Finally back from Maldives! So its time to blog about what transpired in the last wifi-less week. There's really not much one can do on a boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean so I can probably condense 2 days worth of content into one post. Also I'll let the pictures do the talking most of the time because I'm really too tired to wax lyrical about the scenery and whatnot.
We set off for the airport at about 5.45 pm on 13 December, as we were to meet the group of people who would be sharing the boat with us for the next week in order to do a group check-in.
Coincidental matching blue shirts!
nothing much feels better than a plane ticket in hand :-)
We boarded our plane at about 9.15pm as the flight was to be at 9.30-ish. The tragic thing was that the TV screens didn't work properly and kept jamming up so I just gave up after a while and went back to sleep. The food came after a while and they gave a magnum ice cream as dessert! Gotta love SIA.
Maldives is 3 hours behind local time, so after a short 4 hours flight we finally reached Male international airport at about 10++ pm local time. The airport itself is located on an island, so it's surrounded by water- unfortunately i couldn't really see the famed crystal blue waters yet so late at night.
With groggy eyes we immediately headed to the one of the boats docking right beside the airport, which was to take us to the yacht which we would be staying in for the next week. I was really too tired from the flight to register anything at this point, but I remember being quite excited to see our mobile abode.
Didn't manage to take a picture of the yacht (which was named Soliel) but it was quite huge! With three visible decks including a lower one where the cabins were located. After a welcome drink, I dragged myself to the cabin which I shared with my brother- it was surprisingly quite comfortable with air-con and personal toilets (much to my relief!!!).
Awoke early next morning & yay, the weather seemed great :-)
last view of Male from our boat before we departed for the open seas
the skies were so blue! almost as blue as the waters
view from the top deck- i spent the least amount of time on this deck as it was so hot!!!
Aaaannnd we saw a rainbow on the first day- which was hopefully an omen of a great trip to come :-)
Breakfast table in the lounge located in the lower deck! the lounge was quite spacious and comfortable (you can see the sofas at the back which I subsequently spent a lot of time napping on in the days to come)
There was also free flow of coffee and tea (you just take it from a flask) as well as water, both hot ad cold. Many people brought their own beverages and stuff and there was always snacks lying around which ensured that we never got hungry in between meals. They have an interesting mealtime system here- the crew member would lay out huge platters of food on the counter and ring the bell when mealtime arrived so I always looked forward to the cheery sound of the bell because that meant GOOD FOOD :-)
Pancakes! (which became like crepes because they were spread so thinly)
The front of the ship
How beautiful is this!!! I can't tell which is more lovely-the sky or the sea.
As if it isn't obvious enough-the dark blue part is the deep seas while the turquoise (such a gorgeous colour) part is the shallower seas where you can probably touch the ground.
We passed by a few islands during our voyage and we could see the atas resorts that most of them housed.
lunchtime on the first day! light fluffy biryani rice// potato curry// fish fillets (there was always AT LEAST one fish dish at every meal)// cheesy pumpkin casserole// coleslaw salad
The food is unbelievably flavourful and tasty and every bite is like a party in the mouth. And the best part is that its all 100% homemade ( or boat-made hurhur) by the wonderfully talented kitchen crew.
I don't think I took a picture of dinner but it was some wonderful western meal if I'm not wrong.
Spent the remainder of the day lazing around watching the gorgeous sunset.
The people on the trip ( including my dad) were mostly fishing enthusiasts so they started fishing almost right away-which also meant we got fresh supplies of fish on board every.single.day.
The next morning was pretty much the same- gorgeous weather, delicious breakfast and lazing around on the comfy deck chairs located at every level. The rocking motion of the boat makes one sleepy really quickly so I think i fell asleep right after breakfast.
We had porridge for lunch! Complete with condiments and chunks of fried fish and fish roe :-) The food has seriously got to be one of the highlights of my trip here because I'm not a big fan of fishing.
check out all the fishing rods lined up
i remember it being SWELTERING HOT when taking this photo.
the small dingy attached to the mother boat which always trails behind wherever the boat travels
the sunsets here are so magnificent- especially when paired with the blue seas. I usually lie on the decks and watch as the sun makes it gradual descent; and I never knew there were so many possible hues in a single sunset.
I look HORRID but here's one of the only pictures of my favourite spot I've got. And also one of the few days i bother wearing contacts because who really cares when you're in the middle of the ocean??????
another life-saver on this trip is my kindle- I ploughed through twice as many books in a week than I did in a month i think. In case i sound like I was really bored- well I was but it was a good type of bored; the feeling of not being obliged to do anything, when lying down all day is perfectly acceptable. Even as i type this down I already miss that care-free feeling :-(
There were whole bunches of bananas slung at the back of the boat, which you could freely pluck whenever you felt like it- hence the odd combination of bananas and sunset.
night-time is when the big fishes roam!!! And so it's also the most active period of time for the fishermen on board.
Some of the prize catches- that sailfish is probably worth 10< of my handspan.
And fresh fish also means- FRESH SASHIMI!!!!! Fortunately there were people who could slice sashimi on board and so we feasted on sashimi pre/ post dinner for a few nights :-)
That succulent meat...... especially when paired with the tear-inducing wasabi + soy sauce mixture... I'm drooling looking at this.
we had western again for dinner on day 2! this time i remembered to take a pic hoho. Pasta penne// beef chunks// spicy cajun wedges ( these were so so good, the potatoes were hand-sliced and it was completely made from scratch which totally blows any other wedges I've eaten out of the water!!! No pun intended.) // bread (which was also MADE FROM SCRATCH i swear these people are amazing) // otah// salad
Now you see why I look forward to the bell ;-)
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