limestone caves
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limestone caves印象
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Our trip started at an unearthly 3.40AM...when Monica Travels (MT) sent a bus to pick us up. We then picked up co-passengers from other hotels and made it to a meeting point for the convoy to pass at around 6 ish in the morning. At the checkpoint a Pay and us toilet was much welcome. Our travel agent had sorted out our papers with MT so we had no problems. Then ALL cameras and mobiles had to be zipped up as the convoy started through the Jarawa tribal reserve forest...such flowers, birds and mushrooms...never to be clicked again. Anyway, finally we made it to the ferry. We boarded it on foot although one big bus crossed on the ferry. Stay away from the kerosene fume laden exhausts. The sail experience is fantastic. Photography is allowed. When the ticket checker came we said we were with MT and that was that! Then we waited a bit at the waiting hall (it has clean drinking water....but try the green coconut water instead...Rs 20 for one with the soft flesh thrown in) There is a Pay toilet. Dogs sauntered in. Then we boarded small boats wearing very uncomfortable life jackets which seemed to me to have blocks of thermocol sewed inside. I wonder if these work in emergencies.The boat trip is FANTASTIC. MT served us packed breakfast...some tourists disposed of the empty packets in the sea...it is terrible how we abuse nature. Mangrove vegetation abounds. Then, the boat took us deep into the creeks...it is a super spectacular experience ducking to avoid the branches even as the pilot expertly steered the boat, whistling to signal arrival at blind turns. The jetty is large enough and a bridge with mangrove vegetation piercing it leads to the trailIt is a gentle hike but at places the path is narrow, uneven and there are sharp drops. There is the risk of slipping. Good footwear is a MUST...ladies wearing fancy heels and flat chappals (slippers) were finding it difficult to negotiate. A few had picked up branches as walking sticks...I did not need one but it seemed like a good idea. Bamboo guard rails are fragile/rotting...grasping one or leaning is an invitation to trouble. There is a toilet here as well but long queues...and a hut that had NO AMENITIES but which was supposedly for emergencies. The cave fascinated me as a person with a scientific background. The lime rich water has over time created fabulous patterns which you could allow your imagination to run riot over. There was one sink hole right at the very top that let in light and air. I'd have been happy to stand and stare but our guides harried us all through..even a small stop to click a photo met with their vocal disapproval.To many visitors the supposed resemblances to Hindu deities was a matter of wonder. Yet others were vocal about their disappointment. They had expected more...but I gathered they did not really know what they had come to see.It must be understood that this is a natural creation...an object of wonder...a place where one marvels at Mother nature...this is not an urban amusement park...a mall...or a movie hall.The cave itself is dark and an ordinary two battery torch I carried was not much use. The guide from the boat carried brighter lights which he used for short flashes...my pictures therefore are not satisfactory.Food on Baratang is bad. Our group of 20 people were given lunch at a small stall by MT. We found white coloured worms in the cooked rice (some had eaten without noticing), hair and plastic fibers (from the bag in which dry rice was stored). 5 of us came down with bad tummy immediately afterwards. I did not see any stall/hotel I can recommend. If I go again, I will forget the free meal (with ticket) the travel company gives but drink the coconut water and eat the tender flesh....or carry cup noodles and ask for hot water...or eat biscuits/bread.Bottomline: Donot miss the boat ride to the cave and enjoy the hike. Let Mother Nature's simple display awe you. Enjoy the mangroves, birds, butterflies, flowers....breathe.
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No words to explain the beauty of the route you travel to reach the place. The route is the real charm, much more than the cave itself. I'm not saying that the cave is not beautiful, it's really beautiful but the route is much more beautiful.
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Amazing. Out of this world. Must see. Wonderful and very educating experience. The mangroves and the thick forests are also a treat.
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Though the place itself was not as bad. The amount of time and effort you need to spare to visit the place is not at all worth it. If it was like an hour ride from port blair or on my way if i was visiting north Andaman then it would have been fine. But almost an entire day is spent and most of the time is spent waiting or traveling. First thing you need to wake up in the middle of the night to make this trip. We got up at 3 and traveled to the place from where the police convoy starts at 6 amidst the forested area where the jawara tribes live. From there it was another 3 hour car ride. The car will travel through the forest area, the ride is scenic but nothing extraordinary, moreover we were struggling to keep ourselves awake. After which you need to take another short ferry ride to reach a jetty. Then there is boat ride to reach the mangroves forest where the limestone caves are. Only the last part of boat journey when it passes through really dense mangroves patches was quite good but it lasted for like 10mins.Limestone cave itself were average. And then we needed to wait again as the next police Convoy back was only at 12.30. So overall only extraordinary thing about this trip was the last 10 mins of the boat ride, still not worth an entire day. I wished we had rather gone to Neil island.
