Travelers Honeymoon ~ episode 06 ~ Niel Island

in #travel6 years ago

Traveler Wine, Strange Beach Creatures and Really Long Fish Dinners…

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Sorry for the delay on this episode... I had gotten laid off for a week so we took a little trip to the tropics!


Welcome to another episode of Jessi and Greg's Travelers Honeymoon, we got married once in the desert and once again by the sea. These are the stories of our Eight Months Honeymoon. What better test of compatibility is there than traveling on a shoestring with your partner....India can really make the best and the worst come out of you... sometimes it's Heaven and sometimes it's Hell!

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Life on Niel Island is even slower than I had previously mentioned in Episode 05 about Havelock Island. Here, island life is as you'd expect it to be, just add a twist of curry!

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Our first few nights we slept in something that resembled a chicken coop. They were little huts on stilts, made of bamboo and palm fronds with stumps from a coconut tree set into the sand to use as steps to get into them. The first thought that went through my mind was elevated chicken coops. On the inside was a twin size mattress made of some kind of straw material, that felt a bit like a stiff futon and a mosquito net.

Traveler Tip: Always carry a sowing kit, it comes handy for many things but you will especially love it when your mosquito net looks like swiss cheese.


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After we settled and went down to the beach, we didn't think it was all that great, I mean we had just see some of the prettiest beaches in the world (at least for me to this day!), but in the end of course it was amazing. We were on a point, so there was volcanic rock on one side and washed up drift wood with random debris on the other and sandy, more or less. When we first got there it was low tide, so all we could see was rocks and No Swimming was going to happen!

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This was taken a few days into the trip, I wanted to show you what it looks like during low tide...would you swim in there?

We were just checking things out, but once we took showers and ate, we went back to the beach. The tide had come up and there was no problem swimming here at all! We set up our hammocks and chilled out under the trees until sunset.

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As I can't sit still all that long on a beach, I decided to play with all that beautiful driftwood laying around. This is where a relationship with strange creatures started to take form...

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You see where it says Sam? It's a Sam Stone. I had written about it a while back to donate to the family Here if you're interested in reading that.

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We ran into Tibo, who we had met in Havelock at a resort named The Sunset, a ten minute walk from the shore. He was staying there, and it was sort of hidden in the woods and away from the main road. We had to walk through and in between other people's properties to get there on this tiny path that wined up and down on the more volcanic side on the area.

The owner of The Sunset was genuine and really a great cook. This was for sure one of these places that is so chilled out, you could stay for ever, if that's your kind of thing! He made us all a snapper each with rice that tasted more natural than brown rice, and the fish was just amazing with veggies from the land right where we were eating!

It is definitely the place to go if you want peace and quiet...only thing is that it is a good ten minute walk to the bit of sand that we had at the resort we were staying at.


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WARNING READ THIS BIT AT YOUR OWN RISK:
Across the street from this building we saw a small pack of wild dogs devouring another dog in the same way wolves feast a something they just hunted down... sorry for the image in your head but it puts a new meaning to It's a dog eat dog world. And I don't really know what happened, nor did we try to find out but I did look at it long enough to have it my head for a very very long time!

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We rented bicycles to tour the island every day. We found a really beautiful area that had a natural bridge formation that looked like the moon with the help of Serge, our Russian neighbor who'd been here almost a month. You can get a 30 day tourist pass very easily to go to the Andaman Islands at the time, and to visit some of the more remote islands you really need a special permit. I could never find out if Serge had a visa for a longer stay of not, he was mostly quiet.

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We had such a lovely time here and to end it with this beautiful sunset was just perfect

Serge always made his own meals, cooking with an electric heating coil, boiling water in a tiny pan, never would he go to the few restaurants that existed on Niel Island back in 2013. He was quiet but he was very nice and we got him talking a little... Serge was a retired Soviet Communications Engineer who referred to Russia as the Soviet Union. He also really liked wine, so he made his own while traveling!

A big plastic bottle, Crushed Red Grapes, Sugar, Heat and...Time (about a week I think he told us)

On the opposite side of the island was a deserted beach where we spent an afternoon swimming and fornicating...it was our honeymoon after all! Don't worries, there are no photos...we were too busy! We also met a cute little Festival Girl from Italy and Czech Republic all dressed up in her modern day hippie gear full of colours.

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We really enjoyed a lot of sunsets on this island!

Anna is her name and of course she gave us a few pointer for which festivals to go to in Europe in the Summer. That was someone we would see in Europe and I was sure of it. She really liked the idea of The People's Caravan and wanted to be a part of it giving Jewelry Making Classes. That was very exciting, people were interested in the Caravan.

The thing on Niel, is that life is slow, very slow. That means that we sometimes waited over two hours for a fish dinner to be served. And then another half an hour just to get the bill, and you'd better have the exact amount or you would have to wait again for change!

