Sri Lanka/Maldives - Week of March 30, 2025

Hello my friends! Welcome to a week of new friendships, beautiful surroundings and a personal aquatic breakthrough - I went snorkeling! 

My friend Emily requires special attention in this week's blog. She is the consummate host, both in helping in preparation for my stay and while I've been on the island. She helped me with confirming the two places I was to stay at, arranging the speedboat logistics at the airport as well as being online as I worked my way from the deplaning the Sri Lankan Airlines to greeting me at Gulhi pier when I arrived. She has introduced to her friends as soon as I arrived ensuring I immediately felt right at home. She invited me to join her for lunch daily and connected me with Robbe, Charles and Tuur so I could join them for dinner. She was the person who helped me with the necessary equipment so I could be comfortable snorkeling. I was always welcome to join her in the Aquatic Centre, where she works, to chat. As small tokens of my gratitude Emily graciously accepted the John O'Donohue book I had, the notebook I received as a gift in Sri Lanka, some resealable plastic bags for storing food, and large metal clips (bull clips) used for securely holding loose paper together. She is also the most humble person who believes that the kindness, care and thoroughness she consistently displays is what most people do. My experience suggests Emily maybe incredibly special. So special that I thinking Emily is a unicorn .

What I continue to find fascinating in my travels is how chance plays such an important role in meeting new people. I'm convinced the universe presents us with endless possibilities to meet new people and explore the world through their perspective. Our responsibility is to embrace the possibilities we are presented with and, with kindness and respect, figure out which possibilities make sense in the present moment. The only time we have is here and now. We should pursue making the most of the present moment. 

My thoughts about visiting Denise, the scuba instructor from the Maldives, I met in Jakarta Airport dissipated fairly quickly after arriving in Maldives. Denise was kind enough to share her coordinates - Select Adaran Huduranfushi (about $400 USD/night/$566 CDN/365 EUR). I learned that the speedboat transportation to the island resort she worked was $165 USD one way from Male. It appears that anything activity remotely connected to these resorts are very expensive. The companion challenge is scheduling speedboats to limit the visit to a day trip. The logistics and cost sank the visit idea fairly quickly. 

I should be staying in the Northern Hemisphere for the duration of my travels assuming my travel itinerary going forward unfolds as planned. I've now traveled to my most westerly destination on this trip. I'm heading in an easterly direction, overall, in my future travel with one exception. I'll be traveling to west from Nagaland to Chennai in early May. After that trip, I'll be back going in an easterly direction.  

Blue dot marks my location
in the Maldives

May the universe bring endless blessings and moments of magic 🦄  to you and your loved ones in the week ahead. 🙏

Travel Administration

This week's travel tip is all about converting files to be the approved file size and format for travel visa applications. 

Travel Maps

This past week's travel included a trip from Cinnamon Lakeside to the International Airport (CMB), an hour flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Valena International Airport, Maldives, 30 minute speedboat ride to Gulhi Island and my walking about Gulhi Island. I've omitted the Sri Lankan map update as the only change from last week was the Uber ride from Colombo to the international airport. 

Inter Country Travel: Colombo to Male Flight (April 2, 2025)

Maldives: April 2 to April 5, 2025

Sri Lanka

I'm realizing my multiple scamming experiences in Colombo is tainting my entire impression of Sri Lanka. Almost everyone I meet who visits Sri Lanka talks about its biodiversity, the warm and kind people and their overall wonderful experiences. I've had similar positive experiences as I shared in last week's blog. They also mention how they avoid and/or minimize their time in Colombo. I guess I need to find a way to visit my friends in Colombo while avoiding the scamming experiences in the city centre on my next trip. I also need to be much more vigilant in providing a more balanced perspective for my Sri Lankan travel experiences.

