Male, Maldives
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| The city of Male |
The flight to Male took
about 8 hours. We slept through the journey and caught up on our snooze.
A few months ago, we were looking at plane tickets, deciding on resorts
and thinking of ways to save the money we would need to cover the expenses. And
now, we were on a plane to Maldives, the much awaited moment had arrived, it
seemed surreal. As the plane descended, I could see the runway surrounded by
water on both sides. Under normal circumstances, this would have freaked me out
but I was beyond excited to be finally landing on the Maldivian soil. As we got
off the plane we were greeted by a gorgeous sunny weather but a bit humid. I
was still in layered winter clothing, courtesy the cold and depressing weather
of Istanbul. Andrej had come prepared for the weather in Male and worn a
t-shirt underneath his sweatshirt. He looked beach-ready as he took off his
sweatshirt. The lines at the immigration counters were very long and as
expected, full of tourists hailing from different countries. There was hardly
any Maldivian looking person, or a brown person for that matter, other than
myself. We waited and waited for almost an hour and finally cleared the
formalities. It felt so cool to see Maldivian customs’ stamp on my passport.
Unlike Andrej, I being an Indian could linger on around in Maldives for 90
days…how tempting! As we were about to proceed, the security check detected the
dagger I had purchased for my brother in Istanbul. In Maldives, one is not
allowed to carry alcohol, sharp objects and many other items listed as "forbidden" beyond the airport. I thought they would create a big hassle but
luckily the Maldivian airport authorities were calm and composed and asked me
to register the item with the customs. I turned in the dagger and got a receipt
back to enable me to pick it up upon our departure from Male. We had to
exchange some of my Indian rupees to Maldivian Rufiyaa; 1 MVR equals about INR
4.5. We got about MVR 6,600 in return for the INR 30,000 ($500 approx.) from an
exchange office at the airport.
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| The port outside Male Airport |
As we stepped out of the Male airport, we could
hardly believe what we were seeing before our eyes. We were at once surrounded
by crystal clear waters in varying shades of blue. The view before us looked
even more sublime than the pictures of the Maldivian waters I had ever seen online.
In other words, they looked more unreal than the photoshopped pictures of
Maldives one can view on Google images. We boarded a cheap ferry
ride to Male which was close to the artificially constructed island on which
the airport was built. As we disembarked, there were mini trucks/lorries and
taxis waiting for customers. We thought of walking to our hotel at first but
settled for a taxi eventually as we were kind of exhausted. The driver was
talkative and friendly and drove us through the tiny but very busy streets of
Male. The streets were so narrow that it would have been quite difficult for
two vehicles to pass each other. We passed through a few important buildings
such as the Presidential Palace, museum and army headquarters. We arrived at
Clover Hotel, a guest house that Andrej had booked for two nights. After
checking into our room, settling down and changing our clothes, we decided to
indulge in some sightseeing activity and enjoy Maldivian food. The receptionist
marked on a map some of the important tourist spots and a restaurant near the
hotel that served local food. We walked to the restaurant which was barely 2-3
minutes away from our hotel. The ambience of the place looked warm and
welcoming but there was nobody inside. We sat down and told the waiter we
wanted to savor some authentic
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| Streets of Male |
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| 'Garudiya' traditional Maldivian tuna fish broth. Looks utterly plain but tastes amazing! |
Maldivian dish. We pointed out a white fish broth by the name “Garudiya,” which was to be served with rice. There was not much choice in the menu under the local food section except two or three items which sounded pretty much like they were prepared from the same ingredients. As our order arrived, the dish looked completely pale and uninteresting. It was a transparent soup-like gravy with white meat pieces and chopped green herbs and clove seeds floating in the gravy. The fish looked a lot like chicken meat, it was hard to tell them apart. The dish was to be complemented with onions and lime was to be sprinkled on the fish to complete the process; that’s the usual norm with eating north Indian food as well. We were both very hungry so we started digging into the food immediately. To our utter surprise, the food was far from bland. One could feel the sudden rush of heat, aroma and flavor. Andrej felt it tasted better with rice, while I was of the opinion that the flavors were best relished if the dish was taken as a soupy broth. As the old adage goes, “do not judge a book by its cover,” we would surmise you cannot judge a Garudiya by its plain look; it was much, much more than meets the eye! Andrej became so fond of Maldivian Garudiya that he would often fall into moments reminiscing about it in the days to come!
