[Worldtrippers home] [Crystal home]
Back in 2001, we took a year and traveled around the world with our two sons. When Gail was planning the trip, she had to decide where to go… and where not to go. Both the Maldives and the Seychelles were originally on her wish list, but she had to delete them because they are so difficult (and expensive) to get to. Instead, we flew directly from China to Mauritius.
Almost 25 years later, our current cruise itinerary finally “fills in some dots” that have been missing from our map of world travels.
The Maldives is (are?) a set of 20 islands southwest of Sri Lanka. It totals 115 square miles, but this land area is spread out over 35,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean. This makes the Maldives simultaneously one of the least populated countries in Asia, but also one of the most densely populated.
The capital, Malé, is itself one of the most densely populated cities in the world. More than 211,000 people are packed into an area of 3.2 square miles.
Our visit to Malé is our only overnight stay during this itinerary. (Due to a medical emergency, we actually arrived early – last night instead of this morning – but we will still remain overnight tonight as well.) We are anchored offshore, so we need to take tenders (lifeboats) to get to shore.
We had no idea what to expect, and we were surprised to see how developed Malé is. There is a skyline of huge skyscrapers of western architecture. At the same time, there is a pervasive Muslim influence, as the Maldives is primarily Muslim. English is the second language and is widely spoken by everyone.
Unfortunately, our visit here had several strikes against it. Most of the beaches required females to be clothed head to toe in burkas. We were visiting during Ramadan, the Muslim period of fasting (February 28 through March 30), so restaurants were closed until sunset. At the same time, we were not allowed to bring any food or drink ashore. So if we got hungry or thirsty, we were pretty much out of luck.
We have mentioned that the ship is currently only about half full. Consequently, almost all of the advertised excursions ended up being cancelled, as Crystal could not meet the minimum number of participants required by the tour operators. Cascading from this, one of the few options still offered – a day at a western beach – had sold out immediately. So once again, our plan for the day called for exploring on our own.
We took a tender to shore at 9:30 this morning. Unfortunately, right after we disembarked on shore, Gail had severe light-headedness (probably due to her blood pressure medication again). Sadly, she decided she needed to take the tender back to the ship immediately. Russell stayed ashore and walked around. He succeeded in finding a Maldives magnet to add to his collection.
In the afternoon, Gail was feeling better, so we tried again. Taking the tender ashore, we walked to Sultan Park, an area popular with locals. Unfortunately, Gail was wearing capri pants. Within minutes, she had six mosquito bites around her ankles. Once again, she decided she needed to return to the ship immediately.
We will be overnight in Malé until midday tomorrow. But Gail says she has no desire to leave the ship again tomorrow.