My trip to Sri Lanka would have been incomplete if I was unable to find yet another opportunity to be scammed. I had just left the hotel grounds, for a five minute walk to an ATM, when I was almost immediately approached by a man who flashed a badge on a lanyard that had my hotel's name on it (no photo was shared). He said he worked in housekeeping and was on his way to a big street festival that he thought I'd also enjoy. He waited as I got my money. I wished a happy evening and returned to my hotel.

One Last Dinner

I had the most amazing meal at Long Feng, a hotel restaurant that features Chinese cuisine. The food was served hot, with generous portions and attentive, yet unintrusive, waiters. A positive lingering Sri Lankan memory.

Restaurant interior

My dinner - Chicken with noodles and crispy tofu

Night Skyline

I thought the following photos was an appropriate way to say goodbye to Sri Lanka on this trip. I've copied the first two sentences from the 'Our Story' section on the Tower's website to share the relative importance the tower has for the nation.

'The Colombo Lotus Tower, standing proudly in the heart of Colombo, is South Asia’s tallest self-supported structure and Sri Lanka’s tallest skyscraper, reaching an impressive height of 356 meters (1168 feet). Designed to resemble a lotus blossom, a symbol of purity and renewal, this iconic structure reflects the blend of tradition and modernity in Sri Lanka.'

Green petals

Red petals

Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) Colombo

I must confess Sri Lanka's premier international airport is somewhat underwhelming as compared to the previous airports I've visited. It is far less interesting architecturally and feels much smaller with the lower ceilings and far less open space. 

Obligatory airport photo

Maldives

My time in Maldives has been a true eye opener with a focus on understanding my multiple misconceptions about the country. A key misconception I had was that visiting Maldives meant only staying at expensive island resorts that were outside my travel budget. OMG, was I so wrong. My daily costs are less than what I was paying (on average) in New Zealand and Western Australia. There are many islands like Gulhi you can explore outside of the island resorts. The one challenge is transportation as the public ferries, which are inexpensive, have limited schedules. The two alternatives is taking the scheduled speedboat service or hiring a private speedboat (convenient and most expensive). Yes, you can have a wonderful holiday in a warm destination for a reasonable cost. 

Country background

I suspect many people maybe as unfamiliar with the Maldives as I was. If that is the case, here are some Maldivian facts and figures:

Maldives consists of a chain of about 1,200 small coral islands and sandbanks (some 200 of which are inhabited), grouped in clusters, or atolls (Britannica). Its land area is only 298 square kilometres (115 sq mi), but this is spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi) of the sea, making it one of the world's most spatially dispersed sovereign states (Wikipedia). The predominantly Muslim country has a population of 529,000 people with about a third of the population being foreign workers. The median age is between 32 and 33. 

Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with a population of 252,768 (about 47% of the entire Maldivian population) and an area of 8.30 square kilometres, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The population density of the Maldives is 1,229 people per square kilometre. This is much higher than the global average of 55 people per square kilometre.

On Approach

I was surprised when I first saw Male as the plane was approaching Valena International Airport. It was a modern city with so many skyscrapers on a tiny island that I learned is two square kilometres. I'm unsure if I had any notion of what to expect. Perhaps my time in Barbados, which lacks these types of structures, informed my overall ignorance. I've now visited two countries in the last three countries that I've been mostly unaware of. 

Airport

Male

Airport Harbour - Speedboat

I experienced a little drama going through immigration at the airport. I was feeling a little smug in that the queue I was in was going quickly through immigration. To my surprise, I discovered I had forgotten to complete an arrival form that was available 72 hours before arriving in Maldives. Barbados has a similar requirement. I was immediately rerouted to complete the electronic documentation which included uploading a photo of your passport picture page and a selfie. Each upload had a maximum file size as well. What a pain at the last minute! This minor drama had two silver linings. The first one was I was assigned to a shorter queue. The bigger lining was I arrived at the luggage belt well in advance of my luggage. 

I also had to do a little bit of searching in the arrivals hall to find the agent (Rasheed) to help me with the speedboat transportation. God bless Emily for the arrival instructions she provide and for her vigilance in keeping track of me to ensure I found the agent (the agent was called to follow-up) and got on the right boat on time. 

