India – Page 3 – An American in Kerala

I have a mild case of tonsillitis this week. That, coupled with the incredibly strong antibiotics the doctor gave me, has left me feeling a little under the weather. So, in all of this down time I have now and I keep mentioning them, I thought I would finally make a post about the Andaman Islands, where we honeymooned.

The Andaman Islands are known mostly for their diving and snorkeling excursions, but it’s also a good place to simply relax. We spent most of our time on Havelock Island. Havelock is about 2.5 hours away by ferry from the capital, Port Blair. We were on Havelock for five nights and Port Blair for two. We didn’t do too much in Port Blair – I was violently ill the first night there and the second night we had decided to just relax at our resort. In short – we had all of our fun at Havelock. Here are some of the best parts (if you haven’t already seen these photos on my Facebook):

The mangrove cruise, where we kayaked through the sea and estuaries to get the low-down on mangroves, was the favorite part of our trip. We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:30 am, put our upper bodies through a strenuous workout, and loved every second of it. I am serious on the workout part. Even Zac, who is the buffest person I know, had to say a few times, “I need a break. Can you handle it for a couple minutes?” Looking back, I realize, with humor, that the whole kayaking thing is also a good test for newlyweds. You have to be communicating and working together in order for the kayak to move in the right direction. However, at one point, our kayak was just not moving the right way no matter how hard we tried to turn it, and we floated right under some thick mangrove branches. Aside from having to lie down in the kayak, I had my hat and sunglasses knocked off and Zac sustained a few scrapes. The rest of our cruise was peaceful; the water was so calm and quiet, even the sea was quiet that early in the morning. An added bonus to the cruise – we saw a brown-winged kingfisher, which is one of the rarest birds to see (no pics of it though).

Aside from kayaking, we didn’t do much activity, just walked around the different shops and ate a lot of grilled fish.

Swapan's grilled fish - AMAZING. — Swapan’s grilled fish – AMAZING.

I also fed a stray kitty when we were at Swapan’s.

Hey, they only stressed not feeding the DOGS; they didn't say anything about cats — Hey, they only stressed not feeding the DOGS; they didn’t say anything about cats

Speaking of strays, I have to mention there is a stark difference between the two sides of the island where we stayed. One side is definitely the “budget” side and the other is a “you’ve got money” side. The budget side is normally where the backpacker divers stay, and the beaches have a lot of stray animals running around. This side of the island also has an extreme low-tide (thanks to the 2004 tsunami) from early afternoon until nighttime. There is more action on the budget side however. The two biggest villages are within walking distance from almost all the resorts. We stayed at two resorts on this side, Island Vinnie’s and Eco Villa Palm Beach Resort, with the latter being our favorite.

Sitting in front of our second-story view

And we got to eat our breakfast in front of the sea. Not bad.

We had to break up our two nights at Eco Villa with a night spent at Barefoot at Havelock Jungle Resort, arguably the best resort on the island and for good reason. This resort is only a couple minute’s walk to the Best Beach in Asia – Radhanagar Beach. There are no stray animals on this side of the island (I wish to remain blissfully ignorant of how they keep it that way), and it is soooo clean. At Barefoot, we booked the nicest room they have – the Nicobari Villa, of which they only have one.

While we were at Barefoot, we also received our glorious three-day Ayurvedic massages in two days. One of mine included something called “Chocolate Therapy,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. They slather you from face to feet in a chocolate pack (after the massage), and it was so refreshing. I smelled delicious.

In between our massages, we went to Radhanagar Beach and got in the water for a little while. And by “got in the water” I mean, Zac went up to his knees, and I went as far as I could before my fear of sharks kicked in.

This may have been the wave that knocked me back to shore

Also, in between massages, we ate at Barefoot’s restaurant, which was the best overall. The restaurant itself was open air (like most of the eateries on the island) and it had cushions to sit on instead of chairs.

He ate fish curry, and I had pizza with real bacon on it.

Overall, Barefoot was our favorite, and I would recommend it to anyone who is going to Havelock strictly for relaxation. If you’re not going to do any hardcore diving or snorkeling, don’t waste your time with any of the other places, spend the extra money and stay at Barefoot. It’s worth it. Another suggestion – if you’re planning on having any interaction with Rajan the elephant at Barefoot, book that waaayyy ahead of time.

