Zimbabwe Protest in London

On my way to the QEII centre yesterday for the the RTPI's annual planning convention I saw a large group of protesters. This was the Westminster part of London where the UK houses of parliament and other government and embassy buildings are situated.

The protest was around 300 strong at least. There were Zimbabwean flags, and orange banners with citizen logos. I wanted to join them but they move quickly and I have committed to promote a very worthwhile project at the convention centre so I had to be there.

The crowd was fairly quiet for such a large group especially when you consider how strong a case they have. Why this is I cannot say. I have seen protests in other parts of town about the Mugabe regime for years now, so perhaps these particular protest groups are fatigued, or perhaps it is just not their style. The banners are bright enough, the message strong enough, and the support they will get will no doubt be wide in any case.

Stromness, Orkney - out of time!

Although I lived a long time in Scotland I was still amazed by Stromness when I went to Orkney for the first time in 2008. Living in London the past while added to the sense that I was visiting somewhere pretty special. Where London roads have traffic jams at 3 a.m., the towns of in Orkney are quiet during the day. There are no queues anywhere. You might get a few people walking in the streets, or a handful of cars driving through the Stromness.

But even without a city home, the place would have real charm. The town is incredibly atmospheric, reminiscent of a different era, with the layered low-rise buildings and a stunning rugged coastal backdrop.

There are a handful of shops and a really decent local museum, with well kept realia of Scapa Flow. This natural harbour was the resting place for a German fleet scuttled in 1919 under peculiar circumstances (although I doubt there could be ‘normal’ circumstances to sink your own ships!).

It is after all a harbour town and ultimately if I get to go again, I will definitely take the ferry – the place is supposed to look at its best from the water! I would also like to see the old man of Hoy a little closer, tour around more.

I flew connecting in Edinburgh and there is a certain charm taking a 27 seater plane – much closer to being in a (very noisy) car than, say a 747. The airport is pretty small but you can rent a car directly there.

Beautiful Andaman Islands

I have just got back from exploring beaches, wilderness and coral life in the Andaman Islands. This Indian archipelago is not as well known a destination for travellers as Goa or the Himalayas for example, but all the more interesting for it. The chain of islands is remote, relatively undeveloped and boasts spectacular natural panorama surrounded by the clean blue deeps.

I went to Havelock Island, on 'beach number 7' which is said by some to have the best beach in Asia. I won't argue - miles of deep beaches with fine sand, unspoiled by large or concrete development are as good as it gets imho.

There is one main place to stay on beach #7 - the Barefoot resort where I spent three nights. Barefoot is the top of the range for Andamans as a whole and if you need home comforts definitely the place to stay. You will pay for the luxury at around 3 or 4 thousand rupees a night for a hut. It is clean and relative free from bugs & beasties (inside the rooms anyway) and has aircon, beach towels and that type of extras that make the difference. I liked the balcony furniture and the way the resort used as much natural materials as possible. Each room is a separate hut surrounded by trees and wooden paths, with no TV or resort lighting - making it beautifully natural and almost impossible to find without a torch!

There are many other types of accommodation much cheaper I saw a lot of places on beach number 5. These tended to have the same natural feel and were pretty decent for a price under 500 rupees. Bearing in mind that I was there in the off peak season beach # 5 felt like the place to hang out with more life and more of a traveller crowd. Beach #5 was narrower had some mangy but friendly dogs, and less strong tide (better for swimming). The food was also better at these resort (less fussy and less rich than in Barefoot). I had a beautiful lemon ginger chilli grilled fresh fish at Paradise resort.


Trips to the coral reefs are easily organised by the resorts and worth the effort and boat journey - the fish are stunning - I saw shoals of grouper shining and diving in unison, clown fish and many others I can't even name, just from the surface with my rubbishy snorkel! On the journey from the reef at South Button (a small button shaped rock where the fish and coral lie) we saw miles of mangrove growing in the water surrounding uninhabited islands.

The Andaman and Nicobar chain is particularly isolated, running north-south in the Indian Ocean between the mainland subcontinent and Thailand. There a few local people, and some islands have tribes who have no interaction with the outside world. There is a splendid stillness to the evenings and night time, when the wildlife can be heard about any other sound. Frogs are so loud they sound like dogs and the trees in the forest rustle and creak with a life of their own. Lying on a beach in the pitch dark you can see the milkyway and understand the meaning of the term, myriad stars visible each glowing bright enough to form its own halo in a stream of white lights.

Having said all that it was easy to get to the Andamans. With or without an Indian passport / PIO card / OI status, you will need special permit to visit, but this is easily done on arrival at the capital Port Blair, some islands are not open to outside visitors. I flew from Chennai to Port Blair in a couple of hours and took a connecting boat to Havelock Island. From India there are also flights to & from Delhi and Calcutta. These flights are relatively inexpensive, even compared to the 3 day boat trip, but you will need to book from within India.