Selected
JOURNEYS
"Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller",
by Ibn Battuta.
Our journeys are bold and ambitious, and perhaps the flagship of this homepage.
Although we are also trekking and island nerds, our journeys are sorts of trailblazing travel expeditions which are unique, challenging and adventurous, and thus they epitomize our spirit within adventure.
Often, the regions, countries and places we visit during our journeys take on an exotic quality. What matters is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. Often, we might have to overcome a bit of hardship and logistical challenges since our journeys most often don’t run smoothly. This is all part of the fun.
In our view, a journey is something you would recommend to others. To us, what really matters, is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. We are not talking about the ultimate expedition, but to move away from the familiar, out of the comfort zone, where everyday situations and events take on an exotic quality.
Selected
JOURNEYS
"Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller",
by Ibn Battuta.
Our journeys are bold and ambitious, and perhaps the flagship of this homepage.
Although we are also trekking and island nerds, our journeys are sorts of trailblazing travel expeditions which are unique, challenging and adventurous, and thus they epitomize our spirit within adventure.
Often, the regions, countries and places we visit during our journeys take on an exotic quality. What matters is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. Often, we might have to overcome a bit of hardship and logistical challenges since our journeys most often don’t run smoothly. This is all part of the fun.
In our view, a journey is something you would recommend to others. To us, what really matters, is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. We are not talking about the ultimate expedition, but to move away from the familiar, out of the comfort zone, where everyday situations and events take on an exotic quality.
Selected
JOURNEYS
"Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller",
by Ibn Battuta.
Our journeys are bold and ambitious, and perhaps the flagship of this homepage.
Although we are also trekking and island nerds, our journeys are sorts of trailblazing travel expeditions which are unique, challenging and adventurous, and thus they epitomize our spirit within adventure.
Often, the regions, countries and places we visit during our journeys take on an exotic quality. What matters is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. Often, we might have to overcome a bit of hardship and logistical challenges since our journeys most often don’t run smoothly. This is all part of the fun.
In our view, a journey is something you would recommend to others. To us, what really matters, is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. We are not talking about the ultimate expedition, but to move away from the familiar, out of the comfort zone, where everyday situations and events take on an exotic quality.
Selected
JOURNEYS
"Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller",
by Ibn Battuta.
Our journeys are bold and ambitious, and perhaps the flagship of this homepage.
Although we are also trekking and island nerds, our journeys are sorts of trailblazing travel expeditions which are unique, challenging and adventurous, and thus they epitomize our spirit within adventure.
Often, the regions, countries and places we visit during our journeys take on an exotic quality. What matters is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. Often, we might have to overcome a bit of hardship and logistical challenges since our journeys most often don’t run smoothly. This is all part of the fun.
In our view, a journey is something you would recommend to others. To us, what really matters, is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. We are not talking about the ultimate expedition, but to move away from the familiar, out of the comfort zone, where everyday situations and events take on an exotic quality.
Selected
JOURNEYS
"Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller",
by Ibn Battuta.
Our journeys are bold and ambitious, and perhaps the flagship of this homepage.
Although we are also trekking and island nerds, our journeys are sorts of trailblazing travel expeditions which are unique, challenging and adventurous, and thus they epitomize our spirit within adventure.
Often, the regions, countries and places we visit during our journeys take on an exotic quality. What matters is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. Often, we might have to overcome a bit of hardship and logistical challenges since our journeys most often don’t run smoothly. This is all part of the fun.
In our view, a journey is something you would recommend to others. To us, what really matters, is to get away from the established routes and seek something that little bit more special and authentic. We are not talking about the ultimate expedition, but to move away from the familiar, out of the comfort zone, where everyday situations and events take on an exotic quality.
From Europe to the Himalayas along
THE HIPPY TRAIL
Part II
From Europe to the Himalayas along
THE HIPPY TRAIL
Part II
From Europe to the Himalayas along
THE HIPPY TRAIL
Part III
From Europe to the Himalayas along
THE HIPPY TRAIL
Part III
TravelTwins.dk
Exploring the less beaten paths of the world
- look, read, dream, travel!
The
ANDAMAN ISLANDS
Exploring one of mother India's last and most remote frontier outposts.
The Andaman Islands are part of the Indian union territory called the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The two remote island groups are Indian outposts closer to South East Asia than the Indian subcontinent; a feature, clearly demonstrated by the island geography.
The island coasts mainly have mangrove forests with small stretches of white sand beach. In particular, the seascape is breathtaking and colorful with small hilly islets scattered in a crystal blue sea. Many of the islands are separated by narrow channels, which create idyllic backwaters and lagoons with beautiful coral reefs. The interior is a wilderness covered by old jungle and with an overall untouched and pristine appearance. This gives the impression as a Garden of Eden.