Here’s a few more of my favorite pics from our honeymoon.

I have already planned our next trip which will happen in December – the Himalayas and a few other parts of North India. But I’ll try not to post about that until we actually book it. 🙂

I’m trying this blog thing again, and I figured this may be a good topic. Moving to India has been both the easiest thing and the hardest thing I have ever done. Easy – because I finally got to be with my totally awesome husband and live in an exotic country for a while. Hard – because I had to leave behind my totally awesome family and live in an exotic country for a while. I am still adjusting to the cultural differences, and I’ll probably still be adjusting to those differences when the time comes for us to leave here. And when I say “adjusting,” what I mean is if there is something I don’t like or don’t want to do, I’ll dig in my stubborn American heels until my husband points out that it doesn’t matter if I don’t want to or don’t like it, it’s going to happen no matter what because that’s just how it is. Also, I feel in my process of adjusting I have become irrational about really stupid things. How else can I explain bursting in to hysterical tears when I see tons of ants on my kitchen counter? Or, better yet, my epic temper tantrum when the power goes out for the fifth time in one day? I should probably stop making myself sound bad. And, honestly, most of the time, I am going with the flow over here. It’s more rare than not when I have a moment of stubbornness. Because, if you’re not willing to go with the flow, you will not like India. It’s loud and it’s brash, and it’s peaceful and quiet, and it’s overpopulated, and it’s full of magical wilderness, and it’s full of the most beautiful sights and it’s full of heartbreaking poverty. You get my point. Anyway, cue the list of things I have learned so far while living in India (this will be an ongoing thing):

You can live happily with a lot less than you think. For me, this may be because Zac and I have been living in a temporary situation since October 2012, but still, it’s been one of (if not the most) the important things I have learned while living here. When Zac and I moved in to our house, all we had was a bed, because we were told Zac’s institute’s hostel would be ready in a few weeks, and we would have a furnished apartment there. When those few weeks passed, we were told it would be a few more weeks, and so on and so forth, and now we have come to April and still no completed hostel. So, all we had for the first two and a half months was a bed. The bed was followed slowly by a refrigerator, which was followed by the internet, so I would have something to do during the day. But that’s it. That’s all we have – bed, fridge, and internet. And it’s been awesome in a lot of ways. Zac and I spend so much time talking or cooking together instead of zoning out in front of the television (although now we have a way to watch CSI:NY every night hehe). I’ve got to be honest – most things we own are unnecessary. But, on the other hand, there are times when I daydream about having a washing machine.
You’ll do things you never, ever thought you would do. I’m just going to name these off – ate fish with its head still attached, learned to clean fish without wanting to vomit, rode an elephant, bathed an elephant, kayaked on the sea, killed spiders the size of human hand, killed cockroaches that were quite large too, not killed other spiders in hopes they would take care of the ant problem, watched salamanders climb the wall to eat said spiders that you were hoping would kill said ants, washing clothes by hand, taking cold showers every morning.
There really is a world outside of the United States. For real.
Like, really. And they are just as proud of their culture and country as you are, if not more so. This also means that India does some things better than the US. For example, public transportation (trains, buses, and auto-rickshaws), healthcare (affordability of care anyway), and education are leaps above what the US has.
Stuff is actually pretty normal here. I’m talking Western standards. I remember, before I left, I had people asking, half-jokingly, “Do they, y’know, drive cars over there?” The answer to that is “YES.” There are cars. Plenty of cars with all of the different bells and whistles that US cars have. Something else I’ve noticed, with great pleasure, is they have hilariously dumb commercials like we do. Check this one out – and this one too – and then this last one – LOVE. Moving on from commercials, in the cities, they have coffee shops everywhere with baristas, just like home (I don’t even know if they are called “baristas” here.) And, in the various stores I have been to, they have 8 million different types of face cream that I can’t decide on….just like home!

Many things are easy to deal with here – many others are not so easy, extremely difficult even. But, please, stick with me on here as I fumble my way in to adapting to India. And bear with me as I learn how to write for an audience again. I haven’t done this since college. I promise I won’t be preachy in all of my posts – most of the time I’ll just want to share my adventures.

Tag Archives: India

Highlights From Our Honeymoon

Things I Have Learned (So Far)