If you yearn for a holiday free of the trappings of the tourist industry, then the Lakshadweep islands in the Indian Ocean could be just the sort of unspoilt, back-to-basics destination you’re after, says Edward Reeves in The Telegraph:
Tell a friend that you’re off to the Lakshadweep islands and the response is likely to be a look of blank incomprehension. Not surprising, as these 36 specks of white sand off India’s Kerala coast hardly go out of their way to pull in the tourists.
Foreigners have been allowed in only for the past 20-odd years (and even now can visit just three islands), marketing spend hovers around the zero mark and the official website looks like it was designed by a seven-year-old. The Maldives, these ain’t.
No bad thing, you’re thinking. Those who were lucky enough to visit the Maldives 20 years ago talk fondly of the basic accommodation, hapless but charming staff, and barely developed tourism industry. The Lakshadweeps are a throwback to those days, an example of what the Indian Ocean desert island experience can be before the international chains muscle in with their sanitised “island-resorts”, underwater restaurants, over-designed spas and, God help us, “salt sommeliers” (yes, really – at Anantara Maldives).
June 17, 2008 at 3:20 |
Reminds me of the part of Aruba described in the book, An Island Away.
July 15, 2008 at 3:20 |
Hi.
I have been trying to look up for information on Lakshadweep islands as i want to travel there in January. You are absolutely right that there is no information available for a person trying to find information about hotel stay etc. I honeslty don’t want to go to Goa as its crowded. If you have some edvice on hotels etc. or know someone on the island whome I can contact please do post it on this blog.
Will look forward to reading more….