But you know what, the food was always so good and delicious, that fresh fresh fish cooked in coconut masala was worth it every time!!!

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Though our meals were mostly just a couple dollars, it came a time when we were running out of rupees. On Niel Island there were no banks, no cash machines and no currency exchanges, and so we had to start planing our next move. We thought we'd go back to Port Blaire with Jen, who was this lovely girl from Canada, Jessica and I had become friends with. Once in Port Blair we would decide where to go for the rest of our time in the Andamans.

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We were thinking about Little Andaman but heard too many horror stories of sand fleas, so we thought perhaps going back to Niel Island for Holi Festival which is an ancient Hindu ritual and play of colours. The other thing we were interested in was a "God Power" festival, I have been looking for the official name but unfortunately cannot find it. It involves men walking on fire, pulling carriages with meat hook pierced through their backs and pushing arrows through their cheeks.

That sounds like it will be fun...

Here is the Proof again:

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To Be Continued...

Previous Episodes:
Episode 01 ~ Episode 02 ~ Episode 03 ~ Episode 04 ~ Episode 05


Next Week

IMG_0633.JPGDelhi Belly in Port Blair... Thankfully, we have running water!

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If you really want to know what is inside this Coconut, take a look at my #HumansOfSteemit entry HERE.

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Yaaaaaay! My quote! Thanks a lot buddie, you are amazing...you know, right?

You should have shown us that other picture haha and not just the one for proof.

Who would have thought the beach would be totally clean compared to what it was with the tide?

This is a nice journal my friend. Hook me up with the next one. Would love to read. Great writer, amazing man.

Wow thank you so much @olawalium once again you make me happy with your comment!

Which picture would you have rather seen?

Well with the tide you still have to be carefull swimming....the rocks are still lurking!

That is actually true. Be careful out there my friend. I always enjoy reading from you. You have this aura of warmth and excitement.

Thank you so much. You are very nice to me always.

You are always nice to me too. You are a massive support system. You are just too nice. Thank you for all you do.

You're welcome and thank you!

I think it doesn't matter where you go when you're on honeymoon, anywhere is a bliss.

Very true. As long as you enjoy eachother that is what really counts too. Thanks for your comment @livinguktaiwan

Great place for honeymoon. Thanks for sharing!

It was amazing... stay tuned for the next episodes, there's still a little more than 4 months to cover!

We will happy to have you with @IndiaUnited - a community project to unite, bring together and support Steemians. Please join our Discord Server .

We are not just the fastest growing community on the blockchain Steemit but we also have a curation trail, content discovery and promotion via an editorial team & lot more initiatives in the pipeline

Thank you for your invitation. I will definitely look into it.

You know I am not Indian right?

Yes, Quality people's is what really matters

Ah thank you very much @vishalsingh4997 following you

Thanks following you too

You're welcome

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Heya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our Daily Travel Digest!

Oh.. I have to look at this! Thank you @steemitworldmap

Aye senorcoconut that looks like a fun journey!! 💙 thanks for taking us along to see the beauty -full pictures ... man it makes me want a freshly cooked coconut masala mmmmm a good life!!

Lol...Thank you @Mountainjewel. I kind of want to eat some coconut fish masala too now!!!

You're welcome for the little trip, I try to make it nice you know. But I am wondering how will I have to write once spring comes and we will be working the land?

Less traveling for sure... I feel terrible about that carbon foot print these days

New vacation backed cryptocurrency now has PoH (Proof-Of-Hammock) called SenorCoconutCoin!

Meant to comment sooner but I've been busy! Welcome back!

The amount of driftwood we get on our shores is so much that people usually build log shacks on the beach out of them. Nice driftwood sculptures!

Gross about the dogs. Glad I didn't see it ;)

I went swimming on a beach in the Florida Keys that once low tide set in, there were nothing but horse shoe crabs all over. Made me realize that's what I was walking on... no thanks.

Haha I like that, a PoH coin!

Oh my... Horse shoe crabs everywhere! That's kind of creepy but I love the way they look. And aren't they still around sincevthe dinosaur days?

In Thailand, at a seafood restaurant we saw a fishtank full of then. I guess they are a delicacy in some cultures. I didn't try it bacause we had already eaten by the time I saw them.... I would have, if given the opportunity again! Instead I had tarantula in Cambodia!

Thank you for your comment...I would love to see a picture of this beach one day.

Later @bitfiend

Yeah they are very ancient creatures! If I ever make it back I will, but can't see myself going back any time soon. That is unless I become a Steemit millionaire whereas a week of blogging can pay for a round trip with the fam :P What gets me is their sharp pointy tails. I remember flipping one over which causes his tail to go straight up. Stepping on that would hurt.

Boy wouldn't that be nice.

Yea that could leave a mark alroght.. ouch!

Lots of dead ones float up on our shores... they are beautifull spraypainted silver or gold by the way.

Keep at it... eventually one week of steem will pay your roundtrip to the fam.

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