Days 64 to 72 - Maldives (plus another few travel days)

In what was likely our best decision of the trip, we decided to head to one of the most remote tropical island countries in the world to recover from our Kilimanjaro experience.  The Maldives were just what the doctor ordered!  (well, Ines didn’t exactly order them, Korey had already planned out the trip that way…).

After Kilimanjaro, we took an overnight flight connecting again through Nairobi, Kenya to arrive in Dubai.  We spent one night in Dubai (this was a planned extra night, taking into account any travel snafu’s that might happen on Kilimanjaro or the airline).  For those that keep up with world news, you may have heard that on New Year’s Eve a skyscraper hotel named The Address, caught on fire in Dubai, causing a massive evacuation of everyone in the hotel and in the connecting part of the Dubai Mall.  Well, we had chosen to spend our layover evening in Dubai to do what any good American would do - see the Star Wars movie and eat some popcorn.  Where did we see that movie?  Yes indeed, we went to the Dubai Mall.   Afterward, we decided against waiting in a hectic New Year’s Eve taxi line at The Address Hotel and opted for a taxi line further away.  After going through airport security, we nestled ourselves at our gate and watched as the news described the devastating fire that was ablaze at The Address Hotel.  We had entered the theatre through the skyscraper hotel just hours before it went up in flames!  Our timing could not have been better (thanks to Ines this time and her decision to not use the Address Hotel as our departure). 

The journey to paradise was not easy and included an overnight flight from Dubai with a connection through Bengaluru, India, where we once again were met with some travel adversity.  As we understand, our chosen airline failed to notify the receiving airport (and immigration/customs authorities) of our connection through a layover in India.  As such, we were routed with other arriving passengers to immigration/customs, only to learn that the airport needed special documentation for passengers on connecting international flights. After an hour and a half of deliberating with the officers, we were assigned an escort from the airline to stay in the airport with us while the appropriate documentation was crafted by the airline allowing us a “special exception” to layover in the India airport until the time of our flight to the Maldives.  At one point there was talk of sending us back to Dubai, but in the end the only casualty of the mishap was Korey missing the first quarter of the MSU/‘Bama game (didn’t miss much there!).  

Another flight later we reached the Malé, Maldives airport, but not after an aborted landing by our flight captain due to a storm that had suddenly descended onto the small strip of land that makes up Malé’s airport.  Just as we were about to land, the place quickly increased altitude, forcing the pilot to move the plane full speed up into the air once again and circle until the storm subsided, shaking our nerves.  Once at the Malé airport our flight journey was not yet complete.  We needed to then take a seaplane another 40 minutes to travel from Malé to the tiny island that was our resort.  This part of the journey was executed seamlessly.  We were shuttled through the Malé Airport to a small lounge, where we had about five minutes to enjoy a Coca-Cola Light (Korey) and a Latte Macchiato (Ines), followed by being escorted to a tiny seaplane with eight other people to meet our tan and shoeless seaplane flight crew.  The ride was surreal, as countless islands seemingly popped out of the Indian Ocean left and right.  Before we knew it, the plane landed and docked us onto a tiny wooden raft about 300 yards off of the island.  Of course, swimming was not required as within minutes a speed boat came racing up, and with ourselves and our luggage onboard, sped us on a 30 second boat ride to the island.  

It was then that we found ourselves in true paradise.  This journey to paradise required a rough few travel days, especially combined with our Kilimanjaro climbing adventure, and only after being here for about oh, say, 30 seconds, did we realize that the hard-to-get-to location of these islands is, after all, the point.  Seclusion.  Relaxation.  Rest.  Recovery.  We were greeted with a drink straight from a coconut and then introduced to our private hut complete with air conditioning (Korey’s only requirement), indoor and outdoor showers, our very own infinity swimming pool, private access to the beach, a private cabana, and countless lounge chairs to relax and enjoy paradise.  

The water surrounding the tiny island was a pristine and beautiful mixture of deep green and blue, and the view from our hut was something off of a travel and leisure magazine cover.  We spent the first couple days just sleeping in, enjoying the food, swimming, walking around the island in the day, and watching movies in the evening.  Ever budget conscious, we opted for an all-inclusive plan for our time on the island.  Turned out to be a good call!  The Maldives are EXPENSIVE.  No bother to us though, we could enjoy our Piña Coladas and all-we-could-eat seafood and curry delights without worry.

This bliss lasted about all three days, then Korey became restless (what else is new) and the unthinkable happened….wait for it….wait for it!  He read a book.  Ines would like to note that she has already read a dozen books and Korey would like to point out to Ines that teenage vampire books don’t count.  Korey then proceeded to read and relax again, enjoying a hard earned cigar.

Highlights of our time at the Vilu Reef Resort in the Madlives included a very nerve-wracking shell crab race, where Ines was asked to pick out a shell crab to race other guests’ shell crabs.  Ines picked what seemed like an active and lively crab, however, it went doe-in-the-headlights when it came to race time and didn’t move.  That lucky kid from hut 235 took the prize of a bucket of beers.  His Dad was thrilled, Korey was a bit jealous.

Aside from getting used to the outdoor bathroom, our experience in the Maldives was fantastic.  We saw baby sharks, lizards/geckos galore, and even stingrays.  We caught up on much needed sleep, trip planning (and blogging…), and our time in the sun also gave us a chance to have our sunburns from Kilimanjaro transform into somewhat reasonable looking tans.  The last day after our seaplane ride back to Malé, we had a few extra hours that we used to explore the only metropolis in the Maldives.  Malé felt as busy as New York City, and we quickly learned that over 150,000 people live on this island that only spans two kilometers wide (a little more than 1.2 miles-we default to metric now, sorry).  We had a great time learning some of the history of the island, and even tried a local restaurant before heading back to the airport and continuing on with our journey to Southeast Asia.  Korey says, it’s time to time stop relaxing and travel like crazy people again!  

Things we learned: 1) The hard-to-get-to nature of the Maldives is what makes it so special, 2) anyone can quickly erase weight loss from a Kilimanjaro trek with all-you-can-eat and drink menus, and 3) seaplane pilots in the Maldives have it made, Ines thinks Korey should consider this profession…

The "airport" with the "runway" in the background

"Look ma, no shoes required to fly this plane!"

The entrance to our resort after being dropped off at the dock.  Pretty terrible, right?  We thought so too.

Korey trying to relax

Our room with a view!

Great...  Ines now wants one of these.  Showering outdoors isn't weird to anyone but Korey?

Choices galore, this was the public pool...

Another room choice was a hut over of the water

The infamous crab race.  No crabs were harmed, literally, as Ines' crab didn't even move...

Standard palm tree picture

Sun setting over the ocean

Standard couple photo

Stingrays everywhere!  Anyone up for a swim?

Last day at our resort, waiting for the seaplane

Can't forget the postcards before we leave!

Korey (yes, Korey...shocking) snapped this perfect overhead picture of our island resort from the seaplane as we departed

Korey talking with our Maldivian tour guide.  Guess what Ines is doing while they wait?  Just can't avoid the shopping even on remote islands...(no shoes were purchased this time)

A view of a market in Malé.  Quite the bustling city supporting all the other islands!