Maldives trip

Yes I have decided to blog the trip I had about two years (July 2009) ago to Maldives with hubby dear and Tejas. I was wanting to do this for a long time and some how could not sit and write. At last here I am trying to do justice to the lovely time we had with our friends who hosted us in their Country.

(Please click on the pictures to see the full view.)

On July 16th 2009 we three started from KL directly to Male' the capital city of Maldives. Tejas was leaving Malaysia and starting his school in his home country US of A from this academic year.

Male' the Capital city as seen from the Boat.

My friend Ayeysha her hubby Thoufeeq and her daughter Nur were waiting for us in the airport.

We had to take a boat ride of less than half an hour to reach the capital city which is a small place where you can just go around the city by walk in say 2 hours. Sham was not aware that the airport is situated in a different island and was surprised.

We understood that we were going to experience a very different kind of life style,  where the land space is small and water/Ocean surrounds all the inhabited small land spaces .

Maldives is a Country which comprises of some 800 islands or Atolls as they are called and about 200 plus islands are inhabited. Some of the islands are exclusively resort islands.

We went to their house in a taxi and we could see that the capital is crowded with lots of motorbikes and quite a few taxis and cars.

Next day morning we started for one such island resort called 'Kuramathi' .

Kuramathi the Island Resort

              My favourite battery operated cart in which we went to our staying place

                                                        View Point

                         
                                           Water Bunglows where we stayed.
 We had to travel for an hour or so by boat to reach this resort. It was raining and the sea was quite rough. I for one is always very scared of water even the swimming pool. One can imagine how I felt. But I felt very secure with my friends around who are good swimmers and father and daughter trained Sea Divers.

We reached 'Kuramathi' which was a small, sweet island. We stayed in two adjacent water bungalows which were built in the edge of the sea.

               
                                 Some of the water creatures we saw near the Bunglows.  A small Shark...

                            A Crane which looks like it has come out of a Children Story book.

             A shell creature which I have never seen alive.  I used to collect it (even now I do when I go to Beaches,   what we call 'kilinjal, in tamil and 'kappe chippu' in Kannada.

 The whole island was full of trees and plants and lovely greens on sandy area and we went to the bungalow in a golf cart which made me think of my ideal village where I will have a golf cart to move around in a dense vegetation.

There were few restaurants in the resort and we went to one of them to have lunch and it was lovely.

the other type of accomodation which looks like  a hut

                                                        Tejas in front of a "hut"

In front of the water bungalow the sea waves were moving up and down and we could just sit and watch from the wooden bridge varieties of fish in the shallow water. we saw some small school of fish which forms its own pattern formations and moving around in groups. We saw some small sharks moving around suddenly chasing the small fish and moving inside the formations and all the small fishes moving and regrouping to make another formation. It was fascinating. More colorful fishes were also moving around and it was like watching 'finding Memo' in reality. Amidst this we saw a lonely crane waiting patiently to catch its prey I suppose.

Shallow water in front of the water bunglow.  a Small shark can be seen in the right front corner.

                                            The nicely done room such a warm welcome

                     The Feeding of the Giant Rays.  It was amazing how such huge rays came to eat.

Evening we just took a leisurely walk around the island and went to see giant sting rays being fed. The Rays were all very huge.

                                     The Shark(s) which were coming again and again to eat the fish.

                   The School of Fish can be seen around the Shark.

Next day after breakfast we went to ' Sand Bank' which is a strip of sand in the edge of island which gets covered by water at certain times (as tides change). Suddenly Thape decided that he would take us to a neighbouring island called 'Kandhalu'. It was half an hour ride by motor boat but the ride was very bumpy and the sea was rough. My heart was in my mouth but I just managed to smile but it was a great experience.

                                                                The Speed Boat

                                      The Very scared Me trying to look brave.

                                            Aah. We reached the Island 'kandhalu'

                                         The lovely corals in the shore.

This island is very exclusive and small. We were given a room for changing and to take rest and the room was very nicely and ecologically decorated.

We were taken there to go for snorkeling as the corals are very near the shore/beach. We three wore life jackets and the snorkeling mask. I was very scared but managed to go floating holding ayeysha's hand tightly. I did not understand that I should breath through the mouth and so could not manage to be inside the water for long. But hubby dear managed to float nicely and did snorkeling better than me. I could see wonderful corals layers after layers like some coral park extending till my eye sight could reach. I don't think I will get another chance to see corals so near the beach.   I wish I would get one more chance to do snorkeling so near the shore.

                                                             Trying to Snorkel

                                 Every body is comfortable.....

       oops the picture is turned.  but the point to be noted is the structure looks so ethinic but with all                                                lovely gadgets done so tastefully

Tejas did very nicely with Thape and Noor on both sides swimming near the corals and careful not even to touch them accidentally with their body. That way they are all very careful in maintaining the corals and are very particular about how we do the snorkeling. We could see lots of colorful fishes in this island also.