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| Bikini wear not allowed at public beaches |
After lunch, we walked
around the city streets of Male. It was not hard to notice how busy and
resourceful
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| One of the beaches at Male |
Perhaps, this was
because they seemed much more chilled-out and relaxed in the beautiful coastal
atmosphere than any Muslim community I have come across before. Turkey was cold
and gloomy, the weather as well the people, but the people of Maldives exuded
friendliness and unperturbed disposition. After walking around some more, we decided
to hit the beach. Now, in all the public the beaches of Maldives, exposure of
skin in prohibited. Women cannot wear bikinis and men cannot be in swimming
trunks. This was a shame because the The ocean looked absolutely stunning and I
could not wait to dip my feet into the water. There were men, women and
children on the beach. Some ladies swam and exercised in their “burkhas”/
veils, covered from head to toes. They did not let their conservative dressing
hinder their license to have fun at the beach. Most people stayed in the
shallow waters which were divided from the deep blue ocean by rocks in between.
It looked like a swimming pool. The beach was fairly clean except for some
sea-weeds washed ashore. Andrej and I took a few pictures of the place; we were
especially interested to capture the billboard with pictures that categorically
stated the prohibition of bikini wear and consumption of alcohol. I wondered to
myself, if the waters were this blue and captivating in and around Male, how
amazing they must look at our resort. The colors of the ocean were the most
refreshing looking and exuberant shades I had ever seen in my life! I exclaimed
to myself, “We are in Paradise on Earth!” On our way back, Andrej needed a
converter for his phone and computer which we picked up from a grocery store
for less than a euro. We also bought some snacks- chocolate cookies for Andrej,
potato chips for me.
That evening, we took a
ferry from Male to an inhabited island, Vilingili. The place was so serene and peaceful, with no traffic. There were maybe only two cars parked on the
roadside. From the distance, we saw a restaurant that that seemed to overlook
the ocean but we soon realized it was located in the heart of the island. The
restaurant turned out to be a Youth Club with a live band, pool tables and
more...again, something you would not expect to see in a highly conservative
and traditional Muslim society. Maldives was full of wonders. We were hoping to
savor some more Maldivian dishes but unfortunately they only served continental
food. I ordered fish and chips and Andrej settled for a beef burger. The
portions were pretty huge and I got full even before finishing all the food on
my plate. I took a bite off of Andrej’s beef burger, it tasted awesome. The
waiters were very friendly and looked very pleased to have tourists in their
midst, perhaps something not as common because most tourists just head to their
respective resorts after disembarking in Male. Andrej and I did not even mind
the fact that there was no alcohol. I missed it a little but it didn’t bother
me much as we were having a good time, with or without alcohol. After dinner,
we walked towards the beach. It was a breezy and calm evening with no soul in
sight. We could tell in the dark that the beach was poorly maintained as there
were plastic bottles and junk scattered around the shore. We sat down on the
sand with the view of brightly-lit up Male city across the ocean. It thought it
was a romantic moment with just the two of us under the stars, on the beach, but
as I looked at Andrej, none of that sentiment reflected in his face. We
caught a ferry back to the city and watched a movie about pirates, lovers and
stranded vessels in the sea before bedtime. This was our first night in
Maldives; all in all, it was a promising start to the vacation! |
| Presidential Palace, Male |
The next morning, we
went back to the same restaurant near our hotel to eat breakfast. We ordered
for a Maldivian dish that included fish in spiced-up curry style and
traditional “roshi.” Roshi is a Maldivian specialty: wafer-thin, tortilla-like
bread made from wheat. The breakfast tasted amazing and we got full quickly
even though we shared a plate. Normally, I tend to binge-eat at breakfast time
unlike Andrej who tends to eat light. I usually get hungry every two-three hours
and end up inconveniencing him every time my hunger pangs strike. Thankfully,
he understands my almost abnormal metabolism and doesn’t complain much about
it. We started the day by going to the national museum of Male which was only
walking distance from our guest house. The entry tickets were reasonably
priced. The building looked newly renovated and although there were only two
floors housing artifacts of historical importance, the place summarized the
Maldivian socio-cultural ethos quite comprehensibly. We then made our way to a
mosque. Again, I had to put a cloth over my head and Andrej had to cover up
his hairy, naked legs with a sarong. The caretaker of the mosque came to
speak with us but his English was hardly legible. I understood the part where
he pointed out to us the “women’s section” or the spot where women were allowed
to pray to Allah as entry to the main hall was forbidden for them. I was
disappointed to hear that a community so warm and seemingly sociable could not
and would not overlook the gender-based discriminatory practices that their
religion imposes on them. Adjacent to this mosque, stood the military
headquarters and a library/cultural center. Taking photos in and around the
military building was prohibited but we managed to take some anyway. We walked
into the state library across the street. The guard asked us to leave our
belongings in the lockers before going towards the book shelves. The library
was small but had its fair share of book collection ranging from literature to politics
and religious books to school texts and Andrej became excited upon our
discovery of an “adult section.” Unfortunately, the Maldivian notion of adult
content meant books on pregnancy and childbirth. The library also had an
American section with the stars and stripes proudly placed next to the national
flag of Maldives. We figured unlike most Muslim countries, Maldives wasn’t
antagonistic towards America. Andrej really wanted to visit an old mosque that
required special permission for entry from the concerned authorities but he
changed his mind later on.
