arrival in paradise
arrival in paradise
25 april
my overnight stay in malé was fairly uneventful. i was actually surprised at what a bustling city it was. i got in at 10pm and was met by ismail, a rep from the tour company i used to book the vacation, who escorted me - first by dhoni (a motor powered boat/taxi that the locals use to get from island to island) then by taxi - to my hotel in central malé called (oddly enough) central hotel. it felt good to be stationary for a while.
getting to sleep wasn't as difficult as i thought it would be (being 12 hrs ahead of l.a.) but at 4:45 - right around dawn - i was suddenly awakened by the morning call to prayer blasting over a loudspeaker. the maldives is a devoutly sunni muslim country. because of this, tourists are not allowed to mix with the locals except in certian monitored situations and in the capital. anyhow, the call to prayer was one of the most jarring, haunting and beautiful things i've heard in a long time. a big reminder that i'm not on familiar ground anymore.
the boat ride over to the island was pretty nondescript. i've heard that the best way to get to whatever resort you're staying on is by air taxi - a small 16 seat prop plane that gives you a bird's eye view of the islands while you're in transit. definitely the way i'll be returning to malé as the boat transfer, while comfortable, was too much like generic mass transit.
getting off the boat transfer was awesome. one moment you're in a sterile, air-conditioned environment and the next your suddenly in the thick warm atmosphere of this tropical paradise. there was an egret hanging out at the jetty - the resort's official greeter, no doubt.
the resort island itself is made up of 3 separate resorts - kuramathi village (a little livelier with more to do at night), kuramathi cottage & spa (where i'm staying - slower and more relaxing but still plenty to do) and blue lagoon (upper crusty and isolated - very luxurious). we arrived at the main jetty to kuramathi village so a short minibus ride to the reception area of my resort and i was relaxing with a drink in my hand staring out at the lagoon and marvelling at how far from home i was.
i'm on full board here so all of my meals are included - brilliant if you ask me... in fact, i don't have to worry about carrying cash at all because everything extra - like drinks, diving and spa treatments (i'll be hitting the spa a couple times while i'm here, oh yeah) - is just charged to the room. now, i'm not going to go crazy but i didn't travel all this way to restrict myself to a tight budget. not like i'll be buying rounds of cristal or anything but you get what i'm talking about.
so after lunch, i was accompanied to my room wher the porters had already dropped off my luggage. the room is awesome - a copmpletely detached, thatched roof, over-water bungalow with a deck that looks out over the ocean. not too small but not too big, 16 foot high ceiling and a deck with steps that go down into the lagoon so i can go snorkelling whenever the feeling hits me. brilliant. now i just have to go and rent some snorkelling gear.
i went and signed up for diving certification classes walked around the north/west end of the island (cottage and blue lagoon) to check out the gym, pool and spa, came back and hit the bar (had a cuba libre for any of you interested) went back to my room to do some photo organization and i guess the jet lag and exhaustion finally set in because i completely slept my way through dinner and didn't wake up until 12 hrs later. i even missed my first maldivian sunset. oops. not like there aren't going to be others but...
26 april
today i woke up to the sound of the low ocean tide crashing over the coral banks and the rain hitting the thatched roof of my bungalow. doesn't get much better than that. once the haze of being asleep for so long wore off enough, i was able to stumble outside onto my deck and look out into the lagoon at all the fishes swimming underneath my bungalow - moorish idols, triggerfish, wrasses, even a shark. right underneath my frikkin deck. outstanding!
a little breakfast and then it was off to my first dive class. a refresher course really since i'd done it once before - years ago. i had forgotten how awesome being underwater was. so peaceful and exhilarating at the same time. i can't imagine what it must be like to be able to do this for a living. my instructor, david, has been doing this for the past 10 years. a month and a half here, the previous 2 years or so in the dominican republic... i mean, come on. what a life, right? travel around the world, meet interesting people, dive and live in some of the most incredible and exotic areas of the world and get paid to do it? sign me right the fuck up.
so now i have a course book to read and little quizzes to take - multiple choice, really no big deal - and i've spent most of my day relaxing, reading the course book, sipping on cuba libres and watching the other guests mill about. i get the sense that a) they don't get too many americans here (one of the employees here had never even heard of los angeles) and b) that i'm one of the only - if not THE only - solo guests here. everyone i've seen is either a family or a couple. not that i'm overly concerned. it just makes socializing a little more challenging. in fact, i've gotten a few quizzical looks when the fact that i'm here alone has been brought up. i admit, it's kinda crazy coming out here all by myself but i don't mind it at all - at least so far. the story makes for a good ice breaker. provided that the people i'm trying to break the ice with even speak english (aside from the maldivian staff there are lots of german and french, some italians and brits, lots of heavy accents).
i return to the dive school in an hour or so watch some more videos and tomorrow morning i start the first 2 of my 10 required open water certification dives!
more later...
