Repeat after me, Port Blair is a waste of time. Head for Havelock by the first ferry.

Ok. Maybe I'm being too harsh. The thing is that Port Blair is a city. And it has all the things a city of its size can offer – museums, tacky souvenir shops and seriously shady bars. But, the one thing it offers that no other place in the world can is The Cellular Jail. Whether you're a patriot or not, you should not miss visiting the memorial. In the morning you can tour the entire complex. It’s gooseflesh time when you see the rug-sized cells these inmates lived in. And sometimes even died in. It is a lot to absorb. Everyone around was touched by the experience, some more than others. There are a few multilingual shows in the evening that take you through the history of the complex. An audio piece with sound effects and intense narrations from the likes of Om Puri and Tom Alter bring alive the evocative stories of Cellular Jail and its inmates. I studied history in college and still had no clue that Andaman and Nicobar was not just occupied by the British but also the Japanese. Just one of the things I picked up in the hour-long show.

We also picked quite a bit of the dirt cheap alcohol. Thanks to which Port Blair is more like Port Blurry, not that I’m complaining. The next blurry morning we drove down to Corbyn's Cove. We made the journey in a jeep, which we hired from the hotel. Bikes, cars and even minibuses are easily available for hire. The beach isn’t too far - seven kilometres from the main market, if I remember correctly. Easily available auto rickshaws are also a good option. The 10 minute trip will lead you to Corbyn's. The stretching beach was beautiful and deserted, save the 2 or 3 families on either side. It was clean, had changing rooms and not too many people. It wasn’t swimmer-friendly because jagged stones covered a majority of the shallow sea’s bed. Yet, if it wasn't ridiculously hot we would've stayed longer.

Our next stop was a beach called Wandoor. The place turned out to be quite far and the way was extremely confusing. On hindsight, we should've hired a cab with a cabbie instead of just grabbing our old jeep again. It took a while but we got there and I believe it was fortunate that we took our own sweet time in getting there. Because if we had reached earlier, we would have been severely cramped for space. I say this based on what a very sweet and friendly nariyal paniwala told us. Apparently the man had sold over 1000 coconuts just that morning. Now, I don't know if we were plain lucky or if he was spinning stories for our benefit. But apparently thanks to the heat, the crowd had started thinning around lunchtime. And by the time we reached, what we saw was a bare beach complemented by a bright and sunny sky as it went through brilliant hues of blue and pink, just before the sun set. Between lots of sky gazing we did a bit of snorkelling and considered going to the Jolly Buoy. But an amused local told us that the island isn’t open to tourists after 2PM. So there! The decision was made for us. Wait a second. Did he call us tourists? He did. Dang!

In case you are fond of things like boating you can stop over at the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park on your way to Wandoor. If you get there in the morning, you can charter boats or join other groups to journey to Red Skin Island and Jolly Buoy directly. Now, don't go expecting any white sand beaches and stuff. But Wandoor is peaceful, clean and beautiful. I mean, there wasn't a single other group in sight which was fantastic.

If you can handle feeling like a sardine, then you can take a jam-packed ferry to Hudson Bay which is, if I remember correctly, is on the absolute other end of the island. The journey is long and rather uncomfortable. But it culminates into a fine afternoon of snorkelling and swimming under still, glass-like water. Now consider yourself warned – the tsunami caused a lot of destruction all over the islands. As a result, there are no changing rooms, no real restrooms, and other such amenities. In other words, a bashful girl like me had to go to the other end of the beach and change in broad daylight, praying hard that no one sees her. Till date I have this sinking feeling that one day I’ll find a tourist video of myself online. For the sake of timid people like myself I hope things would have changed by now.

But besides these few islands, there is very little to do in and around Port Blair. There’s next to zero shopping places, unless you consider buying tacky shell lamps, shopping.

Next stop, Havelock. That's where the truly majestic beaches wait for you. In Havelock there are three main beaches – No. 3, No. 5 and No. 7. Now, don't be so quick to judge them by their names. Even if they had corny names like golden sand, satin beach or a cool one like Bondi, they'd still be beyond beautiful. And you'd still be at a loss for words while describing them.

The resort at 7 is designed such that it's one with nature and extremely eco-friendly. Even the "hotel rooms" make you feel as if you're a part of Lost Season 3. They give you all the amenities you need but in the form of luxurious tree houses. The silver strip at Beach No.7 makes you realize that doing nothing is sometimes such a luxury. But it's not entirely nothing. If you wish to tear yourself away from the water, though I wouldn’t understand why, there are yoga lessons, hiking, cycling etc to keep you stimulated. Yoga lessons aren't available all year long, which turned out to be a bummer. Besides that, there's scuba diving at beach No.3, which gives just an unforgettable view of the marine life there. The reef and corals at Havelock are considered to be one of the world's most mesmerizing. I haven't globe-trotted enough to say that for a fact. But a group of Australians there told us that and I have absolutely no reason to doubt their words. Fishing is another way to unwind just like my favourite activity - lounging by the beach with a yellow umbrella in a tall fruity drink. You can even try kayaking and sailing to nearby islands. We missed out on that due to unfavourable weather. Well, that and the lack of sailing skills. Just talking about the place is making me questing why I ever came back.

And yet, I'm a concerned in sharing the experience. Because before you know it, it'll be flooded with tourists and lose its charm of being one of the world's last undeveloped islands. I truly hope not. I plan to go there again in spring. When yoga lessons can be arranged.