We thought of seeing
another inhibited island close to Male and spend some time at the beach so we
took a ferry to Hulhulmale. I did not bring any shorts along with me so I told
Andrej I would sit and watch him swim; however, he insisted that I join him so
I had to reluctantly go the souvenir shop nearby to purchase a pair of shorts.
After haggling passionately for about 20 minutes, the shopkeeper sold me the
shorts for MVR 100, the original price being 350 Maldivian Rufiyaas. We played
in the water for some time as evening hours drew closer and closer. There were
some tourists on the beach and I was taken aback to see them in their bikinis.
To me, no matter how much you disagree with the rules and regulations that a
certain society abides by, you learn to show respect and play by those rules
especially when you are amongst them. Maybe these foreigners were not
aware or well-versed in the norms of the Islamic community of Maldives but
Andrej had had me prepared about this, and we tried to behave according to
their ways as much as we possibly could. We got back into our dry clothes soon
after and walked back into the souvenir shop but we realized it had nothing new
so we didn’t spend any money. The island seemed more populated than
Vilingili and we could see a lot of new buildings, possibly hotels and guests
houses being constructed as we walked around the area looking for a restaurant
to eat our dinner at. We noticed that the island had a lot more tourists as
compared to Male or Vilingili. After dining, we took the ferry back to Male and
went to bed as we became more and more excited about the thought of finally
being at our resort in South Ari Atoll by next day. And this is how we wrapped
up our time in Male, quite differently than what most tourists would do, that
is, check into resorts directly without taking the time to experiment the
non-tourist life of a local like we did.
South Ari Atoll
(Mahibadhoo, Dhangethi)
We started the day early
by taking a cab to the ferry station. We were to spend the night at an
inhabited island Dhangethi and check into our resort the following day. It was
a 4-hour ride from Male to Mahibadhoo and another hour from there to Dhangethi.
I became a bit apprehensive thinking about the rather long journey on the
Indian Ocean as I had never been on a trip by ferry before. The Staten Island
ferry rides on the Hudson River in New York were the only experience I had ever
had in the past. I comforted myself thinking it cannot be more nauseating than
a 7-hour bus ride on the meandering roads of the Nilgiri Mountains in South
India. Also, to my relief, there was a bathroom on board, which was very
convenient keeping in mind the countless number of times I pee in a day! Andrej
read for some time and fell asleep on my lap. I too dozed off for an hour or
so. It was a bit unnerving to be in the middle of the Indian Ocean with no
sight of dry land in the horizon but the beauty of the ocean with its dazzling
blue shades added a sense of calm and peace. The Maldivians were like children
of the ocean, with ferries being the most common mode of transport and a vital
part of parcel of their daily lives. Thankfully, I did not have any nausea/sea
sickness and we soon reached the island of Madhibadhoo. We had about 30 minutes
to our disposal before boarding the next ferry to Dhangethi. We ordered our
favorite Garudiya for lunch but I felt it didn’t taste as good as the one we tried
for the first time at the restaurant in Male.
We were not sure if we
needed to buy another ferry ticket for Madibhadoo to Dhangethi. Upon inquiring,
we found out that the original ticket covered us till our final destination.
