Welcome to Havelock:
As we were coming out of jetty, a
“WELCOME TO HAVELOCK” signboard greeted us. Our tour operated was waiting with
a placard in hand. He had already arranged a car. We threw our luggage in and
started. Hardly had we settled in the car when it took a turn and came to a
halt. We were in front of an all side open restaurant where people were taking
breakfast. It had tables and chairs made of plastic. On our left side, one reception counter was
there. And at farther left, a row of huts amidst coconut and supari trees stood apart. I felt as if
one of my dearest dreams were come to true. I always wanted to stay in such huts
but never had any chance. Our driver off
loaded the luggage. The man at reception told as that our huts were being
readied. He suggested that in the
meantime we could take our breakfast. On our request, we were served aaloo subzi with poori. I asked for the wash-basin to wash my hands. I was shown a
plastic bucket full of water that was placed outside with a mug. We washed our
hands and had breakfast. I do not know what kind of oil was used to deep-fry poori. It was greasy and remained stuck
to our fingers even after washing our hands after breakfast. We decided not to
have the lunch there.
The Huts:
Contrary to the food quality,
huts were well managed. It had a well laid double bed with white bed sheet
spread over it, with two pillows and a neatly tucked blanket. A small wooden open cupboard was placed
alongside. One LCD was fitted on the wall. With all the latest electric
fittings, it also had a split AC fitted. The front side glass window was very
large and of sliding type. If you slide it, it would give you a good view of outside.
Curtains were there at the windows. A small bathroom was attached with the room
with modern bathroom fittings. These huts were constructed on a raised platform
and you had to climb three-four wooden steps to enter in the small veranda. On
both side of veranda, two chicks were provided but were kept folded. Two
plastic chairs were also made available that you can put in veranda and
relax. We were told that these huts were
constructed barely a year before at a cost of Rs. 6 lacs each and required lot
of maintenance. Perhaps this was the reasons that new huts which were coming up
there were being made of concrete.
Beach across the road:
In lunch we had Bread and Butter
and relaxed a bit. We were told that just across the road, there was a beach.
It was 12:30 and we still had time to proceed to Radha Nagar Beach. We decided
to visit the beach across the road. In front of our hotel, just across the road
there was another Hotel with the name SeaShell. We entered from this side and
saw a beautifully laid and very well maintained garden. Then, there was Hotel
Reception and a number of huts. These
huts were better than ours in terms of construction quality and their
aesthetics. Some of them were of duplex type. The huts at the farther end were
overlooking sea and virtually at the beach. There were a few long chairs placed
by the Hotel at the beach where some guests were taking sun bath and also
enjoying spa. I thought had we known it before, we must have stayed in this
hotel.
Soon we were at the beach. We saw
a group of persons being taken to scuba diving with oxygen cylinders tied on
their back. We got our feet immersed in the water and took some photographs.
While children enjoyed bathing, the women preferred to sit in a boat that was
tied with a rope. After some time, we returned to our hotel. Driver had come
and was waiting for us. We started for Radha Nagar Beach that was 12 KMs from
our Hotel.
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