Maldives: A Journey to Remember. #travellinkup

Faced three challenges & conquered….

I traveled to the Maldives in Dec 2011. I was excited to start the adventure but I was slightly nervous too. My trip to the Maldives was planned suddenly but everything got finalized in the span of 2-3 weeks. My booking, luggage all was set and within no time I was waiting in IGI Terminal-3 for my flight boarding from New Delhi. It was the peak of winters in Delhi and I was loaded with 2 layers of winterwear and equipped with my travel guide of the Maldives, I headed towards the equator.

Since there were no direct flights my flight had a layover in Colombo and that’s where the trouble started. Due to bad weather conditions and rain flight got delayed. Instead of reaching at 6 PM it landed at 2 AM in Male. The airport was almost vacant and except the graveyard shift workers. By the time my immigration was done, it was nearing 3 AM and my hotel pick up was nowhere to be sighted. I spent my night in a chair outside the airport. My first challenging situation got over at 5 AM when I finally spotted a person holding my name on board.

Tired and grumpily I handed over my luggage but the second challenge emerged too soon for my comfort. The adventure was just starting I had to jump on an anchored speedboat which was moving due to turbulence in the sea. I’ve never prayed that much as I did on that boat ride. I had an irrational fear that boat will topple over and on top of that, I didn’t even know how to swim. The waves were enormous. It was exciting and scary at the same time. Total adrenaline rush.

The sight of sunrise from my boat made my journey worth it. I spotted dolphins jumping out of water in front of our boat. The Resort was around 45 min ride from Ibrahim Naseer Airport, Hulumale. At the mesmerizing sight of various shades of blue in the sea, my sleep deprived mind had a kick start and I rummaged my camera out and started clicking pictures.

The sight of Maldives is divine white sandy beaches, clear blue water, various fishes darting in corals. It’s heaven. I was greeted with such a warmth that my tiredness vanished and I settled into my amazing room and darted out to enjoy the resort.

My stay was in Waldorf Astoria Resort in a Water Bungalow. My 4 days spent there was the best vacation I ever had.

The third challenge I faced was self-inflicted I wanted to do scuba diving without any knowledge of swimming. At My query about scuba diving instructor stated that “you’ll excel in scuba diving because all you have to do was master drowning” and believe me I had an amazing talent to drown. Drowning could be so much fun I never knew. I even saw “Nemo” in an anemone. I got so excited I was pointing widely towards the clownfish that I failed to spot 3 feet eel rushing towards its prey, which happened to be in front of us.

We survived the encounter well, thank god Eel prefers fishes to humans.

I visited Male on my last day and spent the half day roaming around. Locals are really friendly. Though language barrier is there it’s a tourist-friendly country.

 

In my journey I faced and conquered 3 challenges:

1. Facing my irrational fear of Sea.
2. Learn swimming/drowning while scuba diving.
3. Conquering my fear of traveling abroad alone.

Places to Visit in Male:

• Republic Square
• National Museum
• Main Mosque.

Things to do in Resort:

• Snorkeling
• Scuba diving
• Dolphin ride
• Para-sailing
• Relax on beach
• Lounge
• Massage is heaven

Visit the Maldives for its pristine clear water and white beaches. Laid back and relaxed atmosphere. Most of all despite the challenges I faced it’s still worth it.

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