The journey from Madibadhoo to Dhangethi took us about an hour. On the
way, we passed through many private resorts nestled cozily on islands lined up
one after another. Our hotel caretaker, a very personable fellow, Mr. Muhammad
Abdullah came to receive us at the dock. He greeted us with a bright smile and
fresh fruit juice. He then got a wheelbarrow to transport our luggage from the
dock to our guest house. We passed through the sandy streets of the island and
were surprised to see many souvenir shops lined up the streets. We assumed the
island must have regular visits from tourists staying at closeby resorts. The
guest house seemed to be undergoing renovation/expansion. Our guest room was
spacious and looked prepared for our stay. Mr. Abdullah asked us if we would
need him to prepare Maldivian dinner for us; we informed him politely that we
would let him know. His daughter handed us an instruction booklet that listed
the rules and regulations to be followed by guests upon staying in Dhangethi.
Without wasting time, we got dressed for the beach. The island had considerable
vegetation growth and seemed totally cut off from the bustling city life of
Male. We were beginning to look like people stranded on a deserted island on
some TV shows. We met some local men busy building a boat and asked them for
directions to the beach. One of the local men pointed to us the direction
without speaking a word. They seemed surprised to see us but did not hassle us
with questions. The beach was empty and looked untouched even by the locals. I
could have slipped into my bikini without facing any charges for public
indecency as there was nobody around but continued to abide by their norms and
wore the funny looking Hawaiian shorts that Andrej had bought for me in
Hulhulmale. The weather was a bit cloudy and the water not so warm but the
ocean looked as blue as could be. We walked into the waters to realize that the
shallow parts stretched far and wide till the middle of the ocean. I stayed
close to the shore while Andrej took his phone and walked further up into the
shallow waters to get some pictures of the mesmerizing scene. As I paced up and
down the shore, I found out that the darker spots in the bottom of the ocean
were due to the color of sea weeds. Earlier, I had assumed they were because of
the depth of the ocean. Evening hours were fast approaching so we could
not hang around the beach much longer. I went towards the bushes, took
off my wet clothes and slipped into dry ones. As I battled the strong winds and
attempted to get sand off of my body, I made sure no local spied on me.
Before we left, Andrej managed to collect two half-cut, empty coconut
shells as souvenirs from the Mahibadhoo beach. They sell such items at
expensive rates in souvenir shops; we felt we were lucky to get them for free
from nature. We had dinner at one of the two restaurants on the island.
We were served spicy noodles and eggs with fresh orange juice.
After food, we walked
around the island a bit more and visited the local souvenir shops. The items
sold were more or less the same or similar to the ones we saw at the souvenir
shop in Male. However, to our surprise they were priced a lower than Male,
perhaps due to the fact that there was competitive retailing in the area. Every
vendor greeted us with smiles in the hope that we would go into their shops and
purchase something. We were beginning to regret the amount of money we spent on
souvenirs at the only souvenir shop we could locate in Male; but we couldn’t
have known we’d find shops on the other inhabited islands, let alone sell at
cheaper rates. 
In the night, we decided to go for a short walk. We went back to
the beach but as the tide was high I asked Andrej we should stay put on one
spot. We looked up to the skies to get a splendid view of the stars and
constellations. They appeared so clear and vivid. Andrej noticed that the
Orion, which under normal circumstances is seen upright in the night sky,
appeared horizontal here. He believed this had something to do with Maldives
being so close to the Equator. The atmosphere was breezy, calm and serene with
just the sound of ocean waves brushing against the shore. It was a very
beautiful night and I wished we could dwell in that perfect moment forever,
frozen in time. We headed back to our room and prepared for bed but not before
watching one of Andrej’s favorite show in the history of television- Ali G.
Ranveli Village
We woke up feeling fresh
and ready to start our sojourn at Ranveli Resort. The much awaited moment to be
marooned on an “uninhabited” island with my man had arrived. All this while, it
was only pictures and travel reviews that gave me a feel of the resort; and now
it was time to discover the exclusive lifestyle for ourselves. Ranveli resort
was constructed on the island of Villingilivaru in South Ari Atoll. It appeared so close to Dhangethi that Andrej
thought he could swim the distance. We checked out of our guest house and
Mr. Muhammad wheeled our bags towards the the pick-up point. The place looked
busy as usual with the local men collecting the hundreds of mineral water
bottles and materials for house construction that had just been delivered for
the islanders. There was some misunderstanding in communication between Andrej
and the Ranveli people so our ferry did not arrive on time. Mr. Muhammad came back
to chat us up and suggested that we sit at the restaurant until our pick up
came but we decided to stay and wait. He was also very kind to call up the
resort to let them know that there were two tourists waiting to be received.
