Day 3 Lalaji Bay - Introspection @ Heaven

Today’s plan was to leave Baratang by van, cross another section of Jarawa reserve to yerratta jetty point, jetty will take us to long island from where we will take another speed boat to Lalaji Bay.

I started my morning with a small walk in Baratang, got to know from tamil vegetable shopkeeper that except for few veggies all others are being imported from mainland. Bihari forest guard, settled for generations in island uses the cosy bamboo shelter for his duties before winding up for home via local bus. Simple life with simple needs, satisfied with simple job helps to wind-up from work at 2 PM.

Chidu was waiting for this day, to hit the beach and snorkel, he had convinced me to buy one too. All along the TT ride Chidu was getting ready, checking his rented GoPro camera to record corals and sea life, while Raj Kiran was sharing her experiences/work observing birds and wildlife, she has apparently done lot of work with Karnataka wildlife department. Raj and Dheeraj were an interesting next gen couple, Raj despite being a professor (full-time career) supports Dheeraj in all Parikrama adventure activities.

Jetty from Yerrata has specific timings, Dheeraj’s contacts with locals helped to catch the jetty even though the TT ride took more time than planned duration (delayed by 30 mins), as anticipated also by our driver Biju (ex-service man). Unlike cycling events in mainland, at Andaman there is lot of coordination required, to manoeuvre team of 20 plus cyclists with their cycles in and out of different transportation modes with limited network coverage all along (thankfully BSNL works).

From the jetty we hopped on to the awaiting speed boat. Cutting across the sea in speed boat, small islands near and far, only our boat was disturbing the coral-coloured water. Rajshekar our cycle doctor wished to settle down in one such island with fishing rod, he needs nothing more. 

Lalaji bay was another hidden gem of Andaman, with blue sky above and shallow clean coral colored beach below, is a slice of heaven on earth. There were no tourists, no commercial activities, no locals, not a single soul except for the forest guest house. Lalaji bay was itself named after a forest official, commendable effort in recognizing sincere officers. However our delays gave us only an hour to spend in Lalaji bay.

Once you have clicked enough pics of serenity, absorbed all that nature has to offer, what do you do? What does that mean for a tourist or anybody? to me it means two things – one is to carry this experience with me, in a way photos, even the blog helps to re-live/cherish that experience and the second thing is just to quietly settle down doing your favorite thing which will be a book for me.

Despite its remoteness we had clean washrooms to change, changed to our swimming suits. Chidu started his hunt for corals, the doctors too went to snorkel while others played in the water with Samarth coaching them on flying disc. Chidu himself wanted to re-live his experience (sea life and corals) from his Malaysian trip. His idea was to take me along and also record in his Go_pro once he spots their location.

Meanwhile Ashwin took me far into the sea, thanks to the life jacket (from boat), I was floating up facing the sky unaware and undisturbed by the underlying sea and its mystery. Floating along with eyes closed, off late as I wade through life's tough tides, had always imagined myself frantically rowing to keep afloat. This moment, the same imagination evolved from frantic rowing to just floating, undisturbed by the underlying current and darkness beneath me physically and psychologically. Lying in the seabed I opened to see distant shore through my toes, would have clicked an iconic pic if I had a camera with me, but some pics are meant only for yourself, an image that will be etched in my memory.

Dheeraj called out all to change and head to lunch, arranged at the forest guest house so as not to miss the return jetty. With some of us still in the water, Chidu just started to head towards the sea with his Go-Pro to record sea life. Dheeraj had to stop him, Chidu being the enthusiastic kid delighted finally to fulfil his wish was adamant resulting in conflict. Chidu offered to skip lunch but couldn’t let go recording, unattended in open sea was a big risk that Dheeraj as organizer cannot sign-up for. Thankfully Puru (trained coach) stepped in to ease the tension, he stood guard while Chidu went into the sea.

When we reached the jetty point, jetty had already left and so we extended the rest of journey till yerratta jetty point in speed boat paying extra, an option initially thrown by some of us so as to spend more time in the bay. Chidu’s coral recordings turned out flop as he had worn the go-pro reverse, camera facing above instead of under the water. It was an irony that both needs, valid from both sides couldn’t be fulfilled amidst the aftereffects of the tension.

Disappointments occur when expectations are not met, especially when it has been iterated. It’s vital that organizers get the co-operation of everyone on board to steer the group negotiating expectations, not an easy task. Non-cycling day turned out to be an introspective day, understood the importance of being agile, to embrace changes, subtle ways of diffusing tensions. It also gave a glimpse of how travel across the island can hamper your plans, a full free day with just one agenda ended up finally with only an hour to enjoy the decked-up nature. 

We travelled in TT to Rangat, our hotel was in the main street of the small Bengali town lined up with small sweet and chaat shops. Welcomed by hot samosas and lime juice, hotel staff were saviour to cyclists, they helped with a clothesline in covered hall, three days of wet clothes finally got a chance to dry. We had enough time to roam around the sleepy village, around vegetable market, chaat shops, join Durga pooja at nearby temple. I picked-up all the curd at store to enjoy dinner with beloved curd, curd gives such a fulfilling feeling.

“Revenge is a dish that is better served cold”, copyrighted statement of my colleague can also be applied to “Regrets”, traces of regret reflected in the evening briefing session making the environment uncomfortable.