Port Blair and the First Encounter with Andaman's Humble Hotels

1. Port Blair and the First Encounter with Andaman's Humble Hotels To arrive in Port Blair is to sense immediately the burden of history and the peculiar lightness of the sea. This is no common town; it is one that has occupied the crossroads of empires, a place of landing for convicts, soldiers, traders, and dreamers, who all left behind their faint imprints of travel on its roads. The air itself is redolent with the blending aromas of salt, spice, and moist earth, as if reminding tourists that they have arrived at a borderland where nature and memory blend. For most visitors, the question on arrival is immediate and utilitarian: where to stay? The unexpected reply, hiding between the luxurious resorts promoted by glossy pamphlets and the spartan hostels talked about by backpackers, is the understated yet ever-growing budget hotel in Andaman. These small, family-owned, humble-looking hotels have developed into the very lifeblood of Andaman's hospitality. A tourist who reserves a hotel in Port Blair in the budget segment does not step into a realm of excess but into a world where simplicity is its own form of luxury. In such a hotel, rooms were set around a courtyard shaded by trees, where hibiscus flowers spilled into mad color and the parakeets' garrulous calls filled out the breakfast soundtrack. The ceilings were high and equipped with slow-moving fans, the beds tidily dressed with cotton sheets, and the windows gazed out towards clumps of banana trees and distant glimpses of the sea. The charm of a budget hotel in Andaman resides in its unobtrusive efficiency. The staff, usually a family's own extended relatives, welcome guests with the warmth of familial familiarity rather than the rehearsed politeness of professional etiquette. Meals are not a formal affair but a plate of rice, a fish curry, and some vegetables purchased from the local market, eaten in a setting that is less like the dining room of a hotel and more like a home kitchen. And there is a strange comfort in this—a closeness that no hulking resort can offer. For visitors determined to discover, these hotels have a bonus in addition: closeness. They are near the wharves where ferries embark to Havelock or Neil, in walking distance of Cellular Jail that towers as both memorial and monument, or beside the bazaar where

2. coconuts, tamarind, and areca nuts are available for sale from street vendors. Being in a budget hotel in Neil Island enables one to be in the heart of the island's daily rhythm. And when the evening arrives, the sun dropping behind the silhouette of Ross Island, there is no grand bar with chandeliers awaiting, but perhaps a balcony with plastic chairs where one can sip tea, listening to the waves carried on the breeze. It is during these moments that the true luxury of an Andaman budget hotel manifests itself—not in excess materialism but in the ability to see the islands deeply without the pressure of cost and to be able to go back home each night.