Interestingly, one of the least developed human cultures in the world inhabits the Andaman-Nicobar islands: the native Jarawa tribe of Negrito origin, which represent human beings from the first wave of migrants out of Africa tens of thousands years ago.
The Andaman-Nicobar islands really represents one of the last unperturbed frontiers left on planet Earth: Being remote, wild and uncrowded, the islands are the perfect travel destination for islomaniacs (yes, we'll admit to such a mental diagnosis).
Location: The Andaman & Nicobars, territory of India, during 2 weeks
When studying maps of the Indian Ocean and South Asia it takes little exploration to conclude that the Andaman & Nicobars are two key archipelagos on a short list of the larger isolated islands groups in this part of the world.
We "discovered" the islands early on and developed an urge to go there in our early twenties. A few years after our "discovery" the opportunity was realized and we made a two week long visit to the Andaman Islands, detouring from a longer trip from the Himalayas to the Maldives. It was an incredible experience and we had a great time in this small and exotic slice of the Indian Ocean. Most time was spend on Havelock Island, a beautiful island in the center of the Andaman archipelago from where we arranged several day trips. A big draw is the wild, pristine and untouched nature of this place, outclassing many other remote archipelagos that we’ve visited during the years. Being very sparsely populated, calm and undeveloped, the islands are also a great escape from the more noisy and ever-developing mainland India.
Like islands off the Indian mainland? Check our other island hopping adventures close to India, incl. the Lakshadweep Islands, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. For adventures on the Indian mainland check our Hippy Trail trip all around India as well as our adventures into the East Indian Himalayas.
Selected pics during our encounter:
Remotely positioned South of Myanmar, North of Sumatra, and in between India and Thailand. Once hard to get to but but with flight connections to mainland India nowadays
Clear waters, white beaches, few tourists, slow transport: A backpackers dream. And hundreds of small islands and isles, if one dares to leave the main circuit in India and venture here.
Several times we rented fishing boats from Havelock Island to explore the untouched archipelago and its many deserted islands. The trip to Inglis Island took two hours each way, through narrow mangrove water channels and across open sea.
Off the coast of Havelock Island, Kalapathar Beach
This unqiue beach of the Northern side of Havelock Island epitomizes the raw beauty and wilderness of the Andaman Islands. We rented a boat for half a day and went there to snorkel
Elephant Beach, Havelock Island
Elephant beach. Can be reached by boat or try the 5 hours trek through the jungle
Used to drag logs from the forest to the sea. Only a little timbering has been established in the very south of Havelock Island
All beaches on Havelock are arbitrarily named from no. 1 to no. 7
We walked for 20 min and found the so-called Neil's Cove just North of Radhanager Beach, Havelock Island. Completely empty and like a hidden gem. We stayed there for several hours, swimming, reading books, and comtemplating about how special these islands really are
We went to beach no. 3 for a morning swim and met this friendly older lady
Typical Andaman islands beach; soft white sand, turquoise water and mangrove plants. One could walk for hours along the beaches no 1-7 on Havelock to meet only a few other tourists, or even locals
We rented a motorbike for a few weeks and toured around the wildeness island on dirt tracks, from beach to beach. Every corner had it's own little secret. For the everyday picnic we supplied ourselves with food and fresh fruits from the local market on the island
Beach No. 7 on the western coast, better known as Radhanagar Beach was named "Best Beach in Asia" by Time Magazine in 2004
Small settlements in between the jungles had rice farms established
We made late afternoon strolls on beach no 3. The low tide enabled us to study the sea floor and its life. This lonely mangegrove tree was sort of iconic to us as it represented the geography and the lonesome position of the Andamans in the Indian Ocean
Many small spots allowed for escaping the fierce sun at noon. Tranquility was a theme
We often rented boats for an island hopping day; other days we went fishing or diving
Havelock Island
Supposedly more tourists have started to arrive at the Andamans since we went there in its virgin days, but the beaches are long and wide, so escaping the minor crowds of local tourists should be possible.
...but had settled in the archipelago two generations back to live a more simple life and try their luck with farming and fishing
Everything was made ad-hoc from the 2004-tsunamic floating timber and local trees. The bathroom was open-roofed and we could feel the air and wind in the bedroom. It was great!
We went diving around Ritchie's Archipelago in East Andaman Islands. Many pelagics and unperturbed corals was the highlight
The island was unhabited - the real Robinson Crusoe experience, although not for 28 years but for three hours only
In the evening time, at lower heat, local villagers hammered out lime stone rocks from the seafloor at low tide to use for building blocks during house building