Skip to main content

Baratang Island

journey down the creek

Mangrove tunnel

beware of crocodiles

Limestone caves
I did not know that Baratang was an island. It was only when we had to get up on the ferry,I realised that. It was on a clear morning that we took the trip to Baratang on our way to Rangat,another island.The road wound through the Jarawa Reserve, and we were lucky to spot a few Jarawas. The Jarawas are an ancient tribe of people who still live in extremely primitive conditions. They are still wary of "civilisation" and live in the forests maintaining their own way of life. It is forbidden to mix with them or even take their pictures. So, we reached the jetty and took the ferry to the other side. We were warned that the creek was infested with crocodiles and it didnt help when we had to take a speedboat from the other side to the limestone caves. the boat kept boobing up and down on the waters. But I totally forgot about it as the boat entered the mangrove tunnel. The mangroves on either side had branched over and intertwined to form the most beautiful natural tunnel.. The limestone caves arent much to look at but its this journey that makes it all worthwhile.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Collinpur and Kurma Dera beaches

Situated at around 30-35 km from Port Blair is a beautiful,sandy,shallow beach called Collinpur. Since its situated a little away from the city, the beach is cleaner and quieter. Its covered by dense vegetation and you wont know that you're near the sea until you actually see it.  Its a long stretch flanked by a hill on one side and since the gradient is not steep,its ideal for swimming and sunbathing. The main attraction for me was however, another beach called Kurma Dera. This beach is situated a little farther from Collinpur and is more deserted and quieter. The car couldn't go upto the beach and we had to walk nearly 2-2.5 km to reach the beach. The walk was through a very muddy and slushy path along a creek andd I expected to see a crocodile pop out any second. In fact, the second time we went to these beaches, we heard of crocodile attacks on the same day corresponding to our visit. Kurma means shells and I found the most amazing shells on this beach. And what surprise
1 comment
Read more

Kasavu Saree

I fell in love with the kasavu saree the moment I laid my eyes on it.Its such a great combination of simplicity and grandeur. I used to call it the Kerala saree or Mallu saree. It was much later that I cam to know that it was called kasavu saree, kasavu being the golden border that runs along the length of the saree. This is the traditional  handloom saree that Malayali women wear for festive occasions irrespective of religion or caste. I have seen women wearing this saree for temple festivals as well as when going to church. Its a completely white saree with a thin golden border. Sometimes threads of other colours are woven along the border and sometimes there are patterns etched on the pallu. But the overall look is simple. Onam celebrations Kasavu Saree My friend told me that earlier (in days of yore), women(especially women of lower castes) were not allowed to wear an upper garment and the saree was just worn as a skirt. I believe this was the just cause of a revolution and subs
2 comments
Read more

Uruli, Cooking vessel

When I first came to Kerala, I used to see these round vessels (of various sizes) kept by local people, mainly at doorways or gates. And I thought to myself "such aesthetical people.So nicely they adorn their doorways with fresh flowers".I asked the name and came to know that they were called " URULI ".It was much later I found out that these vessels are actually used for cooking. Fish and other non vegetarian items are cooked on Uruli . Earlier these vessels would be put directly on the fire on an earthen stove. Now they use it on gas stoves too. Most Malayalis do not cook in urulis anymore.Rather they fill it with water, put some flowers and put it on the doorstep. You can buy small earthen or brass urulis from Broadway, to take as souvenirs. The largest Uruli is displayed at a shop in Fort Kochi.
Post a Comment
Read more