Not what I imagined. This certainly was not how it looks in the glossy holiday brochures. The Maldives are a group of Islands surrounded by rings of Coral. So we are lead to believe.
We docked in Male, the capital of the area. We were greeted by high rise buildings, sky scrapers and motor bike after motor bike along fumed busy areas ! Almost a tropical version of a New York sky line, but crammed into a circle surrounded by sea.
We were in search of wifi, which we found in a rather expensive coffee shop which equaled to anything we could have found at home in Manchester ! Still, they had wifi, so a catch up was worth the coffee price !
After taking pictures outside the monument to remember those who died in the terrorist bombings of 1988, and a quick stop outside their famous mosque, we hopped on a local ferry to a neighboring Island.
Sadly, in search of the beach with stilted wooden houses and tropical gardens wasn’t to be found! But we did meet a lot of local activity along the way as we walked towards the public beach. Not allowed to swim in swim suits due to religion ruling, a swim in the Indian Ocean was out of the question. So it was a paddle instead ! We sat under a tree and shaded ourselves from the heat of the day. Only to be cooled off by a tropical rain storm !
Sampling the experience of the Maldives was not on my list of favorites, so not really sure I shall be stopping by again !
Another ferry ride back to the main land and the comfort of joining the ship’s tender was a welcoming thought.
Thank you Maldives. It was very nice to experience you for 7 hours !
Lazarus Travels & Adventure 