In transit through Port Blair (Andaman Islands)

Another day - Another port ;) I choose to use the ‘Cat’ to return to Port Blair from Havelock and I am sooo glad that I did (it may cost 650r but the ride is faster, more comfortable, with entertainment and optional refreshments. I spent most of the journey watching the landscape of the Andaman’s slide past the HUGE one way glass windows while munching through various snacks…
On arrival in Port Blair you collect your bags from the jetty where they are helpfully lined up awaiting their owners in the light rain J then it is off to meet the driver from Barefoot who takes me to the hotel only 2 mins away. The Hotel is clean and comfortable and within walking distance of the town - which of course needed to be explored! Walking seems to be something the western tourist does little of as I found myself the only tourist on many of the streets but you gain a real feel for what is going on. The open sewers/drains are in places covered with concrete blocks and locals hang out at roadside café shacks along the route - the bus stand is a chaotic mix of old and new buses while the shops are clustered in a great mass around the central bizarre and clock tower. Traffic here is a little less intense than in India and is controlled by traffic police on circular stands on junctions (most of them are women) who have an elegant style in moving their white gloved hands to direct traffic along particular routes and the system works incredibly well :)
Things to see in Port Blair include - The Naval Museum which houses and collection of coral and shells from the islands, the Anthropomorphic Museum that includes a range of exhibits on life in the islands and the Cellular jail which is a moving experience and if you feel the need also has a light and sound show in the early evening. My visit to the jail took about 1 hour and included finding: information on the political prisoners who were locked up here, Cells in the original condition for you to walk into and see just how poor the conditions were for the people housed here, the work shed where prisoners would toil under the yoke of overseers, the watchtowers from which you gain a fantastic vantage point over Port Blair, the martyrs flame/column in remembrance of those who died here and finally and most haunting the last rites and gallows chamber - this was a small room off in the corner of the courtyard with nothing more than a concrete room below the trapdoors, it was unsettling to say the least to think that you are standing in a room where prisoners had been hung and then the bodies lowered and removed from this very spot, unchanged with the original features…
Food in Port Blair is good and the Thali is recommended as an all you can eat option.