Port Blair

Hello Everyone,

Sorry that it has been so long since I last wrote. Its been busy, I will also say sorry in advance since I have very little sleep in my system right now so this might jump a bit. We left Dharamasla after a wonderful last day at the local swimming pool. A pool that is just slightly above freezing, since it is all fresh mountain spring fed =) I was extra sad to say good bye to all my friends and hope that I will get to meet them all again some time soon. We did however hit our first bump in a while when an ATM ate Ian's spare bank card just before we got on the bus =( We went to the Bank of American in Delhi only to be informed that while they have the same name and logo and web site they are in no way connected to the Bank Of America in the US, SERIOUS?!?!?!?!? Outside of the bank Delhi was nice, we stayed with some friends of mine who live in Delhi and they showed us some of the local flavor, much better than being on our own. We then got on a 1.5 day train ride to Calcutta. Its a fun city we both enjoyed it very much.

Most of our stay was spent trying to figure out the shipping corporation of India to get boat tickets to Port Blair. What we learned is that:

• office is near millennium park and taxi drivers know where that is. 
• The office is closed on Thursdays as it is a holiday.
• You need to bring a copy of your passport and visa as well as a passport sized photo when you go to buy tickets.
• Cash only for boat tickets.
• Arrive early and give yourself two days to stand in line because it will most likely take that long.

There is a restaurant/ Bar called limelight just down the road from the office that has cola floats, and they are what you expect cold cola with a scoop of ice cream on top... only 70rs

After all this education we went to super travels and bought plane tickets. Than visited Mother Teresa's nunnery, quite peaceful and refreshing before a 5 hour shopping experience 3 hrs packing 2 hrs sleeping and than the airport. Today we are going to visit an old jail and try to get boat tickets for tomorrow to Neel island and than on to Havelock. I most likely will not be back on the internet for about the next 3 weeks while I enjoy this tropical paradise and try to find a place to volunteer at, I wish you all the best!!

Laura