Maldives 2023

With a few hours sleep behind us at the hotel, we set out just before 6AM via Uber to return to Hammed International Airport. The hotel had kindly prepared a huge bag of breakfast items for each of us, including a fruit tray each and a tray of four pastries each. We gave one of the trays of fruit and pastries to our Uber driver, who seemed very happy to accept them.  Our packed flight left on time, just before 8AM, and landed right on time, at 3:15PM. At 14 hours, it really is a long haul. However, in typical Qatar Airways fashion, the in-flight service was constant and wonderful. We certainly didn’t arrive in Boston feeling hungry. Boston Logan Airport was a beehive of activity, partially due to spring breakers returning home. Despite that, however, customs was a breeze, and we soon got a shuttle to the Comfort Inn Logan Airport, which is located in nearby Revere, a suburb within easy reach of Boston Logan.  We crashed with exhaustion when we got to our room, as room arrival...

And so, our last day in Maldives is here.  Heavy sigh.  It’s all good, really, as we have had an amazing seven days in this country, filled with cultural experiences and interactions with nature beyond our expectations.   We woke quite early, as we have been falling asleep quite early most evenings on this trip.  Some early morning blogging and packing were followed by our last wonderful breakfast (sure gonna miss that omelet station!), and then we set out to take in a few last sights on the island before returning our bikes. There is an agricultural side of the island and the resort’s operation that we were able to burrow into this morning, thanks to the bikes.  And then there were a few last “nice to look at” features of the resort we had missed.   With all those items behind us, we then did one last snorkel on the house reef and one last swim at the main beach.   Our luggage was to be collected at 11:15AM, so everything on the above check-list was ...

Today’s plan was quite simple: rent bikes and tour Nalaguraidhoo Island. We were at breakfast at 9:00 and picked up the bikes at 9:45. From 10:30 until noon, we rode the bikes all over!  And wow, it was sweltering. By the time we got back to our unit at noon, we were totally dehydrated and done-in by the heat.  We rested up (actually, we feel asleep!) and then set off for lunch, a snorkel and beach time. 5PM was our typical coffee break in our unit, and then we headed to see the stingrays and shark feeding session before heading for our last dinner on Sun Island.  Sigh. We will be sad to leave this place tomorrow. One of the things we talk about when we get home from a trip like this, is the omelet station. Not all omelet stations at all resorts are created equally. This one was exceptional. And besides the omelet station, they had a crêpe station. This “party hat crêpe” was quite the work of art. This is our unit, which faced the ocean.  The resort has 460 rooms....