Author: vanderkuyl

We arrived on Little Andaman and it was love at first sight. This not so little island was far, far away from everything else and had everything a backpacker’s heart could dream of: Awesome beaches, a wild jungle with indigenous tribes, plenty of wildlife,  no mass tourism, still a number of fun activities to do and a lot more to discover. Instead of moving on after a couple of days as initially planned, we spent nearly two weeks here in total.

One morning we thought “let’s share one typical day.” So we started filming. Surprisingly this one day turned out quiet special, even for Little Andaman. Enjoy!

 

Sometimes the easiest things can take you a while in a different country. This applies especially for India. And especially for the Andaman islands. Again we learned the hard way.

The event that led to this story happened quite a while ago when the Sri Lankan airlines forced us to book an onwards flight from India before boarding our plane. It was a very stressful experience at the Colombo airport: Without much time or WiFi we had to book an exit flight from India and make an on the spot guess as to when our time in India should end. We completed our booking in the last minutes and could board the plane. When we arrived in India, the immigration authorities did not even ask for the exit flights from India (that is another story).  What matters is that we had to be back in Delhi on a certain date to catch the onwards flight to Kathmandu. In order to keep the rest of the journey flexibel, we booked our domestic Indian flights step by step.

11 days before our flight to Kathmandu we were still on Little Andaman and had no flight to Delhi. The task was simple, get a one way ticket to New Delhi from the Andaman islands and then catch our Kathmandu flight. Organizing this flight turned into a full day activity (again). In this post we share what led to the frustration.

Continue reading “Frustration”

This post was written on the bus from Port Blair, the main town of the Andaman Islands to the “wild” north of the Andamans and reflects Alex’ thoughts:

Having travelled so many nice places in my life, I am not easy to impress. However the first impression of the Andaman Islands truly deserves recognition. Maybe it is also the contrast to the busy life on India’s mainland. It feels good to see the clear sky and breath the jungle and ocean air. Paradise found!

But wait! This little 8 years old shit in front of me on the bus just threw an empty plastic bottle out the window, right into the jungle. There again, an empty cup of an instant noodles soup. His father sits next to him. Does not seem to be bothered. On mainland India it wouldn’t have bothered me neither. But not here, not in the paradise I was searching for desperately. I feel the anger rising in me.

Continue reading “Thoughts on the Road”

We left India. At least the mainland.

What happened so far:

Continue reading “Around South India”

Sri Lanka exceeded our expectations. The hospitable culture, beautiful nature and excellent transportation systems made our stay very comfortable.

In this post you will find a detailed overview of our three weeks travel route, some essential tips and recommendations for Sri Lanka and a budget overview. If you are considering on going to Sri Lanka in near future, you should not miss this read.

Continue reading “Our Three Weeks Sri Lanka Itinerary (March 2018)”

Making a choice was tough! We cannot remember the last place where we  encountered so many things worth seeing (=worth taking a picture) as in Sri Lanka.

The selection of our favourite things caught on camera at this destination was not easy. Here is our choice of maybe the best memories of Sri Lanka (we’ve taken).

Continue reading “Sri Lanka 2018: Our Favourite Pictures”

Travelling like a local is far less expensive than taking tourist cabs. Plus, you get to see, feel, taste, smell and hear the country from a more authentic perspective.

This story is about the wicked sound experience we had on a bus from Arugam Bay to Udawalawe, Sri Lanka. We have included some sound snippets to share this enlightening with you. Needless to say, this post is for the music enthusiasts. So turn up the sound!

Continue reading “The Sri Lankan Sound Experience”