Hypermobility

January is properly starting to set in, and while the weather is not too bad, all things considered, I am becoming increasingly aware that I have no concrete plans to leave the country until May, and am starting to crave somewhere warm. To satisfy my continually itchy feet, I’m considering a brief weekend jaunt to France or Spain or Italy sometime in the next couple of months, but what I am really longing for is somewhere properly, uncomfortably hot, the like of which I haven’t experienced since I travelled through the Middle East in August/September 2006. So, since a great part of the purpose of this blog is to allow me to indulge my tendency to armchair travel, I am deeming January to be ISLAND MONTH at Hypermobility, hurrah.

Way way back when I was an undergraduate anthropology student, I remember thinking that it was perhaps not entirely random that many of the early social anthropologists chose to undertake their fieldwork in tropical paradises – Bronislaw Malinowski got to spend a couple of years kicking back on the Trobriand Islands, while Alfred Radcliffe-Brown chose to spend his time on the Andaman Islands instead. Trobriand Tourism has never really taken off, probably owing to the fact that they’re hard to get to, and the politically turbulent situation in Papua New Guinea (to which the islands belong) doesn’t help either – but the Andaman Islands have had a Guardian travel article written about them (with obligatory Bad Pun Title), so you know that they’ve arrived on the travel and tourism map.

Belonging to India, but physically and culturally closer to Burma, the Andaman Islands offer diving, colonial sites aplenty, gorgeous looking beaches, and, perhaps most interesting from my point of view, some really interesting tribes and cultures. And sea gypsies! Clearly, the Maldives are totally 2007; for 2008 the Andamans are where it’s at. Or something.

- You can fly directly (well, via India) from London Heathrow to Port Blair with Jet Airways. This site claims that it’s also possible to get there by ship, if you have the time.

- In terms of general information about things to see and do, this article on 4to40.com, and this one on smarttravelasia.com are both very informative indeed.

- For more Andaman-related information than you could possibly ever need (in terms of history, culture, etc.), go to www.andaman.org.

- And there are some general Andaman and Nicobar Island sites where you can stare at pretty photos with sad eyes here, here and here.

- Accommodation-wise, this place on Havelock Island looks both cheap(ish) and gorgeous, and is also vouched for my responsibletravel.com, so you can feel all smug and virtuous. It may or may not be the same place run by Barefoot India (who seem to offer various Andaman package options). There’s also the Wild Orchid and Silver Sand, both also on Havelock Island.

- This site seems to be pretty useful regarding island-hopping between the Thai islands in the Andaman Sea (i.e. not the Andaman Islands). There are various rumours that ferries or flights between Phuket and Bort Blair may exist (or may be going to exist in future), which would make a joint Thailand/Andaman Islands holiday an enticing prospect, but I can’t confirm or deny.

Edit: Another useful site is here.