MAYABUNDER
The Solitary Reaper
By Amit Mahajan
I had a feeling I was the only tourist in town. The only other guest in the APWD Guesthouse, where I was staying, was a business executive. The day before, I had heard of three foreigners who had been to Avis Island before me, but my boatman was sure that their plan had been to return to Rangat the same day. In my two hours at Karmatang Beach, I had been in the water thrice. In between I had been lying with my book under a palm tree, munching on the cashews I had brought along. And all this while there had been nobody on the beach. Then I saw a few specks far to the north-west along the coast slowly shaping into human forms. Fifteen minutes later this became a group of men, saddled with rucksacks, seemingly out for a hike or a trek and out to prove my ‘only-tourist’ hypothesis wrong. They were trekkers who were planning to walk the coast of the Andamans, from near Diglipur to Rangat, camping on beaches or near villages on the way. Now they were looking for some fresh water to cook a meal. I directed them to a house in the farmland behind the beach and dug out my map of the islands to see what route they would be travelling along. Looked like a cool way to discover the islands.
You’ll rarely see any other tourists in Mayabunder. What you’ll encounter instead is a market town with a bit of bustle about it, a large fishing community cooped next to the sea, and a few villages scattered around.
If you come for a holiday here, you’ll not be offered a menu of touristy things that you can choose from, rather you’ll have to conjure up your own recipe using the sea, the beaches and the islands as the chief ingredients.
ORIENTATION
Mayabunder is located on the northernmost edge of Middle Andaman Island. The town juts out as a peninsula into the sea northwards between Middle Andaman and North Andaman Island. The main bus stand is at the north-western end of the town. Half a kilometre to the east is the APWD Guesthouse. The main market, which is also the town centre, is half a kilometre south of the APWD Guesthouse. Avis Island is 2 km north-east of the main market. The two main beaches Rampur Beach and Karmatang Beach are to the south-east of the town, 4 km and 12 km respectively from the town centre. There are no travel agents in Mayabunder. Taxis (Rs 1,200-1,500 per day) and autorickshaws (Rs 10 per km approx, min Rs 20) are available in the town centre.
BEACH WATCH
Be careful at the beaches; not only are there no lifeguards, but there might also not be anybody besides you at the beaches. Before going to the beaches, enquire about the high and low tide timings from the locals. Beachwear is fine as nobody is going to be looking anyway, but of course, you can’t buy it here.
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