After over an hour’s wait, the Ranveli people finally arrived. We were welcomed
into the boat by a very happy face, Affa. He could speak Hindi quite fluently
having lived in India some time ago. From all of my conversations with various
locals, I found that Trivandrum in South India was the one place that Maldivian
people visited on a pretty regular basis. I started making conversations with
him in Hindi and asked him questions regarding the resort and the facilities
available. He asked me if Andrej and I were newly married couples on
their honeymoon vacation. I laughed and clarified the confusion. The ferry ride
was short and we soon disembarked at Ranveli. I could already see guests
relaxing on the sundecks and people snorkeling in the shallow waters
surrounding the island. It was a typical picture of a stress-free and relaxed
tropical vacation! I could barely contain my excitement but I held myself back
from letting Andrej know I was going out of my mind. It was like a dream to be
finally living the dream we had been planning the past two months—to experience
high-end resort life in Maldives. Not everyone gets to travel to an exotic
island in the middle of the Indian Ocean with their romantic partners. A few do
but mostly for their honeymoon or marriage anniversary celebration. I felt so
lucky for having been given this opportunity to spend time with Andrej in
Maldives, a country which to me was nothing short of what one would imagine a
paradise on earth to be.
We were ahead of the
scheduled check-in time so we had to wait in the lobby area near the reception.
As we waited for our designated room to be cleaned and prepped for us, we were
asked to fill out our personal information on a form. After a few minutes, we
were able to check into our rooms. We walked by the alluring swimming pool
overlooking the ocean, the inviting resort spa and neatly designed cottages on
both sides of the soft, sand-filled walkway. The island was very
well-maintained and the plants and trees complemented one another in their
tropical theme. Our room was very airy and bright; our bed with cozy canopy
curtains and dim lighting overhead to finish the dreamy ambience. Our room
opened up to a stunning view of the ocean in its varying shades of turquoise
and aquamarine. We were surrounded by palm trees, two beach chairs and a lovely
wooden swing. The railings encircling the island were low enough so one
could sit on them and enjoy the view of the crystal clear waters below. The
bathroom was equally spacious and came equipped with a bath big enough for the two
of us. 
Soon it was lunch hour,
so we headed to the restaurant to have our first meal at Ranveli. The dining
area was 
The place was just like
I imagined a Maldivian resort to be, exclusive, expensive and full of foreign
tourists.There were young couples and elderly couples and families with children. The room service was impeccable and our rooms were cleaned at least twice in a day. Our bed was very comfortable and the linens and towels clean and crisp. The only downside was that the internet connection was unreliable and wifi was available only in and around the reception area. So every time we wanted to go online, we had to step out of our room and head towards the reception/lobby area to utilize free wifi.
It had drizzled a little
bit earlier during the day so the sunny weather we were hoping for eluded us.
Nonetheless, we changed into our swimwear and walked towards the beach which
was just a few steps away from our bedroom. It hardly had any people when we
got there maybe because of the weather but despite the cloudy skies, the ocean
as well as the reef looked amazing. Out of all the resorts we looked at when we
were at the initial stages of planning our Maldivian holiday, the reef at
Ranveli had stood out the most. Other that its room rates which were relatively
lower than the other resorts, I believe it was the reef that made us consider
Ranveli as our foremost choice. Finally, I was able to wear a bikini and walk
around freely on the soft sands. Although the gloomy weather did not deter us
from taking pictures of the pristine sight, we sincerely hoped for a sunnier
weather in the following days. And even though the beach seemed deserted
and tranquil, the sky traffic looked pretty busy with seaplanes hovering around
at pretty low heights. We played in the shallow waters for some time, relaxed
on the beach chairs and came back to our room to take a long, hot bath. Since
we had a couple of hours more until dinner, we decided to watch a Woody Allen
movie. After dinner, Affa, the hotel employee that had come to pick us from
Dhangethi asked us if we wanted to go on a snorkeling excursion. We told
him we would get back to him in the morning. Later in the night, we went to
grab some beers at the bar and then headed to bed.
