Sundowner: Autumn/Winter 2018

WE WALKED AMONG ORCHIDS AND FUNGI UNDER A DENSE
CANOPY OF ANCIENT TREES HUNG WITH LIANAS, AND WERE
INVITED BY A GIGGLING FAMILY OF HILL FARMERS TO DRINK
FROM FRESHLY FORAGED COCONUTS
kilometres from the Indian mainland and stretched out over 640
kilometres of Andaman sea between Burma and Sumatra, are
like nowhere else in India, particularly when it comes to serving
up idyllic, deserted tropical beaches.
Of the 572 islands, only 38 are populated and nine open to
tourists. Most are shrouded in mystery, especially the Nicobar,
which have been totally off limits to foreigners since the colonial
era, when they were rumoured to be inhabited by ferocious
tribes of cannibals. I was taken completely by surprise to find
out that Salomie, who had earlier shown me to my villa
following her part in singing a traditional Nicobari welcome,
is Nicobarese herself.
As we walked through dappled late afternoon sunlight, she
explained that despite their Austro-Asiatic origins, 98 per cent
of Nicobarese are now Christian, and she had been recruited
as part of an arrangement between Taj and her church. Later,
Abush Kumar, the hotel’s charming general manager, said that
it had been as much about “me being interviewed by the church
elders as a suitable employer for their young people as the other
way round”. Another Nicobarese staff member, named Martin
Luther, has turned out to be a gifted musician who occasionally
serenades guests after dinner with his guitar and a voice as
smooth as tropical honey.
My generously spacious villa, built on stilts with a domed
thatched roof inspired by the architecture of traditional Jarawas
tribal huts, had an exterior of reclaimed pale palmyra wood
with a wraparound decking veranda of sunloungers and
outdoor seating. From here, wall-sized sliding glass doors led
to a polished floor and coconut wood interior with a designer
version of a king-sized four-poster bed, walk-in dressing room,
and a lavish bathroom suite. Some villas have two bedrooms and
private pools, and the seriously palatial two-storey presidential
version comes with its own 20-metre infinity pool and a lift.
The Andamans still feel like an exciting new destination;
landing at the islands’ quirky colonial era capital Port Blair after a
two-hour flight from Chennai, I immediately had the feeling this
was a good place to be. After the 90-minute hop by catamaran to
Havelock, I was in no doubt.
The drive from the busy little fishing port across the island to
Taj was along quiet country roads through undulating rainforest
and past bucolic scenes of village life, grazing livestock, and
farmers harvesting bundles of betel nut from ridiculously high,
stick-thin arecas, or bushels of rice from iridescent green
paddy fields.
During my stay I (catch-and-release) game fished for red
snapper, wahoo, and grouper out at sea, canoed through
turquoise bays to remote island beaches, snorkelled among coral
canyons, and had the memorable experience of a night kayaking
safari to a dark lagoon hidden down narrow channels between
banks of mangroves, where every time I plunged my paddle
beneath the water, I was treated to a sub-aquatic light-show of
bioluminescence. On the way back we stopped off at a lively
night bazaar around the port where street stalls sold spicy pani
puri snacks and steaming cups of hot, sweet chai.
I also went on a jungle trek with resident naturalist Jocelyn
Panjikaran, who had been so seduced by the island when she
came on holiday seven years earlier that she abandoned her
career in banking to stay. We walked among orchids and fungi
under a dense canopy of ancient trees hung with lianas, and were
invited by a giggling family of hill farmers to drink from freshly
foraged coconuts.
With boxes for location, service, activities, and
accommodation firmly ticked, I found it was on the culinary
side of luxury that Taj Exotica really excelled. At the Shoreline
restaurant, the menu celebrates the diverse aromatic flavours
and spices of Andaman Rim seafood cuisine from the Indian
subcontinent and South-East Asia, with dishes like Sri Lankan
mallung of spicy prawns and curry leaves in coconut milk, Thai
massaman chicken curry, and Bengali mud crab masala.
Bengali born executive chef Kaushik Misra’s pièce de résistance
is Settlers, an exclusive ten-seater restaurant inspired by the
cuisine of settler communities from the Indian regions of Bengal,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Bihar, who migrated to the Andaman
islands and adapted their traditional recipes to include local
ingredients. With his kitchen team he has travelled the length of
the archipelago, collecting unique recipes for home-style dishes
including steamed grouper fillet in banana leaf from a Keralan
family cookbook in Diglipur, and an East Bengali version of
maan kochu chingri (prawns and taro root with mustard and
chilli) from Rangat.
Fortunately, the shoreline at Radhanagar stretches for so far,
I was able to walk off some of the excess calories on dawn strolls
when I did literally have the beach to myself. It is a perfect piece
of paradise, and I’d have travelled twice as far to see it.
previous page: The inviting waters and pure white sands of Radhanagar
Beach on Andaman Island
opposite clockwise from top left: Two of the 72 private villas, with
traditional-style thatched roofs; the perfect relaxing beach spot; waterside
accommodation; a chef works his magic; the infinity pool on the treeshrouded
terrace; a modern take on the four-poster bed
photographer: Chris Caldicott
CONTACT ABERCROMBIE & KENT
For more information on holidays to the Taj Exotica Resort &
Spa, Andamans, or to book your next tailor-made adventure to
the Indian subcontinent, call to speak to our travel specialists on
01242 547 755.
50 | AUTUMN/WINTER 2018