch any fish in the first 10 minutes. I was not too interested in catching the fish as much as observing them up close and personal, so when he suggested that we go to another spot for fishing I asked him if it was OK to head home, and he gladly complied.

Its worthwhile taking a walk on the tree shaded concrete slab of a road that goes to the village at the far end. I decided to walk for 5 km, and so far I had seen just one motorcycle and a jeep speed past me and a few men on bicycles. Now on my way back the same jeep on its way back, stopped and the driver asked if I needed a ride back to the resort. I was happy to hop in, thus saving me a hour long walk. On the way back we spotted something on the side of the road fluttering about. It was an injured cock that was probably hit by the motorcyclist who went past before us. The driver stopped and called to the house owner. When he came out they let him know in Malayalam to make appropriate adjustments to his chicken inventory.

I was back and Ana was up and ready to take her first lessons in snorkelling. We rented snorkelling masks for Rs. 50 for her and set out in one of the kayaks to one of the coral stations. She picked it up quickly and was soon enjoying her first underwater adventure.

It is well worth learning the four basic snorkelling skills because the sense of exhileration that comes from diving down and observing the fish swim through the colorful coral and other creatures like the moray eel from a distance of inches is only surpassed by doing an actual scuba dive.

After lunch I wanted to explore the southern waters. The waters to the south had a lot more coral formations. Infact coral was like a forest there and the underwater life was also thriving. The reef was closer here and the further I went from the beach I was greeted by larger fish including yellow and blue wrasse, a few scorpion fish, a couple of morays, star fish, a parrot fish, and several others of different colors.

One sad thing I found though was that there was a path leading from the beach to the reef that had been cleared by the islanders walking over the coral during low tide. There were newly broken finger of coral here and washed out and powdered coral elsewhere showing the loss of underwater life where people had carelessly trampled on them. Thomas said that despite being warned about it, the islanders (mostly women) just wander accross the coral garden at low tide and go to the reef to pick fish and shells. These cowry shells by the way are themselves many times alive with creatures that live in them. But unless they are given a strong incentive to preserve these corals, this practice will continue. Only a steady stream of visitors to the islands and a monetory need to preserve these fabulous underwater resources will lead to any efforts made to curb such activities on the part of the fishermen/women. Therefore I urge you to visit the island, not just for the fun to be had here, but as an environmental initive.

Another thing to be noted is that the Rough Guide (and even the Lonely Planet, I am told) states that only Bangaram island is open to foreigners. This is not true. Infact although I would consider the beach in Bangaram to be more beautiful to look at, there are more activities to do on Agatti, it is cheaper and in general provides a wholesome experience, with a visit to the village at the other end of the island.

Agatti (22, February, 2005) - Today was going to be an excursion to 3 nearby islands. We went in Pasha's boat towards Bangaram. But on the way stopped at a wreck in 30 feet water. It was a 25-foot boat and made for excellent snorkelling.

I had visited Bangaram with a friend about 2 years ago and things were pretty much unchanged. It is a smaller island, more tourist friendly, with a small bar and some boats docked in the picturesque beach. After a beer we headed to the most exciting part of the excursion - the uninhabited islands Pirelli-1 and -2.

The knee deep water surrounding Pirelli has an amazing quality to it. The sunlight creates patterns on the powdery white sea bed and every click of the camera is picture perfect. The girls of course headed to the other side of the small island where a host of cowreys were there for the picking. Ana picked all sorts of shells and cowreys - large green ones, small red ones and every color in between. Most of them didnt make it far because her greed had overestimated our baggage capacity and the first to go were the plate sized clam shells.

On our way back we encountered rough seas near Agatti, so much so that ABR sent a boat to accompany us on the last leg of our careening way back.

Thoroughly sun burnt and exhausted Ana went to bed after embalming herself with coconut oil provided by Thomas, and woke up in time for a sunset walk along the beach.

Agatti (23, February, 2005) - I opted out of water skiing today and instead went diving with Mark to the Japanese Garden. Apparently Mark's boss had been comandeered by Vijay Mallya and his yatch and they were out diving somewhere. But even though he was a new divemaster, Mark knew these waters well and we set out in 30 feet water. The visibility was not too great (50-75 feet), but the underwater coral formations was spectacular. I was promised some sharks but did not see any. We surfaced after 30 minutes only to find that guys who accompanied us in the boat and had snorkelled the waters had not only seen a white tip reef shark but also a couple of dolphins!

In the afternoon we took a bike ride to the village. Ana was a big hit with the kids in the village. The girls here are very bold and talkative unlike muslim communities on mainland India. They were able to communicate in English, thanks to the high school, but had to go to Kadmat for higher studies. There was a museum but we arrived late and it had already closed.

That night was our last dinner and we had a great time chatting with another couple that had arrived that day from Delhi. I was sitting chatting with the guy when Ana and his wife who had gone for a walk came back panting and wanted us to go and see something they had seen on the sand.

We ran with torches and sure enough it was a turtle nest that had come alive with inch-long baby turtles who had just broken their shells and were marching to the sea. There were little green turtles everywhere emerging from the sand and limping off in a big column. In about 15 minutes they had all made it into the water, where most of them would perish except for a handful.

We had walked that patch of sand so many times before but were completely unaware that a foot below the ground were these eggs waiting for the right time to hatch. It was a happy end to an exciting journey, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in adventure, scuba or just a relaxing few days away from the ordinary. Also better make it fast before this place too becomes overcrowded like Goa.