the 22 hr flight back to reality
02 may
time to say goodbye to what feels like should be my daily reality and get reacquainted with my actual daily reality. and what a harsh way to say goodbye/hello. 4 hrs from malé to singapore, a 3 hr layover in singapore (hopefully some durian tasting), 5 or 6 hrs from singapore to tokyo, a layover in tokyo, 11 or 12 hr flight to los angeles. brutal.
speaking of brutal, my final bill was the epitome of the word. granted 75% of the charges were diving related but still... ouch. cancel my ski vacation, please. looks like i'll be eating top ramen and mac and cheese for a little while.
i spent the morning wandering around the island videotaping things - "mundane" things like the experience of walking from my bungalow to the reception area and out to the dive jetty or the walk back to my room from the reception desk at blue lagoon on the westernmost part of the island. i just want to remember all of this. every nanosecond. not just because this place is so perfect but also because this place is so perfectly timed in my life. and i guess i'm afraid that, with all of the minutiae that manages to fill my head over the course of a day/week/month, i'll lose sight of the subtleties of this place. i mean, sure you're bound to forget the real subtle stuff... the way breeze hits you as it rolls in off the ocean, the sweetness of the air... those things are lost to any sort of permanent record. but sights and sounds i can record. and maybe if i record enough of it the subtleties won't be too difficult to recall at some point in the future.
mondays apparently are a big arrival/departure day at kuramathi. the front desk people seem busier than normal - maybe even a bit frazzled. can hardly imagine how challenging it is to check out tons of guests - all of them speaking any number of languages - while at the same time trying to check in others. but they always manage to do it all with grace and a warm smile. in fact, all of the staff members were this way. you can't help but form a personal relationship with the ones you're in contact with the most. i don't know if that's just how they are or if that's the resort protocol. i like to believe in the former.
the flight from kuramathi to malé was great. little 16-seat dehavilland twin prop sea plane. definitely the way to go. it wasn't as airconditioned but 15 minutes and poof you're in malé as opposed to the 90 minutes by "speed" boat thing. plus the view of kuramathi from the air as we took off was spectacular. have to remember to book a seaplane transfer when i come back.
i was greeted by ismail and hassan from impex, the tour company i used to book my accommodations. and, as i had 6 hours to kill before i could check in, hassan offerred to hang out with me at the local airport hotel. we sat by the pool and exchanged stories over lunch.
before he worked as guest relations for impex he was a divemaster for several resorts as well as different live-abord dive safari boats and filled my head with stories of dives where you were surrounded by manta and whale sharks and other fantastic creatures. he said the way to really see the maldives if you're a diver (which i guess i now am) is to get a group of friends together (7 or 8) and book yourselves on one of these boats for 7 to 11 days. all you do is dive. 3 or 4 times a day in different locations each day. then combine that with a week stay at a resort? sounds like the makings for an unbelievable holiday. now all i have to do is find 7 or 8 friends willing to do it. any takers? i'll organize the whole thing. so hassan and i stayed poolside at the hotel for about 3 hrs talking about diving, movies (he's an avid movie buff - deniro, pacino, brando), his kids, diving, diving, movies, diving. i asked him to be my divemaster if i was to book one of those safaris. hopefully he'll accept.
he then offered to take me around malé so we boarded a dhoni and made our way across the bay from the airport to malé where we climbed on his motorcycle and took off around the city. my first impressions of it weren't far off. it's a very small but extremely bustling city. no crime. very clean. the sun was setting so everyone was finishing with work/school/whatever and coming out to enjoy the evening playing soccer, jogging, or just hanging out. apparently there's not a lot to do for someone with interests like those hassan has - american music and movies. there's a newly built carnival, lots of bollywood films and indian music, a bowling alley, small cafes everywhere. but that's basically it as far as diversions. it was all so new to me i was loving every second of it but i could see how one could get bored here. he took me to meet his wife then we tooled around a bit more and he dropped me off at the dock for the boat ride back to the airport which is where i am now - waiting for singapore air to take me kicking and screaming away from this amazing country.
i will never forget my time here nor any of the people i've met along the way. this place seems to have a transformative effect on practically everyone - tourists and residents alike. everything slows. everyone is friendly. nothing is too important to allow kindness to lapse. i can't wait to return.
