Welcome to the surreality! We are going to go into the brochure ads now! Yeah, cuz in real life you probably have dropped the thought of ever visiting this place – it must be for the rich! It must be for sure … But there are affordable packages for you too! I did indeed go to the Maldives and I was feeling like like like in a rainbow!

This is Male, you pronounce that E in it, it’s not a gender, it’s a capital city, and you have to zoom in, like zooooooom in, man, like the whole country needs to be zoooooooomed, then, then, theeeeeeen….. here you go, that’s it, that’s the place!

Zero degree? Yes, it’s down down doooooown, it’s not below the sea level, it’s just zero degrees above it! Ok, give it 1-2 m above it at the most! Welcome to the lowest country in the world! What lies low, lies beautifully!

Lemme tell you what’s the matter with these islands. This is the capital here, colorful crazy rainbow! Leave the exclusive resorts aside for now, I’m not going there yet, I like to see ppl, talk to them, learn some greetings, exchange secrets. Resort islands are populationLESS, meaning there’s gonna be you and you and what you bring about yourself on the islands ….which is not bad sometimes, just not for now!

If you wanted to run away from the world and you suddenly ended up in Male, you didn’t go too far – this is the most crowded place I have ever seen in the whole world – like there is hardly any space on the sidewalk for two ppl to walk side by side! It’s heavily loaded, that tiny island! I don’t even know how it copes with all of those buildings, people, thousands of motorcycles on it …. They even have cars in Male! It will hardly take you 45 min to get from one end of the island to the other – that’s all you have to walk everyday in the capital of Maldives … And, as a matter of fact, their ppl don’t suffer from obesity!

I’m stopping the bluffing ….. it’s swing time! There are swings at every corner in the Maldives – living the endless vacation!

This is a swirling statue at the surf point, just to let you know that you are right across the other side of the island, in case you decided to take a walk along the waterline!

Surfing is good in Male, good for those who live it, but good for ppl who like to watch too!

Raalhugandu, or the Surfpoint is at the end of the main street in Male, on the left from the Sea House! You sit and watch the painted water, it’s just super turquoise … you have to know that it is really beautiful, that water!

You could probably built a house from shells, the raw material just lies around …

     

More than 1000 islands put together into a country … therefore boats are part of their everyday life. Everything comes on a boat …. or flying 🙂

Tuna at the fish market! I’ve never known that tuna was such a big fish – a can is a can, you don’t suppose it comes bigger ….

Btw, the best breakfast  I’ve ever had was in Maldives! It is called masuni! It has mainly minced tuna, fresh coconut, curry leaves, spices and can be served with an omelet! Yummy staff!

The fruit market in Male is a great place to buy and try some fresh staff from the tropics.

These are chopped areca nuts, which Maldivians chew together with betel leaves to clean their teeth! Addictive staff!

      

     

The colourful Male skyline is growing taller and taller …

As far as there is colour, everything is fine …

    

During the 2013 presidential pre-election campaign these tiny islands were decorated in thousands of leaflets and hanging logo flyers. Ani was supposed to win … but there will be another chance … time flies fast, so do presidential terms.

   

The former Sultan’s Palace, Muliaage, is opposite the old cemetery on the main street of Male.

The old cemetery across the road from the palace …

It is a small place in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but there is a lot going on there 24 h …. It’s the fifth most densely populated island in the world! They take care of the other 1000 islands from right here – this tiny place of almost 6 km2. 

Imagine the sunsets ….