If the Maldives is paradise, does that make Male, it's island capital, Paradise City? Perhaps not. But it is still a really interesting place to see before you jump on a boat or plane to the less built-upon atolls.
I was in the Republic of the Maldives to assist with a shoot, on a surf boat, for Tommy Hilfiger.
Nice work, I know!
But I arrived the night before the rest of the crew, which was perfect for me, because it allowed me time to explore.
The Maldives is made up of a necklace of aquamarine stone atolls, at most only a few metres above sea level, and spreading over a vast 90,000 sq/km.
It is precarious and precious, and fascinating.
The island of Male lies at the bottom of a 'bead', on the strand to the right.
The airport is on the island of Hulhule, a hop away from the bulging capital island.
It is because of this unique geographical design that I had such a Bond movie experience on arrival. I was met by my hotel representative (who didn't think he would be picking up a girl with surfboards) and escorted to a covered speedboat with white leather seats, handed a cloth refresher towel, and a bottle of water, then whisked across the night time sea to Male, and my hotel. So weird going straight from my plane, to a boat, just to get to the city!
First impression, aside from the whole jet-set Bond movie thing, was how friendly everyone was. Really lovely, warm people.
The Traders Hotel was great, and a welcome relief after my flights, and stay in KL. My room was modern and luxurious.
And the bathroom was pretty funky. Shame I had to shoot it at night, so it's not quite as appealing, but I would have messed it up by morning.
I turned on the television while I apprehensively checked the room service menu (I had read about the food in the Maldives being really expensive but, to the contrary it was the cheapest room service I'd ever seen - and it was good!). I got a nice surprise to see my friends, Oni and Moses, from Fiji on the in-house channel. Such an odd thing to be so far from home, in the middle of the night and see a familiar face from the other side of the world.
After dinner, I snuck upstairs to the rooftop pool. The air was warm and the water was so inviting, but I was so tired, and still wanted to explore the city the next morning...
From my window, I love the reflection of water on the building across from me.
The concierge gave me a map, and informed me that the winner of the Male marathon could complete a lap of the island in just eighteen minutes. I felt certain I would take much longer with camera for company.
Walking around, it doesn't take long to realise Male is about bikes, and boats.
Bikes,
and boats.
Bikes,
and boats.
And quite a bit of rubbish*
But it is an intriguing city, and it's brimming with photo opportunities!
"What's that?" I asked about the cigar-like bundles. "Chocolate. Try some".
Oooh it was delicious! Chocolate and coconut!
For shoring up the shoreline?
The colours of these sandbags against the monsoonal sky were fantastic.
Bikes
and boats (I love the bow on this one, and then you look at the sign - 'Safety First')
The fact that Male is the capital, with a population of over 100000, with all that rubbish, and the bikes, and the boats, you would imagine the harbours to look a little murky. But they don't.
All of the water around Male looks that same postcard turquoise colour that you would expect to find your over-water bungalow hovering over.
And so it was nice to find these swimming enclosures, and even nicer to find a woman in her clothes, including her hijab, enjoying the water. She waved to me, and motioned that it was ok to photograph her, and I wondered how long she would take to dry off in those layers. I didn't want to swap lenses for a better shot, because I didn't want to interfere with what looked like a moment of delightful solitude.
Sublime!
Yeah? No, I don't think so...
My wander took an hour and a half, including about ten minutes of taking shelter in a monsoon downpour.
I loved exploring. Just like Spain, there seems to be a huge population of younger people around their 20s and 30s. In Spain I attributed it to a post-Franco baby boom, so I wondered what may have caused this surge in the Maldives. There were some pretty funky looking dudes around.
Shopping is a haggling affair, but I only wanted to buy one thing. I probably wouldn't have haggled so hard with the shopkeeper but I had my money changed at 'Spence Maldives' (don't change there). At that point I had no idea of the exchange rate, but I found out afterwards - for my $50AUD I should have got close to 735 Maldivian Ruffiyaa. Instead, I was given only 460MRF. I went back to them and suggested they had made a mistake, but they told me that was their exchange rate. Ew.
I had lunch at the hotel rooftop restaurant and bar (non-alcoholic bar - the Maldives is predominantly an Islamic country and all of Male is dry). It has great views of the city and across to the airport island.
I ordered a 'Hot Nights' - blueberry and raspberry puree, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and soda water...
Refreshing and yum. You don't need alcohol with drinks like that!
For food, I had the tiger prawn tempura (the batter was a little heavy) and yellow fin tuna tartare, which at only $10US with caviar, lime, sprouts, and a little spicy kick was fantastic and delicious!
I loved Male, and would insist that anyone heading to a Maldivian resort should stay there at least one day, and have a look around.
In the afternoon, I packed my bags up, grabbed the surfboards (I was board and underwater housing caddy - told you I was working) and headed back to the airport to meet with the crew and jump on the boat.....
*Actually the whole of the Maldives (or at least what I saw, which was comparatively very little) seems to be groaning under the weight of rubbish on it's shorelines, and no doubt, in the water. It is catastrophic that nothing is being done about it. I don't want to sully this blog post about an otherwise delightful city, by going on about this problem, but I think the situation is dire. There is an 'island tip', but it is not coping with the amount of refuse delivered there, and nor is the collection from the islands anywhere near adequate. Something needs to be done, and I'm not sure what, but I have been looking into it.
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