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 <strong>2018</strong>
abercrombiekent.co.uk | 51