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If you really want to experience the natural limestone caves and the mangroves - then do go for it. But remember - it is a very long travel. You will spend more time on the road than actually in the destination. First you will go by road till the forest reserve area, you will need to fill up forms there - if you don't reach on time, you will be behind a long queue of cars. There are a few small snack shops here (you can grab some breakfast & tea here, and even get some packed for the long day ahead of you). Next, you will pass through the dense forests area - which houses the 'JARAWAS' tribe, but seeing them is extremely rare, so do not go with high hopes. Then you will have to travel by a big boat across a river - and then by a small boat from the jetty to the mangroves. From the mangroves, you will have to walk about 2kms through forest and fields to reach the limestone caves. It is definitely a unique opportunity for city dwellers to experience this - but prepare yourself for the long travel. The travel to and back will cost you the whole day. Also, once you are back from the mangroves/caves, you may need at the jetty area to board big boat. This area is not very clean, crowded and the waiting area has less seating space (to top it, tired tourists lie down on the benches, not even leaving enough space for other people to sit. Once the big boat arrives, you are herded on to it like cattle. All said, riding in the boat through mangroves was a unique experience - something you will always remember.
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baratang islands situated at a remote place far from the city area has to its credit a unique natural architectural structure of a cluster of limestone caves created out of the blend of sea water and limes at some particular point of time due to some chemical reactions.The caves do have a significant pattern of various god like images formed out of those reactions which are worth seeing by the visitors and give out an impression of the ancient but rare and extinct sculptures combined to produce a magnificent yet spectacular designs each one bearing some divinity and lightening element.A must not leave behind destination.
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you just cant stop admiring the mother nature for this ,the trip to the caves thru mangrooves is very nice, nice veverages sold outside refresh u after a brief walk tot he caves, infants can be affected by the slight smell in side the caves.
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Baratang limestone caves.The journey entails three exhilarating breathtaking sojourns- first a convoy ride through the Jarawa inhabited protected tribal forest, a speedboat ride through the mangrove forests and finally a trek to reach finally the sublime lime caves of Baratang.It is preferable to leave Port Blair by 06:30am and carry a packed breakfast for a two hour drive to Zirgatang from where vehicles leave in convoy at 09:00 AM( with a periodicity of every three hours). Be sure to carry your identity papers which are required at every step of the journey from making passes at the convoy till you hire a boat to Baratang.The long convoys of vehicles are flagged off exactly at 09:00 hrs for almost a 02 hour journey to Baratang through the tropical rain forests of Jarowa land. The vegetation is lush green of every hue except the green hue of envy and temptation. The wonderful flora of ferns and the trepidation of seeing a tribal in their natural habitat keeps you on the edge of your seats. Do not try to stop your vehicle, or even click a photograph even you come across one which is totally banned and at your own peril.A three hour drive takes you to a place called Middle strait from where you disembark for a govt ferry ride across to Baratang at the rate of Rs 6/- per person to catch the speed boats to Baratang limestone caves.The charges per person is Rs.450/- and be sure to carry your identity cards and it’s a scenic splendor as the boats with their outboard motors zips through the pristine mangrove forests for half an hour ride to the limestone jetty. A narrow unkempt jungle trail of about two km takes you to the 30 m long and narrow limestone caves.( Elders and people with joint and back problems—better avoid the trek because it’s not worth the pilgrimage at the cost of your health). The limestone cave is a natural invagination in the mountain face with white pristine limestone pillars of stalactite and stalagmite, narrow, dark hardly 30m in length where the schizophrenic imaginations of the torch yielding guides assume hallucinatory proportions and every artifact on the walls is compared to a Hindu deity. Try to reach back to Baratang by 1300hrs so that you can relish a sumptuous road side fresh hot lunch-clean and hygienic at Rs.25/- per plate with loads of affection for free and catch the last convoy back from Middle strait to PortBlair at 1500hrs still clinging to edge of your site with popping eyeballs if you could say ‘hi” to the endangered tribe of the Jarawas.
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If you are on a short trip to Andaman islands I don't really suggest this place. Main reason is it is too far from Portblair. As mentioned in the other reviews, you have to get up at 3.30 am and start the journey by 4 am. After around 1.5 hours of journey you have to wait for the convoy. Again another 50 kms through the forest then get in to a Jankar. The jankar journey will take around 20 minutes to reach the next island. From there you have to get in to a speedboat and that journey will take around 30 minutes. After that you have to walk around 25 minutes to reach this place. Families with small childrens should not include this place in your itenerary.
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These caves are a feat of nature telling us that nature itself is a living. The limestones of these caves grow with each passing year, they grow old and they die. To start i would say the journey to these caves is just as extraordinary as the caves themselves. passing through the wild mangroves which enter into the sea and grow in the harsh sea water conveying that this is my area and I will grow here. the feeling of the expanding nature the shine of the leafs while you are in the speed boat towards the island will give any photographer shots of his lifetime. the walk through the wild and the old tribal villages through the Jarawa area is really amazing. giving you a view of the exhausting nature in which we live.The caves themselves are a work of Art, the darkness in which they dwell the slight drops of water that continuously falls and forms structures patterns that only nature could design. A breathtaking wonder.