A Million Moments

Why the Name Changes Matter?

In our earlier post, we sailed from Swaraaj Dweep (formerly Havelock Island) to Shaheed Dweep (formerly Neil Island). You might wonder why these name changes occurred—and who Blair, Ross, Havelock, Neill, Rutt, and Campbell were. In shedding its colonial past, India has restored indigenous and patriotic identities to many landmarks. Twenty-one of the Andaman Islands have been renamed. This renaming honors the 21 recipients of the Param Veer Chakra. The Param Veer Chakra is the highest wartime gallantry award of independent India. It has been conferred only twenty-one times, with fourteen awarded posthumously. Do we want future generations to remember valiant Indian heroes or random European officers with no ties to our heritage?

Day 4 – Ferry Voyage & Holi on Shaheed Dweep

The Voyage

Bharatpur beach & Jetty

We boarded our second ferry of this trip and did I forget to mention? It was the day of Holi! The festival of colors? Though we did not play it on the ferry. Unlike our first ferry we were allowed to move around the deck. We had a DJ playing old Bollywood songs and we all danced our hearts out! A group of ladies joined from Mumbai joined us and it was definitely fun! We landed on Shaheed Dweep (Neil Island) and we moved to our resort, had a wonderful lunch. We decided to move around on 2-wheelers. The island is very small and we could move around at our convenience. The resort had the best ambience I had ever seen. Such a beautiful property! Probably I will stay there the next time I visit! After the lunch, we headed to Bharatpur beach next to the jetty where we landed. It was time for holi! We played around for an hour or so and definitely Holi on a beach-side definitely makes sooo much of sense! (Use natural colors 😊). We later washed up and headed to the sunset point at Lakshmanpur beach.

SeaShell Samssara, Neil

I was just in time for the sunset as the sun had just begun his final approach towards the horizon. As I was searching the spot where I would line up to the sun. I saw that someone else already had taken the best seat on the beach! A girl had set up her frame to shoot the timelapse of the sunset. It was indeed one fine frame! Sun in the straight line in the background while smoothened sand with some creatively placed sea shells on the foreground. But I soon realized it had a flaw. She was shooing people away who were coming in the frame. Meanwhile I silently setup my tripod. I did it with a better height and fixed my mobile to shoot the timelapse of the sunset. People, even if would walk in the frame would not disturb it but add to it.

Sunset at Lakshmanpur beach

As the sun reached the final moments of the day people all gathered. The beautiful frame set up by the girl in front of me was of no use anymore. She decided to stop and stand up and this time I had ask her to move away from my frame. This made her mother to point it out in form of a sharp taunt 😛 flung at her. The sun finally set and I started packing my things. I observed that the same girl was still loitering around looking for a chance to strike a conversation. I just called her and asked her if she needed the footage I saw and shared it. It was a Saloni from New Delhi visiting with her parents.

Star Gazing at Lakshmanpur beach

We decided to spend the rest of the evening on the beach shooting stars staring into the endless sea. There were many small eateries where one could have tea and snacks like good old Maggi and Vegetable fritters. Three of us also took an astronomy tour. We saw multiple star systems, nebulae, planets (Mars & Jupiter) and finally the moon! We headed to another restaurant on the other side of the island. The island is around only 15km in length. I pulled off a prank which I learnt on my Bhutan trip successfully as we waited for our food!  We called it a day as next day we had to wake up very early for the sunrise!

Day 5 – Sitapur Beach Sunrise & Natural Bridge Exploration

The Sunrise at Sitapur beach

The day began early in the morning at 4 while the night only ended at 1… We rushed to Sitapur beach for the sunrise. I set up for timelapse but the horizon was covered with clouds for the good or bad. I did not get the dreamy sunrise. Meanwhile, someone decided to step into my frame on the beach. They wanted to make it their precious timelapse. Neither I got my timelapse nor did the other’s plan work out. We further headed to the natural bridge as the time for high tides had just begun. It is important to time your visits to this place during a low tide so that you can explore well. We reached at the time when the high tide was about to start. People will ask you to take a guide to explore. It is not required. The guides overcharge you.

Natural Bridge

We returned from Natural bridge and headed towards our resort for breakfast and head back to Sri Vijayapuram.

Chidiya Tapu Sunrise Hike & Coastal Vistas

Re‑energized, we set off straight from Port Blair for Chidiya Tapu, the southernmost tip of the Andaman mainland. It was a two‑hour drive from Sri Vijayapuram to the trailhead. A 2 km hike (roughly 30 minutes) then ascends to multiple viewpoints. Each overlook delivers breathtaking panoramas of the Bay of Bengal—carry only essentials, as amenities are sparse. On our return, we lunched at another stunning resort before heading back to Port Blair. Exhausted but exhilarated, we wrapped up the day with a quiet dinner.

Chidiya Tapu

Day 6 – Farewell & Reflections

This trip was the smallest both in terms of duration and group size. I met someone who has just begun traveling. I also met someone who has traveled much more than me. There was someone with a mutual friend from another trip. Finally, I met someone who had come to find answers to a few questions in their life. The biggest lesson? Never skip sunscreen—one minute unprotected and you’ll burn!

Happy travels—and may your own Andaman odyssey be as colorful, adventurous, and soul‑stirring as mine!

Best places to eat

• SeaShell Samssara, Neil (Definitely stay!)
• Symphony Summer Sands, Neil Island