Port Blair, India

Port Blair wasn’t even on our original itinerary, but it was necessary to re-arrange some of our stops due to political unrest in Myanmar. So instead of Myanmar we will be picking up stops in Sabang, Indonesia and Langkawi, Malaysia. We docked in Port Blair, India around 7 a.m. this morning. We had to go through the same laborious processes with visas, customs declaration forms, landing cards and photocopies of our passports that we went through in Mumbai, even though we would be here for less than a day. I am always astounded at our US border policies when I see what it takes to enter other countries around the world. Back in 2012 when Ronnie taught at the University of Technology in Bandung, Indonesia, we even had to be finger printed at the local police station…but I digress.

We are told that ours was the first cruise ship this year to arrive in Port Blair. Visiting cruise passengers were greeted by locals in the terminal as in other places in India - with marigold pedals thrown over our heads and the women putting bindis on the foreheads of as many visitors as possible.

 

Statue of Gandhi, Port Blair

tuk tuks everywhere!

 

Men's Hair Cutting "Saloon"

 

street vendors - Port Blair, India

Port Blair is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It’s a 2-3 hour flight from the mainland of India. It is home to several museums, and major bases of the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Armed Forces and the Indian Air Force. It is also famous for the historic Cellular Jail and other small islands that were once home to British colonists.

Before docking, our cruise director emphasized how hot it would be and advised everyone to carry plenty of water with them if getting off the ship. I probably didn’t have any business getting off, but donned with sunscreen and water bottles, we caught the port shuttle into town. We decided to tag along with Jeff and Joy, a couple of well-seasoned travelers from New York. Unlike us, they rarely if ever book tours, feeling perfectly comfortable to strike out on their own. Like most places in the world, they had been here before so they were familiar with what there was to see and do in Port Blair. The shuttle dropped us off at the traffic circle with a gold statue of Gandhi and from there we headed up a main street. As usual, I had my phone with me and snapped random pictures.

 

betel nut leaves?

lots of gold jewelry stores

buy offerings here

marigold pedals

floral offerings sold next to every Hindu temple

Hindu temple in busy market

 

another Hindu temple

 

peacock feathers and fans for sale

Jokcey underwear?

We walked to the top of the street, stopping in an occasional jewelry shop so Joy could look at gold jewelry and we could enjoy a small reprieve in the AC. At the top of the street, we crossed over. There are no traffic lights in Port Blair so one just watches for an opening and hustles, hoping not to get stranded between cars going in opposite directions. As with some other markets we’ve seen, there was a little bit of everything – clothes, shoes, trinkets, food, religious items for temple worship, etc. It was more of the same on the other side, except for when we ducked down a side alley that opened into a larger vegetable market that seemed to keep going. The sights, smells and sounds of a local market is always a sensory experience.

 

dried fish vendor

local produce

colorful produce

Asian bitter melon

After emerging back out into the daylight, we returned to the traffic circle where the bus had dropped us off. There were tuk tuk drivers everywhere offering rides. Some of these photos were snapped during the tuk tuk ride.

 

Indian women in market

 

street scene

 

kolam drawing on sidewalk

 

This week I attended an onboard talk where I heard that many women in India practice a daily ritual called "kolam." It is a type of drawing taught to them by their mothers and carried down from one generation to the next. The women draw these (sometimes) elaborate patterns at the entrances to their homes. They are drawn using a rice flour mixture (sometimes in various colors) which dries by the end of the day and can be swept up or eaten by birds. Kolam designs are made using a single continuous line. Hindu women also use small clay pots filled with oil to light a pathway or entrance to the home. They believe it offers protection from evil spirits (therefore, breaking the line would be a place where an evil spirit might enter). They can have additional meanings as well. Since I was told about this earlier in the week, I knew what these things were used for when I saw them in the market. www.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolam

chalk powder for drawing kolams and tiny clay pots

Hindu flower offerings, masks, clay pots

 

We let Jeff negotiate with 2 drivers to take us first to the historic Cellular Jail and then on to the Aquarium from there. We ran into some tour groups from the ship while at the Jail. It was horrible to contemplate what had taken place here in the past. Also, it was extremely hot and sweat was pouring off of us. We spent very little time there before we were ready to move on.

 

a British colonial prison

 

the hanging room

guide explains various methods of torture

scooters and tuk tuks everywhere

view from the back seat of a tuk tuk

 

cows and goats walking or lying around are a common sight

We climbed back in the tuk tuks and rode to the Aquarium. It was crowded, without air conditioning and we knew that our friends had been there before. We told them we were ready to head back to the ship and they were fine with that. 

Between the intense heat and my being just barely recovered from an recent upper respiratory illness, my legs were starting to feel shaky again so it was good that we cut our outing short. A shower, some lunch and a long nap were in order for the afternoon. Tomorrow will be another welcome sea day as we head to Sabang, Indonesia.