Of picturesque beaches and dreamy sunsets- The Maldives
Pristine water, white sand beaches, anemo fishes. Yes, the Maldives! Raghu had planned for a honeymoon at the Maldives for 9 days, and it was a surprise for me( well, supposed to be) . This trip being our honeymoon as well as our first international trip together, we were as excited as school kids going to a theme park for the first time.
We had booked the Sri Lankan airlines, with a pit stop at Colombo for around 2 hours, landing at Maldives around 10:30 AM IST. Since we were staying at Hulhumale for the first four days, the hotel had arranged for a pick up at the airport and we reached there within 15 mins. It took about an hour for the check-in and by 11:30 AM we were in the room. We napped for a while and then started exploring the town. The first thing we noticed was how incredibly clean the streets were, and the number of hotels in the town ( tourism, yes, duh!). There were also a number of restaurants to choose from, with cuisines ranging from Italian to Indian Chaat.
t was beautiful sitting by the sea, listening to the sound of the waves, drilling our legs into the white sand, with nothing but glow lamps on our tables. We then went into our room and tucked in for the night. The next day, we were up quite early, and since our hotel was a BnB we had breakfast there and strolled on the beach for sometime. It was quite humid and in a while we came back to the room, freshened up, and were out to explore the town again. So that day, we wanted to check out diving schools and fix up an appointment for the next day. We went around and just on the lane parallel to ours, found an Indian cafe, Asiana Cafe. We snacked a bit in there and went around a bit, and settled for lunch at a cafe called Shelled beans(link this to what to eat at Maldives). While having lunch we met another couple from Bangalore too, who were just back from their first dive. They were all excited after the experience, and referred us to the Dive Club Maldives. Since it was a bit far away from where we were staying, we rented cycles($3 per hour, with the first half an hour free!). We enquired about the dives and then resumed wandering around the town, exploring.
After dinner, we headed to Shelled Beans again that night (yes, their desserts are that yummy!). OVer there we met someone from Beach Club Maldives, and fixed up dives with him for the next day. My diving experience was amazing. The next day, we left to the Kuramathi Island Resort, where we stayed for 5 days.
Hulhumale is a small artificial island, best known (and built) for its commercial facilities. If you want to get away from the hustle of your busy life and chill, or if you have just diving on your mind, this is the place to be at!
Getting there: The Velana International Airport is located at Hulhulé, which is the one of the airport islands. From there, it is just a ten minute taxi ride to Hulhumalé , the artificial island.
Places to stay: Fern Boquete Inn, UI inn,
Make a note: Water is sold $6 per half litre in many hotels and restaurants (Some hotels you stay in give you 1 litre pp for free everyday). But the supermarkets sell them for $6 per litre. So we suggest you walk down to the supermarkets and buy your essentials.
Must-try: Do taste the chicken strips at Asiana cafe. The hand-tossed pizza and blueberry cheesecake at Shelled Beans are just classic! More on food later!
