The Beautiful Andamans

Made of 572 islands, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are situated around 1000 miles from the east coast of India, in the bay of Bengal.
It is currently off season, so we did not expect many people to be around but the islands really did surprise us.
From the capital Port Blair, once a British penile colony, you can get ferries to most of the other islands: South Andaman, Little Andaman and others. As a foreigner, you need a restricted area permit for 28days to travel the islands. The Nicobar islands are off limits on the permit and even the islanders will need a special government permit to travel there.
These islands are actually populated with local tribes, so the land is reserved for them... and some have not had any contact with the outside world at all, like Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island.
We spent most of our time in Havelock, the most developed island about 2.5hrs away from the capital: most of the population consists of people the Indian government has resettled after both the Pakistani and the Bangladeshi partition. The southern part of the island is a very green and thick jungle where no one could settle.
We did a couple of day trips while on the island: Beach #7, located on the opposite side from where we staying. We took a local bus on one of the two roads of the island (the local people called it "danger bus"... Indian driving!) and went for a swim in Neil's cove: we were the only ones there pretty much all day... We left a little bit of our heart there and also a wedding ring!!
On the same bus route and 1.8km away on a muddy track (monsoon season!) lies Elephant Beach. Again, very quiet and with a spectacular reef, it is a white-sand turquoise-water beach... Then we saw a couple of wild elephants feeding in the jungle just behind us! We kept at distance but it was the perfect ending to a few days in one of the most gorgeous places in the world!

Cooking the Indian way

One of the things I most looked forward to in India was the food. I like Indian food but the food you get locally is very different from any version of Indian food around the world. On top of this, the subcontinent is so big that the cuisine is very localized, meaning that what you would typically get in one region might be completely different from the next state. 

We are currently in Kerala - a coastal state in the very south of India. The local flavour is mustard seed, that we learned need to be "popped" in very hot coconut oil before being added to the dish you are preparing ... together with coconut (milk, pulp, flakes, water or any other form) it is the essence of Kerala cooking. With Jewish and Christian influences, the typical dish would be fish with some sort of curry (which is just the sauce that goes with it, not the spice!) and Kerala rice. 

So, while we were all the way here, I could not turn down the possibility of a cooking class in Indian cuisine... I just knocked on a little door that said "Cookery Class" and we were invited the next day in the lady's own kitchen with her pots and pans to sit though a lesson about spices and powders, before cooking up a storm. 

We managed to get our hands dirty making a Kerala version of the Dal Fry - lentils and coconut flakes, in this Southern Indian delicacy. We made vegetable curry, with tumeric, mustard seeds and all sorts of vegetables and we also could eat it all with great satisfaction! 

Trespassing in India

One thing that is mandatory in India is to get on one of the local trains. Long distance, only a couple of hours... Indian trains seems to be able to get you anywhere you want, as long as you are not really concerned about the timing.

We boarded the train from Goa, to get to another state called Karnataka... Quite a short journey, considering the vast Indian scale of travels.

The train arrived late and left late, but that was fine: we were being entertained by the sellers on it, providing everything from pillows, to chai, books and jewellery. 

We were not sure how long the journey was going to take, not sure of the distance so we kept a close eye on the stations, having a good look at the view around us. With all windows and doors open, even while moving, it was easy to feel immersed in the jungle all around us.

We finally got to our destination, with many long stops in between, to dismount on the opposite of the train station: I will admit we had to trespass to the other side of the platform as the was no other way round. The Indians were very at ease with this but for me it was strange as I have been told all my life it is very dangerous... One more experience ticked off!