Port Blair, India - 2 of 2

Then most interestingly, we went to the Cellular Jail (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) where the British held and tortured the freedom fighters in the colonial days. This spoke designed prison had 7 spokes that met at a center courtyard in the middle, no way in or out except for that center. All 700 individual brick cells had bars and only one way out. No prisoner faced any other prisoner only the walkway to keep them isolated. We walked thru the facility, into some of the cells and into the area where the gallows where men were hung on a regular basis. I read many of the bios and crimes that they were accused of, and these men all sounded like heroes to me … they were standing up for what they believed, and many were tortured or died of hunger strikes. Sad story and time in history.

The lightest part of the experience was that they had an area partitioned off for the filming of Freedom Fighter movie. A serious movie set was setup with actors in costumes and cameras set up. One of the casting people walked up to me and asked me if I would be willing to be in the movie as an Englishman…. I said I only had a half hour but appreciate being asked. Later the tour guide said if I was in the movie I would be cast as a “bad guy” … obviously the British were not the good guys in this movie!!!

With a storm coming the ferry and beaches shutdown, we got back to the ship early and took off.Read more