Travel: Maldives

We made it safely to Male, Maldives on a Bangkok Airways direct flight (Airbus A320 – 4.5hrs). Seeing as we arrived at 7:30pm local time it was too late to transfer directly to the resort (last plane leaves Male at 18:00). We spent the night at the Airport Hotel and had dinner in the only bar that serves alcohol in the whole island nation (remember, the Maldives is a Muslim country). The next morning we got up at an ungodly hour to catch the first sea-plane to Fushi. Six Senses has a deal with Trans Maldivian Airlines allowing hugely discounted flights for all employees, provided that they fly based on last minute availability – i.e. the early morning flights nobody wants. Having said that, we were still on BKK time (plus 2hrs) so we survived! After an exciting 45 minute flight we were let off at Edhyafushi International airport (a floating jetty for around 10 people – lol!!). The resort speedboat was there to whisk us to our island. Our shoes were confiscated (not to be seen again for the next month)and we set a 'bare' foot on what is to be our sandy home for the next month. We were shown our pool villa on the beach, given our bikes and reminded that island time is one hour ahead. I love this!! In order to make the day longer and have a later sunset the whole island follows a different time to the rest of the Maldives :- ).
We were invited to the GMs cocktail on the sand bank in front of the island to watch the sunset that evening. Very romantic: champagne in hand, sitting on the golden sand watching the deepening hues of a glorious sunset to the rhythmic sounds of the waves crashing on the shore in harmony with background drums.

Did you know?
-The Maldives consists of twenty-six atolls which encompass a territory featuring 1192 islets 700kms south-west of Sri Lanka. Roughly two hundred of these are inhabited by local communities (smallest Asian country in terms of population: 350,000) and eighty five of these are resort islands.
-Maldives holds the record for being the flattest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2m. Over the last century, sea levels have risen about twenty centimetres. After the disaster, cartographers had to draw new maps of the islands due to alterations by the tsunami (108 deaths). The people and government are worried that the Maldives could be wiped from the map due to rising sea levels.
-Nowadays tourism and Fisheries form the two key components of Maldivian economy. The development of the tourism sector gave a major boost to the country's fledging traditional cottage industries such as mat weaving, lacquer work, handicraft, and coir rope making.
-Originally a Buddhist nation, Islam was introduced in 1153, now being the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. It later became a Portuguese (1558), Dutch (1654), and British (1887) colonial possession. In 1965, Maldives obtained independence from Britain (originally under the name "Maldive Islands"), and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a Republic. However, in thirty-eight years, the Maldives have seen only two Presidents.

and.... the internet connection is REALLY bad here!! I have 4 videos ready to upload so far but the bandwidth is so small I may have to compromise on quality - smaller uploading size. Look for new photos in picasa.