The next morning, Andrej
drew the curtains open and woke me up to the most beautiful sight. The skies
had cleared out and the weather was as sunny as we had hoped for. Our wish had
been granted and we could not wait to have some real fun at the beach! We went
to enjoy a hearty breakfast at the restaurant and as usual, I ended up eating
more than Andrej. Thankfully, the tea, coffee and juice were complimentary at
breakfast time and we were not charged separately. We then headed back to our
room and got ready to hit the beach. The place again looked deserted maybe
because it was still morning hours. However, the sun was already as scorching
as it could be. We found ourselves a spot and Andrej lied down to read his book
but not before taking a dip in the ocean. The reef looked absolutely fabulous
and the shallow waters were at their bluest hue under the sunny skies. The
different shades of the ocean were so invigorating and revitalizing for the
senses that I felt like I could live on the beach forever. We were enjoying
ourselves so much in the sun that we barely noticed the steady rise in the
temperature. We continued to lie down on the benches and soaked in the sun as
much as we could have. But Andrej soon began to realize the sun taking its toll
on his pale skin. It got so unbearable to the point where we had to pack up and
go back to our bedroom. I, on the other hand being the dark-skinned person
remained unfazed by the scorching rays. Before going to the room, we decided to
take a swim in the resort pool. As Andrej showed off his swimming skills, I
stood on the sidelines and chickened out. He made all attempts to make me swim
but it had been years and years since I swam last and I was embarrassed to
prove how poor of a swimmer I was. And every other time he tried to hold me and
swim with me, I felt like he was going to drown me! 
We then headed to our big
fat lunch. We also signed up for the snorkeling excursion even though Andrej 
This episode seemed like
such a downer because Andrej was not only in pain but his inflamed skin also
seemed to have affected his mood as he was becoming very irritable and took
offense to any comment I made which under normal circumstances would not
have come off as bad. I had to deal with his sulking again before dinner
time and tried to lighten the situation as much as I could instead of letting
one small argument blow out of proportion. I was adamant to not let such
unpleasant moments hinder us from enjoying the rest of our holidays. In the
morning, we noticed Andrej’s sunburns had gone from bad to worse but we
remained hopeful that he would be able to snorkel despite his inflamed
condition. We were worried if the snorkeling activity was going to exacerbate
the skin irritation but this didn’t deter him from going ahead with it…and he
told me he was going to be alright. I thought with him being a terrific swimmer
and also having had snorkeling experience, it would have been a pity to not
sign up for this one activity regardless of the high rates. We rented
snorkeling masks, snorkeling fins and a life jacket for me; yes, a life jacket!
I was pretty darn sure that I would be the only one in a life-jacket but I was
relieved to see two or more snorkelers in them too. But these people in life jackets were very old, so not much of a consolation I should say and this
sort of magnified my embarrassment. I had gone to the pool at some point to
“test” my swimming and I figured I wouldn’t drown but I was very bad at it. I
had learned how to swim about sixteen years ago and I could barely recall the
last time I actually swam at a swimming pool! Andrej wouldn’t stop chastising
me about how bad of a swimmer but I tried to downplay his disdain and refrained
from arguing with him as I was already getting very tired from dealing with his
mood swings the previous night. The poor baby was acting out because of his
inflamed skin.
We boarded the ferry
with a considerable number of guests who signed up for the snorkeling
excursion. Everybody looked happy and excited; we were too, thank goodness! We
were accompanied by the resort employees who naturally were seasoned snorkelers
and divers. There were also two children on board and a baby traveling with her
parents. The others were mostly middle-aged or older couples. The main
lifeguard introduced himself to us and informed us the time-table of the day’s
snorkeling session. Our ferry took us into the Indian Ocean for over an hour.