We had lunch in that island and returned to 'Kuramathi' while Sham and Thape played tennis I managed to teach Nur and Ayeysha the game of 'dayakattan' which I had taken with me. This is a traditional game played in Tamil Nadu which is one of the  traditional board games. Nur said she liked the game very much.

A Bat we saw hanging in the tree.

 A lovely Sunset.

                                                         Waiting to see the Sunset.

Thape decided to extend our stay in this island for one more day and we were all very thrilled.

                        Some special fish we saw.  one of the Fish of Finding Mimo?

                               Another silky creature comes  near this to say Hello?

the Greens are so refreshing. 

Walking out from the Bunglow.  me looking for special type of fish.

again this isa picture gone horizontally.  survival of the fittest.  the coconut tree bent itself so that it could catch the sunlight for its survival.

The Beach.

                                                The formation of the school of fish.

  The Banana Boat.  we are just watching the fun from the shore.  Tejas is enjoying every ride and      every dive.

another type of boat ride.

                                                          The Blue Waters.
When Thape said he will take Tejas for Diving I thought he was joking. When he was taught how to breathe I understood he was serious and they all wore life jackets, weights in belt/packets so that they can dive deep and an oxygen cylider on their back and also mask.
Nur and Thape also divied and each person was accompanied by a trained driver. Tejas dived upto 1.9 meters and he got a certificat bubble diver. I felt very proud.

                                                                   The Instructions..

So Cool about Diving.

The Certificate for Tejas.

After lunch we went to the beach and sat inside the waist deep water. The waves which were slowly swaying and hitting was such a nice feeling. Because ayeysha was sitting there next to me I was not scared. We came out and buried Nur and Tejas in the white sand. Evening again it was the sun set sand back.

The back side of the Bunglow was quite deep waters and Tejas , Nur and Ayeysha jumped into the waters giving me such a scare.

I was forced to come and sit on the steps with my legs in water and me holding the rails like crazy.

                                               Trying to scare me more.

The Sand Bank sun set.

                                 Burying Tejas in the White sand.

Now Nur is also under the sand.

Lovely Sunset.

Next morning we left early for Male' . We could see some corals in the clear water while getting into the boat. We saw some sea cucumber and also some squids. I was seeing squids for the first time and had read about them in the novel 'sphere'. What we saw were small squids in a group and when the water was disturbed purposely by Thape they let out a jet of an ink like liquid in the water which is their defense mechanism.

We went to a neighboring island and waited for the 'Sea Plane' which lands in water and takes off from water. It is a small plane which can hold about less than 20 persons. The captains of the sea plane wore 'shorts' as uniform. We reached 'Male' the capital in just 17 minutes . We could see from the plane lovely round or elliptical Atolls surrounded by light shallow blue water and then the darker deep blue sea. Wonderful Experience.

The Sea Plane

In front of the Plane with the Captains of Plane in the background.

Atol seen from the Flight.

                                               Male' a sky view

                     We are landing.  we are almost there. How many high rise in such a small place .

Evening we went to the beach which was crowded and lots of locals were surfing in the waves.

I always say that where ever I go I find some body known to me directly or through some body. (This happened when I was in Jullundar/Punjab where I had met people whom I had known in Bangalore). Here also my theory about myself proved right. Even though Male' is such a small place my friend's son in law was working as a financial head in a Company. We went and met him in the evening.

Next day we went to the neighboring Island which is made of reclaimed land which is called 'Hulumale' It has very nicely laid roads . Again lovely sea and lovely fish near the shore. We took a taxi and went  around the Island. This island is just 10 minutes ride from Male' by boat. By now we were getting used to travelling by boat like we travel by Bus in our country.

The name anu seemed to be very common in HuluMale which happens to be my daughter's name so we just clicked the pictures of these shops.

                              Nice lovley roads in HuluMale built on reclaimed land.

            A tree in Willangili.  I also climb tree.  remembering where we come from.....

           Children! they both are enjoying weather it is the Beach or the Sea or the Tree.

                                                                In HuluMale.

Next day we both went  for walk on our own in the morning. Afternoon we all went  to another neighboring island called 'wilangili' It has a kind of village atmosphere and has lot of low branched trees. Nur and Tejas climb the trees and had  a great time. The sea was very rough as that day was solar eclipse (which was  full and seen in India) so I just wet my feet in the ocean. We ate  ice candy which is the specialty of that village. I like that island/village very much.

We started  back home to KL in the evening, by flight. we went  to the airport by boat . My heart is heavy after a lovely memorable holiday which was made memorable because of the great hospitality shown by my adorable friends.

We came to KL via Colombo (we were not allowed to disembark) and the flight was very bumpy and turbulent.