25 april
my overnight stay in malé was fairly uneventful. i was actually surprised at what a bustling city it was. i got in at 10pm and was met by ismail, a rep from the tour company i used to book the vacation, who escorted me - first by dhoni (a motor powered boat/taxi that the locals use to get from island to island) then by taxi - to my hotel in central malé called (oddly enough) central hotel. it felt good to be stationary for a while.
getting to sleep wasn't as difficult as i thought it would be (being 12 hrs ahead of l.a.) but at 4:45 - right around dawn - i was suddenly awakened by the morning call to prayer blasting over a loudspeaker. the maldives is a devoutly sunni muslim country. because of this, tourists are not allowed to mix with the locals except in certian monitored situations and in the capital. anyhow, the call to prayer was one of the most jarring, haunting and beautiful things i've heard in a long time. a big reminder that i'm not on familiar ground anymore.
the boat ride over to the island was pretty nondescript. i've heard that the best way to get to whatever resort you're staying on is by air taxi - a small 16 seat prop plane that gives you a bird's eye view of the islands while you're in transit. definitely the way i'll be returning to malé as the boat transfer, while comfortable, was too much like generic mass transit.
getting off the boat transfer was awesome. one moment you're in a sterile, air-conditioned environment and the next your suddenly in the thick warm atmosphere of this tropical paradise. there was an egret hanging out at the jetty - the resort's official greeter, no doubt.
the resort island itself is made up of 3 separate resorts - kuramathi village (a little livelier with more to do at night), kuramathi cottage & spa (where i'm staying - slower and more relaxing but still plenty to do) and blue lagoon (upper crusty and isolated - very luxurious). we arrived at the main jetty to kuramathi village so a short minibus ride to the reception area of my resort and i was relaxing with a drink in my hand staring out at the lagoon and marvelling at how far from home i was.
i'm on full board here so all of my meals are included - brilliant if you ask me... in fact, i don't have to worry about carrying cash at all because everything extra - like drinks, diving and spa treatments (i'll be hitting the spa a couple times while i'm here, oh yeah) - is just charged to the room. now, i'm not going to go crazy but i didn't travel all this way to restrict myself to a tight budget. not like i'll be buying rounds of cristal or anything but you get what i'm talking about.
so after lunch, i was accompanied to my room wher the porters had already dropped off my luggage. the room is awesome - a copmpletely detached, thatched roof, over-water bungalow with a deck that looks out over the ocean. not too small but not too big, 16 foot high ceiling and a deck with steps that go down into the lagoon so i can go snorkelling whenever the feeling hits me. brilliant. now i just have to go and rent some snorkelling gear.
i went and signed up for diving certification classes walked around the north/west end of the island (cottage and blue lagoon) to check out the gym, pool and spa, came back and hit the bar (had a cuba libre for any of you interested) went back to my room to do some photo organization and i guess the jet lag and exhaustion finally set in because i completely slept my way through dinner and didn't wake up until 12 hrs later. i even missed my first maldivian sunset. oops. not like there aren't going to be others but...
26 april
today i woke up to the sound of the low ocean tide crashing over the coral banks and the rain hitting the thatched roof of my bungalow. doesn't get much better than that. once the haze of being asleep for so long wore off enough, i was able to stumble outside onto my deck and look out into the lagoon at all the fishes swimming underneath my bungalow - moorish idols, triggerfish, wrasses, even a shark. right underneath my frikkin deck. outstanding!
a little breakfast and then it was off to my first dive class. a refresher course really since i'd done it once before - years ago. i had forgotten how awesome being underwater was. so peaceful and exhilarating at the same time. i can't imagine what it must be like to be able to do this for a living. my instructor, david, has been doing this for the past 10 years. a month and a half here, the previous 2 years or so in the dominican republic... i mean, come on. what a life, right? travel around the world, meet interesting people, dive and live in some of the most incredible and exotic areas of the world and get paid to do it? sign me right the fuck up.
so now i have a course book to read and little quizzes to take - multiple choice, really no big deal - and i've spent most of my day relaxing, reading the course book, sipping on cuba libres and watching the other guests mill about. i get the sense that a) they don't get too many americans here (one of the employees here had never even heard of los angeles) and b) that i'm one of the only - if not THE only - solo guests here. everyone i've seen is either a family or a couple. not that i'm overly concerned. it just makes socializing a little more challenging. in fact, i've gotten a few quizzical looks when the fact that i'm here alone has been brought up. i admit, it's kinda crazy coming out here all by myself but i don't mind it at all - at least so far. the story makes for a good ice breaker. provided that the people i'm trying to break the ice with even speak english (aside from the maldivian staff there are lots of german and french, some italians and brits, lots of heavy accents).
i return to the dive school in an hour or so watch some more videos and tomorrow morning i start the first 2 of my 10 required open water certification dives!
more later...
posted by michael | 12:55 AM
1 Comments:
Obviously, like the lunar landings, this is really being shot on a soundstage in the valley.
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