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Welcome to MY Asia!!!
I have been living in Asia for the past 2 years and I must admit, it's been quite an enriching ride! Asia is not a frequent destination for Africans due in part to the considerable distance separating the continents. I took the road less traveled: the Orient, starting with the enchanting archipelago of the Maldives.
BOOK I MALDIVES
Maldives?Maldives?Maldives?
Did you mean Mali? No, I meant Maldives!
Is that the traditional way of pronouncing Malaysia? Actually no, the country's called Maldives!
It's right by Mauritius, isn't it? No, it's to the south west of India!
It's wonderful that you are living in Mauritania! Not quite...
A lot of people have never really heard of the Maldives. Why? For one it's very small and not present on some world maps...OK... So where is it now? Glad you asked!!!
The Maldives is an archipelago of 1192 islands in the Indian Ocean and precisely in the Arabian Sea. It is to the South West and southernmost tip of India and to the South West of Sri Lanka, another large island in the Indian Ocean.
I have heard stories and I have seen documentaries on Maldives but NOTHING could prepare me for what I saw.
My flight got into Male' (pronounced ma-lay) in the morning. As we approached Male' International Airport, I looked out from my window and there were all these patches of greenery, surrounded by white sand, surrounded by every single imaginable shade of blue. Breathtaking??? No, that would be an understatement. I was awe struck. Indeed, God had created these little diamonds in the sea!
The plane landed on Hulhule Island or "Airport Island" as it is called and now off to Male', the capital!!! Onto the dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat) I embarked. That was MORNING ONE!!!
The saga continues...I get on the boat, terrified to fall into the water... I hail from the African savannah and I had never had the opportunity of traveling from one city to the other by boat, so the whole "boat boarding" and "transferring luggage unto a boat" was something let's say...Different!!! The boat ride was uneventful except for the yellow and blue fish that were making their way to Male' alongside the us. Oh but that water, that water is amazing. I tell you, those postcards are truer than true. I could see the bottom of the Indian Ocean!!! Wow! I am going to love this place. The sea is turquoise, then it becomes azure, then it eases into ultramarine and finally a deep, rich velvety navy!!!We get to shore, then things get really interesting.