The Maldivian Escapade
The Dreamland
You know you are about to witness something magical when the plane glides through the beautiful formation of clouds to reveal ring like sea formations called Atolls…
Ariel View of Maldivian Atolls
{ Before I go about describing the magical feeling called Maldives, please note that this blog will be all about indulgence and happiness and day dreams and how it makes you feel utterly blessed by the end of it all. Hence, I’ve refrained from keeping it technical without any to-dos and don’ts list.}
… As the plane glides down the sky, the brilliance of blue underneath makes you wonder if it is all you see or is there something more mystical waiting for you. You remember the delicate, angelic beauty of jelly fish and then within a flash you are under the sea swimming amongst them, trying to reach out but refrain as to not harm them. You see the exuberance of bright red and orange corals with a hidden purple octopus, sitting snuggly right in the middle of the coral garden. And then you look up, you look up to the shining sea; you see a big whale shark is out for the evening swim and it is right above your head. You try and try to swim, swim really fast to touch it. And just when you are this close to touch it, just then the captain of the plane announces your landing.
Sigh! The magic has shown its glimpse and has left me wanting more out of this trip.
Male, Maldives
We land in Male and after checkout as we head towards the gates, we see a guy holding our hotel placard with our names on it. As we commence our trip, one thing that stands out is the crystal clear light and dark blue waters till the horizon.
Hotel arranged for a speed boat for our pickup. It’s a bumpy and fast ride to the resort as speed boat gushes at a blazing fast speed tearing across the calm water between various Maldivian atolls. On our ride to the resort, we saw small birds, coming in and out of the sea for (what we guessed), fishing for food. On a closer look, there were many of them.
“Wait a minute, are these birds?”
“They do have small wings. OMG! These are not birds, these are small flying fishes” And there wasn’t just a handful of them, but a big group who one after another, sometimes together were jumping and flying in and out of the sea.
Our boat slowed down and driver asked us if we liked Dolphins. We walked towards the deck as we saw a dolphin swimming right in front of our boat. Within 10 secs or something there was an entire school of dolphins all around us. With our mouth open wide in sheer awe, we were immersed in the moment so much so that it didn’t strike us to take our gadgets out to capture the moment.
Quick Note: If you are staying in South Male, travel time with a speed boat from Airport to any resort is between 30 minutes – 1 hour.
Day 1: We stayed at Holiday Inn Kandooma Resort, read its detailed review here: http://gypsyflyblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/kandooma-maldives-review/
Kandooma Resort, Maldives
Day 2&3 - Anantara: We reached Anantara where its staff clad in all white, welcomed us. Standing right at the entrance, against the backdrop of sophisticated beach resort and palm trees, they bowed and assisted us to the reception and then to our rooms.
A great example of excellent hospitality, Anantara welcomed us with refreshing welcome drinks while we waited at the reception. It’s in no doubt, one of the best places to stay in Maldives. After relaxing and easing out, we headed to the pool next to the main restaurant and bar.
Outdoor Restaurant at Anantara
There it was! The Oh so WOW moment! Infinity pool overlooking the serene blue ocean waters with a hammock in middle of the sea, it was indeed the love at first site. Dropping the idea of early lunch we headed to the pool for a quick swim which turned out to be approx. 2 hours long.
Infinity Pool at Anantara
In the infinity pool were the high stools for guests to enjoy drinks and food while chilling in the pool and as expected, we gulped down our share of drinks.
Pool side assistance for apple lovers (not the iApple, but apple, the fruit) like me included a bountiful tray with a bottle of water for hydration after swim in the sun, two green apples, one pear and one fresh hand towel. Bliss!
Welcome drinks and other beverages at Maldives
Food: I prefer vegetarian food; hence always try to scout for some delicious vegetarian delicacies to keep me satiated on trips. Without any surprise, restaurants at Anantara offer great mix of all types of food and cuisines. We devoured one of the best Vietnamese rolls along with the pizza that was heavenly, Cappuccino after swim and some simple well-made pasta with green olives and sundried tomatoes in arrabbiata sauce. Rest of the day included more food, drinks and sun bathing.
Welcome Drinks & Other Beverages at Maldives
Water sports: Little bit of snorkeling with a bit of trying to touch medium size silver fishes leaves you all exhausted and that’s when beach chairs outside villa come in handy. Pristine blue waters with different light and dark shades of blue and hammock in the middle of the sea makes it all worthwhile and leaves you with nothing more to be asked for.
Quick Note: Snorkeling kit is free for the guests. There are no water scooters available.
Scuba: Next day instead of taking scuba diving course at any of the resorts, we took a speedboat to a small local island called Maafushi. A Padi certified professional scuba diving course for 2 day in a village will cost anywhere between INR 10,000 – 15000 vs. 30,000 – 35,000 at any resort.
Unfortunately, after 1 day of scuba, I couldn’t complete the course as I was all exhausted playing mermaid in the sea because of which I caught Hypothermia and fever on the main diving day. I was very disappointed considering the fact that I spent almost entire evening of the previous day in the training session and almost all night reading the Diving book (Yes, I was laughed at and was called a geek). Did the sad part last long? No ways, it gave me the opportunity to indulge, eat, drink and go for spa.
Later in the day, we kept the dinner light. I had veg. clear soup with tones of pepper and garlic along with raw papaya salad. End of the day included some chilled white wine and gazing at the setting sun.
Sunset in Maldives
Water Villa: I will say nothing and will leave you with the pictures to imagine how dreamy it was for us.
Water Villas at Anantara
Sunset view from our Water Villa
If you are still reading this post, thanks for being with me (and hats off to you). To sum it all up, this trip was a sheer warm indulgence.
* In addition to the luxurious, dreamy part of the trip described above, there was bit more realistic side to the next couple of days. Shall leave it for a later post.
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