Havelock is beautiful: white sand, endless sky and brilliant blue water.
As we leave the docks, an auto driver offers to take us up to village 5 for 10rs, as long as we take a look round a couple of resorts. He's up front about getting a kickback if we end up staying at one of the places he takes us to. This seems like a good deal - our rickshaw ends up costing less than the local bus.
We end up staying in one of the places he shows up. Not too expensive, clean and fairly comfortable, it's a hut with an ensuite, just 30 seconds walk from the beach.
What a beach! The crystal clear water stretches out towards an adjacent island, shin deep for three or four hundred yards. Shoals of minnow cluster in the shallows. Tiny crabs the colour of the sand skitter across the shore as we walk along it.
There are quite a few dogs on the island. Most are friendly and approach with wagging tails and expectant eyes. One of them, however, seems intent on eating Alice. It's stocky and aggressive, face and flanks covered with scars, and not the slightest bit concerned by my shouting. I try desperately to channel Dog Whisperer but I'm terrified of at having my nuts off and end up presenting my profile to it - not very Cesar.
It nips and scratches me, putting its paws on top of my feet in some show of dominance. Out of desperation, I pin it down by the throat and throttle it until it rolls over. Afterwards I feel bad but it seems to have done the trick - the follows us at a discrete distance and takes the rest of its aggression out on some beach debris. For the next few days, I take take a big stick with me whenever we walk along Beach Five. Fortunately, it's not required again.
Dogs aside, this is pretty much paradise. It's off-season, in case you forgot, and there's virtually nobody here. It's not uncommon for us to be the only tourists in sight. We paddle, eat and drink.
A waiter from the restaurant below Venom recognises us on the beach and is ridiculously excited to see us. He tells us repeatedly that we both are "dynamic personalities". I am not sure what this means. Both Alice and I are made to say hello to his bemused girlfriend over his mobile phone.
A couple of days later on beach seven, he spots us swimming in the sea and bounds over to us, shouting across the beach. I cannot fathom his crazed enthusiasm. We are introduced to his slightly less exuberant brothers and manage to eventually extricate ourselves.
Beach Seven is is a cove and the water is deeper, better for swimming. It's almost completely deserted and feels like the beach we've been waiting for. On the road running up to it there is a small handfu of stalls and eateries. Alice and I stop for tali and I also have a fish masala, which is immense.
We catch the bus back to Beach Five, across the island, and hold on tight as it swings around the single track road. I local I chatted to earlier is aboard and quite drunk. He rambles boozily at me which I watch palm trees whiz past the windows.
Our four nights in Havelock have been awesome - the perfect end to our time in India.
As we leave the docks, an auto driver offers to take us up to village 5 for 10rs, as long as we take a look round a couple of resorts. He's up front about getting a kickback if we end up staying at one of the places he takes us to. This seems like a good deal - our rickshaw ends up costing less than the local bus.
We end up staying in one of the places he shows up. Not too expensive, clean and fairly comfortable, it's a hut with an ensuite, just 30 seconds walk from the beach.
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| Our resort |
 |
| Where our resort meets the beach |
There are quite a few dogs on the island. Most are friendly and approach with wagging tails and expectant eyes. One of them, however, seems intent on eating Alice. It's stocky and aggressive, face and flanks covered with scars, and not the slightest bit concerned by my shouting. I try desperately to channel Dog Whisperer but I'm terrified of at having my nuts off and end up presenting my profile to it - not very Cesar.
It nips and scratches me, putting its paws on top of my feet in some show of dominance. Out of desperation, I pin it down by the throat and throttle it until it rolls over. Afterwards I feel bad but it seems to have done the trick - the follows us at a discrete distance and takes the rest of its aggression out on some beach debris. For the next few days, I take take a big stick with me whenever we walk along Beach Five. Fortunately, it's not required again.
Dogs aside, this is pretty much paradise. It's off-season, in case you forgot, and there's virtually nobody here. It's not uncommon for us to be the only tourists in sight. We paddle, eat and drink.
A waiter from the restaurant below Venom recognises us on the beach and is ridiculously excited to see us. He tells us repeatedly that we both are "dynamic personalities". I am not sure what this means. Both Alice and I are made to say hello to his bemused girlfriend over his mobile phone.
A couple of days later on beach seven, he spots us swimming in the sea and bounds over to us, shouting across the beach. I cannot fathom his crazed enthusiasm. We are introduced to his slightly less exuberant brothers and manage to eventually extricate ourselves.
Beach Seven is is a cove and the water is deeper, better for swimming. It's almost completely deserted and feels like the beach we've been waiting for. On the road running up to it there is a small handfu of stalls and eateries. Alice and I stop for tali and I also have a fish masala, which is immense.
We catch the bus back to Beach Five, across the island, and hold on tight as it swings around the single track road. I local I chatted to earlier is aboard and quite drunk. He rambles boozily at me which I watch palm trees whiz past the windows.
Our four nights in Havelock have been awesome - the perfect end to our time in India.
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