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Hi Guys
Since we last caught up we have been away from Port Blair to Havelock Island 50km north of the capital. This didn't start off too smoothly as we had to queue for tickets at the ferry terminal and as with everywhere in India, the place was packed with everyone pushing and shoving each other. It took us 2 hours to get a ticket but I reckon we both sweated a bucketful in the building as it was boiling and still only early morning.
At 1.30pm we returned to the harbour and boarded what can only be described as a cargo ship with seats for the 2 hour journey to Havelock Island, a natural paradise we were told. When we arrived I could now appreciate how sardines feel squashed in a can but obviously they can't as they are dead!!!
We disembarked the ship and our first vision of the island was pigs running around on the beach, add to this the fact that both of us were feeling a little under the weather and it was not too impressive. Not to worry as we had booked ourselves into the best place on the island, Wild Orchid.
After a short ride we arrived at No 5 village and our home for the next 7 nights, where our plan was to just relax and catch up on eating and sleeping.The room was a hut but quite fancy but we scrimped and decided not to pay the extra 7 quid a night for air conditioning (big mistake)
I will be honest and say the first two days went quickly as we sat on our own private beach and recouperated enjoying the views and the water which was as warm as a bath and a beautiful turquoise colour when the sun shone on it.
Day 3 we took a fishing boat out to Henry Lawrence Island about an hour away to spend the morning snorkelling as we were both feeling much better and the colour had returned to our faces after some good meals in the Red Snapper. The snorkelling was good fun and we saw loads of different fish from tiny clownfish right through to big groupers, back in the boat Mel looked a little concerned when the guy started bailing out the boat that seemed to be filling up with water rapidly, but I am glad to say we made it back to shore in one piece, delivered right onto the private beach!!!
As Day 3 drew to a close we realised that the island had very little to offer and we had slipped into a routine of getting up for breakfast, resting till lunchtime, showering at 5.30pm and then heading out for our meals at 7pm. It was a bit bizarre and the food became the only thing we were looking forward to every few hours and it felt like we were in an old people's home!!!!
It was quite regimented as you could only eat lunch between 12 and 2pm and dinner between 7 and 9pm and when the bar shut at 10pm you had nothing else to do so we spent the whole week lying horizontal because if we weren't eating we were sleeping!!!
We did have one bit of excitement when the owner caught a cobra that was in the grounds and took it away, although someone asked him what he would do with it and he replied that they eat them here!!!!
The whole week seemed to go really quickly and the night before we left we found out that our ferry had been cancelled so we would have to wait till the afternoon till we could leave. At the jetty the next day it was the usual bunfight to get onto the boat and I got my foot run over by a guy and his wife on a motorbike, Mel became Indian and found us a gap in the crowd to muscle our way through. We took a seat on the ferry which was much larger than the one that had brought us so there was more room. It wasn't till 2 hours into the journey that we found out that the big ferry was the slow ferry and would take 4 hours and not the 2 hours we had been expecting we managed to find the only seats on the boat where the fan wasn't working, so it turned into a very sweaty journey as the sun was hotter than usual.
We had booked back into a hotel we had stayed at before and were met with a cool blast of air con when we opened the room door which was like heaven after 7 nights without it.
Tuesday 15th April
A few days ago we noticed our flight to the UK had been cancelled recently and today was the day we were going to sort it out. After breakfast Mel called Lufthansa to find out what was going on and got absoloutely nowhere at all with them and we are now sat waiting for our travel agents in the UK to open so we can call them and hopefully get them to sort out the mess. Not sure what has gone on as we confirmed the flight in Sydney and two weeks ago they cancelled it on us so at the moment we don't appear to have a flight back to the UK which we are hoping to resolve today at some point.
It is funny that we have travelled all the way around the world with only a few minor hitches and here every little thing becomes a major problem that takes forever to sort out, will be in touch to let you know the outcome.
Nine days till our flight home (MAYBE!!!)
Lots of love
M & M
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