Andaman Islands

I think that Chennai only serves to make you all the more appreciative of island life.
We took a grubby 15 hour train ride from Alleppey on the Keralan West coast of India to Chennai on the Tamil Nadu East coast. We caught a pretty sunset over our last sight of the backwaters and then slept fitfully in what soon became a very cold compartment which we shared with a mouse and cockroaches (for real).
Woke up in hectic Chennai.
Dirty, stinky, NOISY. Very very tiring.
We checked in at the YWCA, which we loved inordinately for its hot showers ;) They organised a car for us and after a delish masala dosa breakfast (fluffy lentil flour pancakes with veg curry, sambal and coconut chutney, mmmm) hit the town. Or it hit us to be more accurate.
We visited a candy coated Hindu temple and I got my hand shook by every little mite within a mile. No English phrases though, unlike Kerala where I had to give my name, place of origin, marital status, etc ad nauseum to every passerby.
There were quite a few provisions that needed to be purchased before hitting the islands, so we spent the rest of the day trying not to breathe while negotiating unbelieavable traffic.
My dad's back is still suffering, J and I are in recovery from the pharyngitis which is now manifesting as sinusitis and my mom's got an ear infection.
So we were all relieved to sit back and watch 'Happy Feet' at one of Chennai's 100 cinemas.
Early to bed and an early auto-rickshaw run to the airport.
And here we are...Port Blair for now, our ferry to Havelock Island where we'll spend Christmas and New Year is this afternoon.
Laid back, breezy and tropical -- we're loving it already.
It seems uncertain whether there'll be any internet access on Havelock, so if you don't hear from me -- have a good one!
My mom and dad leave Havelock on the 1st of Jan, J and I on the 5th.
The pic is of J and I happily reunited at Neyyar Dam, Sivananda Ashram.