We passed by many other resorts and water villas on the way. We reached the
target destination for catching a good view of whale sharks but we had no luck
and the ferry went on about in circles. There were many other boats and ferries
carrying tourists on an excursion like us. Suddenly, the guide yelled out to us
that a whale shark had been spotted. He was a scrawny looking fellow, possibly
in his teenage years but gave me the impression of an experienced and confident
snorkeling guide. He screamed into my ears to let go of my fears, and just jump
in and before I knew he had pushed me into the water and I was floating in the
middle of the Indian Ocean. My thoughts became benumbed and all I could feel
was the not so warm water enveloping my body. Andrej was already in the water,
swam over and held my hands as we proceeded forward to catch a glimpse of the
mysterious whale shark. He didn’t let go of my hand and I felt safe even though
my mind was in a state of flux. When he spotted the whale shark he asked me to
look into the waters but I was struggling to breathe through my mask and
getting distracted by the paddling fins of snorkelers swimming beside me. For a
couple of seconds, I did manage to stare down and I was captivated by what I
saw. The ocean looked resplendent with its bustling marine life and it was
difficult to tell apart the many vibrant fishes and sea animals that were
scurrying about. The ocean that displayed only varying shades of blue on the
surface now revealed its true and glorious beauty in the form of its blue,
yellow, red, green and white sea creatures. It was an absolutely incredible
experience to be dwelling in their habitat for that just one moment that I
forgot I was terrified the ocean. I struggled desperately to catch a glimpse of
the whale shark but in that chaotic moment I could not confirm whether I saw it
or not. I remembered seeing something massive in size and grey in color passing
by below my feet but I wasn’t sure if that was the whale shark. Andrej was so
excited because he got a good look it. He kept asking me if I saw it too or
not. I told him I must have because I did see something but I couldn’t confirm.
Sad but true. We made our way back to ferry as Andrej continued to hold me and
helped me through the way. I could tell I was being a nuisance to him because
of my slow speed while the other swimmers went ahead of us towards the ferry.
He told me we were being too slow and I tried to swim as much as I could. When
we got to the ferry, I thanked him for taking care of me and for not letting go
of my hand. I also told him that I couldn’t have done this without him, because
never in my wildest imagination did I foresee being thrown into the middle of
the Indian Ocean for a snorkeling excursion and here I was engaging in it only
because I felt safe with him, obviously. He regretted I did not get to see the
whale shark and that the purpose of the excursion was defeated. On the
contrary, I felt this was one hell of an achievement for me considering I was
experiencing something like this for the first time in my life- the snorkel,
the ocean, my phobia of the water, first hand. I felt misunderstood but
brushed off such thoughts quickly enough.
After whale sharks, it
was time to look out for Manta rays. We ferried around for an hour to no avail.
The guide finally gave up and told us that we would jump to the last activity-
sea turtles. The habitat of the turtles was in the shallower parts of the ocean
as was could be seen from waters becoming a lighter shade of blue. Andrej
wanted me to get into the water with me but I was still nervous. I told him to
go ahead and enjoy himself with the rest of the group but he insisted that he
wanted to do this with me so I jumped in with him. For a minute I was fine and
struggled to swim towards the turtle sighting point. But as soon as he let go
of my hand, I began to freak out. I looked into the ocean for him and saw that
he had dived in. I looked around and saw that I was alone, never mind the
lifejacket which apparently had no significance for me at that point in time. To
add to the panic, saline water got into my mask as I struggled to remove it
from and face and cough it out. By the time Andrej came back up the panic
attack was so severe that I could not bring my mind to staying there even one
more second. Andrej asked me to calm down and continue. But I just couldn’t and
I begged him to drop me back on the ferry, which he did. I was under the
impression that he would continue swimming with the rest of the group but he
too came back and stayed on the boat with me. I obviously felt bad and tried to
convince him to get back in the water. Despite my attempts to make him have his
own fun, he refused saying he wanted to see the turtles with me. I badly wished
I could have done what he wanted me to do but I was just too terrified. From
this moment onwards, his mood went downhill.
