Port Blair, India - Feb 11, 2013

Port Blair is the largest town in the Andaman district of the Andaman Islands. It is also the main entry point to the islands. It is especially famous for the historic Cellular Jail and the other small islands which were once home to British colonists. It is now a major base for the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard. We are late coming into this port today, something about a fuel pump problem that did not allow us to travel at proper speed. A note about India’s bureaucracy as the wheels of bureaucracy here are thick as the red tape could ever be. In each port we visited in India we had to perform some kind of entry/exit one to one visit with the authorities to ensure we were who we said we are. Some face to passport, some with passport photocopy, India Visa face to face etc. On others trips we have been on, for example China, you enter the country once for clearance and you are good throughout the entire stay, regardless of the number of ports you visit, not India, each port has its own set on rules to be cleared by. So after our clearance here we headed into town and did a walk around, took many pictures then took a Tuk Tuk back to the ship. About 3 hours in total. Coming back to the ship we (four of us) crammed ourselves into a three person Tuk Tuk for the 3 dollar 15 minute ride back to the ship - great fun. Some pictures...