Maldives.
We did a combination of Srilanka and Maldives for a week, too much of green and too much of blue. Maldives looks best during all times of the year, it was December for us and the choice came in handy. There were rains every now and then, but it only added more charm to the ever-scintillating Maldives. Here, we have numerous resorts, each of it is an island by itself and almost every island has so much to offer - all kinds of water sports/activities, vivacious colors, and enthralling nightlife.
Maldives cannot be described best without photographs, this photoblog will do the job and a guest post from Guiri Karuppan, my dear uncle who has lived in this lovely place (he makes sure he works and lives in all exotic places, wait - Pondicherry, Goa, Maldives, and Mussoorie!!??) could give you a conducive picture on this island nation. Photos are mine, words from Guiri, there you go!
Nature in all its splendor doesn't mean only the mountains, rivers, forests, wetlands, zoos and national parks. There's a different world inside this world, under the water. While there are thousands of islands amidst the various oceans of the world, not all are considered blessed.
The Maldives is truly a blessed place for tourists and nature aficionados alike.
The landing in Hulule, the airport island of Maldives, is by itself an amazing experience. The wheels of the flight touch the ground just in time to clear the sea and stop shy of the sea on the other end. There has never been an accident in all these years - please note.
Normally from Hulule, dhoni (sail) boats or other higher-end boats are used to transfer the passengers from one island to the other, traversing the high seas for as less as 15 minutes and going up to about 2 and a half hours at times - depending on the destination.
The world beneath the surface comprises of corals, reefs, fishes big and small and its millions of other sea creatures. The colors hit us the first and leave an everlasting impression on the psyche. The various shades of color that the water reflects depending on its cleanliness, underwater life, time of the day, our relevant location and many more combinations make sure that we rarely get to see the same color twice in a day. Having lived there, it appears that the vast expanse of sea sometimes even reflects my own moods!!!!!
Some really quick pointers ()-
- Absolutely safe country for tourists/foreigners. literally, no place for the bad elements to run as even the largest island wouldn't stand a full throttle of a bike.
- Seafood is fresh and quite literally picked off the sea and cooked
- Fresh vegetables are imported, and hence are of super high quality (making it costly, incredibly)
- Drinking water for the entire country is the desalinated variety + the imported, bottled variety - both ways they remain safe to consume
- As most of the wastages/sewerage end up in the sea (after proper measures), hygiene is pretty high
- Some islands (read as hotels) have mosquito problems and fumigation is done regularly
- Beaches, lagoons and reefs are synonymous with Maldives
- So beautiful a place, that even the unromantic will turn ballads, poets and what not
- The variety of water-based sports and underwater-based sports and activities is many
- Fishing, big game fishing, whale hunting (!), scuba diving and the entire spread of activities and island hopping are a few of the recreational possibilities
- Watch schools of fishes in various sizes, shapes, myriad colours - LIVE - and discover the creative source of Finding Nemo and Dory, amongst others
- After all the above mentioned are exhausted, take the whale submarine
- The hotels are very well maintained especially because it (tourism) is the primary source of income for the entire country.
- The police are very responsive and sometimes even go overboard if the request for help is genuine
- Crime rates range from low crime to no crime
- Off-season discounts, especially for a seasoned traveler, are overwhelmingly inviting. know it and make use of it.
- The Maldives is infested with Malayalis (no, they are not noun and adjective forms). For good. Befriending a malayalee will bring in discounts from unknown corners and will open previously hidden doors. cultivate befriending them as a hobby. :)
Hope you enjoyed this raw, unedited, edifying, chatty, straight-from-the-heart (and, what not??) guest post to give you a local-feel of Maldives. See you all in Srilanka next :)