We came back to the
resort and took our snorkeling equipment with us in case we wanted to do
something at our beach later on. I realized he was still upset with me for
having let panic get the better of me, something he believes is not real. The two of us were obviously looking at the
whole thing differently. He felt I didn’t put in enough effort, while I was of
the opinion that I did what I was able. He felt I wasted the money while I
wished he could have at least acknowledged the fact that I made it once even
though I bummed out the second time. I felt
I did something I had never done for the first time in my life and that was
good enough for me but for Andrej, I could have been braver. Before we could
go on arguing about this endlessly, I figured I’d let him have his moment and
relax in the tub. I took the snorkeling mask and headed to the beach. I
realized how stupid I was to not have practiced the day before the excursion,
at least learned to breathe through the mask, if nothing else. Feeling guilty
for having disappointed Andrej, I was determined to make full use of the
snorkeling mask before turning them in. It was only at the shallow waters on
the beach that I truly learned how to breathe properly through the equipment. I went a bit further up to try and see how I
fared. There were a few others snorkelers on the beach that evening but all
these times I had Andrej on my mind. I was hoping that he would get out of the
tub, stop sulking and come join me. After some time,
he came to the beach and I was just happy to see him. He asked me if I was
snorkeling and I told him I was, beaming with joy. I discovered so much beauty
to underneath those shallow waters- colorful fishes, stingrays and corals that
I forgot about the argument we had earlier during the day. After a few moments,
I made my way back to our room. Thought Andrej had walked back to the room but I was surprised to see him sitting on a
chair under the palm trees, looking redder than a lobster. I felt at home. Who would have thought a spat would have made me miss him and
appreciate him more. He looked calmer than before. I held him by his hand and
we went back to our room and the tension gradually lifted and we made up and forgot about our spat.
Later on, we went
back to the beach to enjoy the view of the sun setting. The mood was cheerful
with people lounging around in chairs and playing volleyball. This was our last
night at Ranveli and we tried to make the best of it by just enjoying each
other’s company and relaxing in the serene atmosphere.
In the morning, we had
our breakfast for the last time at the restaurant. We said goodbye to the chef
and waiters and thanked them for their hospitality. Everyone at Ranveli had
been so kind and helpful to us. The chef asked us to leave a review about the
food and restaurant before we left the resort, we humbly obliged. I wrote a
short but glowing review for Ranveli. Affa requested us to do the same on
tripadvisor. By this time, we were both over the previous day’s episode and it
was relieving to know Andrej could actually joke about how much I sucked to the
employee. We were in our elements as we prepared to leave this amazing resort.
Affa came with us till Dhangethi and took us to a restaurant nearby. He got us
some fresh fruit juice as we waited for our ride back to Male via Mahibadhoo. I
was so saddened to leave Ranveli and told Andrej I could have stayed in the
resort for a few more days; he felt it would get a bit boring for him if he
were to stay there for a week. We took the same route back to Male via the
ferries and soon we were at the airport waiting on our plane to take us to the
next leg of our vacation: Sri Lanka. It was going to take us only about an hour
to get to Colombo.
As charming as the idea
of living on water sounds, I came to learn that I would feel happiest and not
to mention most secure on land. The ocean is such a mysterious and enigmatic
entity I thought-so massive, isolated and impassive to the human condition. I
was deeply fascinated and also highly intimidated by its existence at the same
time. I often ruminate that I would love to live by the sea someday and even
though I am terrified of it, I still love the beach. After this experience, I
realized I’m best suited to stay on the sand or just swim casually in the
shallow waters with the children. Also, being on an exclusive island
resort has its perks and disadvantages. Being in Ranveli Village meant staying
on the island and enjoying whatever amenities the resort offered. We were
marooned on the island, literally with hardly any access to the outside world.
Well, that’s the whole purpose but this could potentially lead one to boredom.
However, we were so busy being lazy that we did not feel the need to explore
places other than our own island. Besides, whatever sightseeing we needed to do
was already done in Male and the surrounding islands. The place was perfect,
the sights and scenes were perfect, our moods and moments? Not always perfect.
But truly speaking, with every vacation we go on and the more time we spend
together, we come to learn a great deal about our individual idiosyncrasies and
address them appropriately without being disrespectful. We become more
and more comfortable with each other. This time around, we hit new innings and
new levels doing things as one that some information are so, so personal, I
can’t even put down in this journal. My guy had planned this vacation for
us…months ago it was just a stray thought, with the two of us deliberating
where on earth to get together for our next meeting. We wanted to go for
something close to India. After boiling down all the choices, we marked our
dates for Maldives. At first, it seemed out of the box and unusual. In popular
imagination, people go to such exotic and exclusive locales to get married or
celebrate their honeymoon, but we were doing neither of that. We wanted to
spend quality time together, be a cut above the rest and not follow a tradition
that most people followed. I was just grateful for everything, for the
vacation, for the amazing time spent together, for the lessons learned, for the
new discoveries. That I existed in the moment in one of the most beautiful
countries of the world with the person I cared for the most and who cared for
me, was the best and the most unparalleled feeling in the world.
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