Living In Kavaratti :)

Hey all , today i am going to share my very first experiences coming to kavaratti from mainland India.

    

I was awestruck when i landed here at the natural beauty of Lakshadweep islands. It was very beautiful with the lagoon around the island and the people here are nice & helpful. 

Language here could be a challenge for non Malayalam speakers but English / Hindi are understood by about 20-25% of the population.  The religion followed here is Islam and people here are very spiritual and Kind hearted. Every one attends their Friday prayers for sure with many businesses and schools not working on fridays.

Climate here ranges between 24 degrees to 33 degrees all through the year.But when it comes to monsoon season , it pours continuously and takes some time for one to adjust to the weather during the monsoon. Other than the monsoons, it is beautiful weather in Kavaratti Islands. 

Hotels may be easily available, but its a challenge finding houses or flats for monthly rent. The cuisine is quiet similar to that of Kerala and is  tasty .
For those from elsewhere working here in such a tiny Island, it feels laid back and pleasant as compared to the same work in the mainland.

                                        A Very Old Mosque @ Lakshadweep 

                                                   Paradise Hut

Islanders traditional dance

Hotels, Resorts & Places to stay :)

Hey all, well we started our journey excitingly and reached Lakshadweep Islands so far. Now lets see hotels and places to stay.

                              

The best places for any short vacation are the tourists’ guest houses in each of the islands. Tourist guest houses are operated by the tourism department (SPORTS – Society for promotion of tourism and Sports). Tourist guest houses generally have a beach view. Tourist guest houses cost a bit more but the hospitality is on par with good hotels.

NOTE : Government officers or people who are coming to visit Lakshadweep islands on government work can book rooms in State Guest house.

There are also some budget hotels like  AL-BE Hotel at the main junction near Auto Stand,  where prices starts from Rs300 (Non-AC) per day to  Rs1000(AC) per day. AL-BE Hotel is very near  (walk-able distance) to the main jetty where we can see the small Boats and Cargo Ships which are moored in one place. In the Evening during sunset, walking on the jetty gives you a wonderful feeling. Also is a Super Market just beside Al-be hotel, so is SEA LINE restaurant, which I guess is the best in Kavaratti after Tourist Hut run by the government.

Paradise Huts or Tourist guest house

Paradise Huts

 RESORTS IN LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS:

BANGARAM ISLAND RESORT :     
                                          There are Beautiful Resorts in Lakshadweep Islands. Specially Bangaram Islands is one of the famous among all islands of Lakshadweep . Generally people planning for short vacation choose to go for Bangaram Island Resorts or Sea Shell Resorts in (Agatti Islands).The Bangaram Island Resort offers a variety of outdoor sports like Scuba-diving, Snorkeling, Kayaking, Deep sea fishing and so on. 

The Resort is made of 30 simple huts in blocks of four. All the rooms are comfortably furnished with twin beds, ceiling fan, stocked refrigerator and private shower. The deluxe huts have two bed rooms with separate living room.All these are spread across in 128 acres of land.The cottages are nice and spacious. Bangaram Island Resorts offers utmost privacy, unpolluted with crystal clear blue waters with sparkling coral reef and blue lagoon perform magic.
  
NOTE: Bangaram island Resort is currently not operational. As the lakshadweep administration has stopped issuing entry permits and the case is currently in supreme court of India.

SEA SHELL RESORT (AGATTI ISLAND):
                                                      This is also a good resort and is just 5 minutes from the Agatti Airport.
Sea-Shell Resort is to left side of  the island (from Airport) and the Resort has a very big lagoon and Huts for the tourists to enjoy the natural blue waters.

And, available across all islands are government run Resorts and Private lodges for temporary accomodation.

Reaching Lakshadweep Islands from Mainland :)

Hi everyone, today i shall update you on how to reach lakshadweep islands and the means of transportation available from mainland India to lakshadweep islands.

The best season to travel to lakshadweep island is during the fair season(from September to May). It is monsoon season from May to September and the weather is a bit rough during the monsoons.

Kochi (earlier called cochin in the State of Kerala, India) is a major exit point from mainland India to lakshadweep islands, others being Mangalore(Karnataka) & Calicut(Kerala).
One can reach Cochin by Road, Rail, Air and Sea from different parts of the world.

From Cochin there are two means of transportation to lakshadweep islands.

• AIR : The "Cochin International Airport" located in Nedumbassery is about 25 to 30km from Cochin/Ernakulam. Air India operates a daily flight(excluding Sunday)  from Cochin(COK) to Agatti Island(AGX), the island where the airport is located. (Kingfisher airlines also operated flights to Agatti from Bangalore & Cochin). The journey time from Cochin to Agatti island is about 1hour & 30minutes and the ticket fares range between INR 2500 to INR 7500 based on availability. The journey gets amazing as you reach Agatti over turquoise blue waters and the run way of the airport is small. One would experience an exiting landing. From Agatti island we can reach different islands through  High Speed Vessels or by Helicopter. High Speed Vessels, available only during the fair season are very comfortable and fun to travel. The ticket for a HS vessel is much cheaper(about INR 200) compared to Helicopter (about INR 1000) which again also is much cheaper compared to helicopter fares elsewhere. Helicopter journey time from Agatti Island to Kavaratti Island (the capital of Lakshadweep) is  15 minutes and HS vessel takes about 3+ hours for a distance of about 60 Kms on sea.
• SHIP : The Ship journey is entirely different from flight journey, either way the experiences are different and memorable. Their are a total of seven ships operating to lakshadweep islands. Travel time from Cochin to Lakshadweep islands varies depending on the Island being visited and the itenary/schedule of the ship. Tickets can be booked at Lakshadweep office near the Cochin port and at various port offices on the islands. Ship ticket fares start from about INR 500 and go upto INR 8000 depending on the Class of travel. Bunk class has train like births with common washrooms and First, Second & Owners classes have cabins with attached washrooms. All the classes are air-conditioned. Food is served on the ships and is good.

Note: A permit issued by the Administration of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep is required to travel to the islands.

                              

A High Speed Vessel

Inside a High Speed Vessel

A ship to lakshadweep..

Inside the Ship

Inside a ship Cabin

Dining hall in a ship

About Lakshadweep

Hi everyone, today i will update you about  Lakshadweep and its islands.

Lakshadweep islands were earlier  called as  "laccadives".

The word Lakshadweep means one hundred thousand islands, but i guess there are  around 30 plus.

Among the islands, only ten are inhabited, the major ones being Kavaratti,Agatti,Androth and Minicoy.

Bangaram, an uninhabited island once had a resort which was recently shutdown due to legal issues.

Each of the major islands are about 4Sq.km each, other being considerably smaller.

Kavaratti is the capital of Lakshadweep islands.

The total population in Lakshadweep islands is about 65,000 and kavaratti island has a population of about 12,000 people with 40% being Non-islanders working here.

Language spoken is Malyalam, Hindi is understandable by about 50% of the population.

 Here i am uploading a few pictures of the island 

                       

               

                                      

About Author... :) :)

Hello everyone, I am Alekya and this is my first blog. I am really excited about being part of a blog. First, let me introduce my self.

Well, I am recently married and since have shifted to "Lakshadweep" as my husband works here. I knew Lakshadweep islands only from map pointing during geography lessons at school. Anyway, there are many islands here but we live in Kavaratti Island ( BTW it is the capital of this tiny union Territory) and this is the best place on earth. 

This blog also gives information on what to get where @ kavaratti( Based on my few months here) for people moving to this place by any chance. 

Welcome to my blog :) :) :)