time to say goodbye to what feels like should be my daily reality and get reacquainted with my actual daily reality. and what a harsh way to say goodbye/hello. 4 hrs from malé to singapore, a 3 hr layover in singapore (hopefully some durian tasting), 5 or 6 hrs from singapore to tokyo, a layover in tokyo, 11 or 12 hr flight to los angeles. brutal.
speaking of brutal, my final bill was the epitome of the word. granted 75% of the charges were diving related but still... ouch. cancel my ski vacation, please. looks like i'll be eating top ramen and mac and cheese for a little while.
i spent the morning wandering around the island videotaping things - "mundane" things like the experience of walking from my bungalow to the reception area and out to the dive jetty or the walk back to my room from the reception desk at blue lagoon on the westernmost part of the island. i just want to remember all of this. every nanosecond. not just because this place is so perfect but also because this place is so perfectly timed in my life. and i guess i'm afraid that, with all of the minutiae that manages to fill my head over the course of a day/week/month, i'll lose sight of the subtleties of this place. i mean, sure you're bound to forget the real subtle stuff... the way breeze hits you as it rolls in off the ocean, the sweetness of the air... those things are lost to any sort of permanent record. but sights and sounds i can record. and maybe if i record enough of it the subtleties won't be too difficult to recall at some point in the future.
mondays apparently are a big arrival/departure day at kuramathi. the front desk people seem busier than normal - maybe even a bit frazzled. can hardly imagine how challenging it is to check out tons of guests - all of them speaking any number of languages - while at the same time trying to check in others. but they always manage to do it all with grace and a warm smile. in fact, all of the staff members were this way. you can't help but form a personal relationship with the ones you're in contact with the most. i don't know if that's just how they are or if that's the resort protocol. i like to believe in the former.
the flight from kuramathi to malé was great. little 16-seat dehavilland twin prop sea plane. definitely the way to go. it wasn't as airconditioned but 15 minutes and poof you're in malé as opposed to the 90 minutes by "speed" boat thing. plus the view of kuramathi from the air as we took off was spectacular. have to remember to book a seaplane transfer when i come back.
i was greeted by ismail and hassan from impex, the tour company i used to book my accommodations. and, as i had 6 hours to kill before i could check in, hassan offerred to hang out with me at the local airport hotel. we sat by the pool and exchanged stories over lunch.
before he worked as guest relations for impex he was a divemaster for several resorts as well as different live-abord dive safari boats and filled my head with stories of dives where you were surrounded by manta and whale sharks and other fantastic creatures. he said the way to really see the maldives if you're a diver (which i guess i now am) is to get a group of friends together (7 or 8) and book yourselves on one of these boats for 7 to 11 days. all you do is dive. 3 or 4 times a day in different locations each day. then combine that with a week stay at a resort? sounds like the makings for an unbelievable holiday. now all i have to do is find 7 or 8 friends willing to do it. any takers? i'll organize the whole thing. so hassan and i stayed poolside at the hotel for about 3 hrs talking about diving, movies (he's an avid movie buff - deniro, pacino, brando), his kids, diving, diving, movies, diving. i asked him to be my divemaster if i was to book one of those safaris. hopefully he'll accept.
he then offered to take me around malé so we boarded a dhoni and made our way across the bay from the airport to malé where we climbed on his motorcycle and took off around the city. my first impressions of it weren't far off. it's a very small but extremely bustling city. no crime. very clean. the sun was setting so everyone was finishing with work/school/whatever and coming out to enjoy the evening playing soccer, jogging, or just hanging out. apparently there's not a lot to do for someone with interests like those hassan has - american music and movies. there's a newly built carnival, lots of bollywood films and indian music, a bowling alley, small cafes everywhere. but that's basically it as far as diversions. it was all so new to me i was loving every second of it but i could see how one could get bored here. he took me to meet his wife then we tooled around a bit more and he dropped me off at the dock for the boat ride back to the airport which is where i am now - waiting for singapore air to take me kicking and screaming away from this amazing country.
i will never forget my time here nor any of the people i've met along the way. this place seems to have a transformative effect on practically everyone - tourists and residents alike. everything slows. everyone is friendly. nothing is too important to allow kindness to lapse. i can't wait to return.
posted by michael | 5:53 PM
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