The agent is key to navigating passengers to the right boat at the Airport pier. There were boats continually coming and going without any signage to indicate where you should be. An added bonus in meeting Rasheed was that he also sold SIM cards at the same price as the telecom companies. I had a new card within minutes without presenting any documentation. The only downside was cost - $40 USD (~$57 CDN) for 10 days with 20 GB of data. Maldives now ranks as the most expensive place for a SIM card. 

Gulhi Island

Welcome to Gulhi Island! A quick thirty minute speedboat ride from the airport. You can walk across the island in 15 minutes. The only motorized vehicles are a few motorcycles and several one seater utility vehicles. 

I've included photos below to give you an idea of what the local community is like. The island's website (hyperlink above) has more information to satisfy your curiosity. There are several construction sites on the island with new accommodations being built.

Maldives accepts two currencies for payment - Maldivian rufiyaa and USD with many vendors adding a 3 - 5% surcharge on credit card transactions. Overall, everything is a little pricey, given all items you buy need to be shipped to island. 

BTW - Gulhi is officially an alcohol free island. If you happen to be consuming alcohol, you need to do so discretely. Open consumption of alcohol is a definite no-no. 

Gulhi Pier

Sand streets

Benha Restaurant (R) - preferred dining location

Cleaning crew - groups of women regularly rake
all parts of the island ensuring it's clean/litter free

Construction supplies - sand/gravel for construction
needs be brought in by boat

Aimi Beach Hotel

My seven night stay involved renting rooms at two different hotels, the Aimi Beach Hotel and the Beach Stone. I spent my first night at Aimi Beach Hotel due to room unavailability at the Beach Stone. The hotel had an open rooftop with great views all around the island. Sadly, a new hotel, near Aimi Beach, on island's west side obstructed the sunset view. That said, the new hotel's open area (swimming pool) did make an interesting frame for a sunset photo. 

Balcony view

Sunset from rooftop

Sunset from rooftop

Bikini Beach

Something new for me was the idea of a Bikini Beach. While many countries I visited had sensitivities towards what beachwear was appropriate and where, this is my first experience with a formal restriction. The island had identified one section of the island beaches where wearing bikinis was permitted. This beach, by far, is the best beach on the island. Beautiful white sand, crystal clear and warm (28C/82F) water, loads of beach chairs/umbrellas, trees for shade and a place to get drinks (including coconuts)/beach chairs. Emily happens to be good friends with the guys who run the beach drink/beach chairs location so I've been blessed to be well looked after.

An important sign to be compliant with

Beach looking north

Beach looking southeast

Beautiful sandy beach/blue, blue water

Looking north

Beach entrance

Give me a beach, I'll give you a swing

Beach Stone

Welcome to my home for six nights which was owned by Emily's manager. I had a comfortable room with daily breakfast included. Air conditioning is a must. The daily temperature ranges from about 27C at night to 32C in the day (feeling about 35C with humidity). Cloud cover is well during the day to minimize the sun's intensity. It can be, and is, smoking hot every day. Maldives is about 465 km/289 miles north of the equator. 

Hotel entrance

Balcony view - looking north

Northeast

East view

East view

The New Island

The Maldivian government is busy building new islands to relieve the Male housing crisis. I've been expanding my knowledge of how new islands are built courtesy of Robbe, Charles, Tuur, and Mike who work for a private Belgian company (Jan de Nul Group) contracted by a third party to build the island. Robbe is the project manager overseeing the island building activities. Charles and Tuur are fellow engineers responsible for supporting the project. Mike is the hands on operational guy in the area where the sand is being filled ensuring that the around the clock operations stay on track. Robbe invested time with me to explain the basics behind island building. 

The team lives at the Aimi Beach Hotel while working in Maldives. The typical project rotation is to spend two months on a specific project then they are transferred to a new project after a month off. The team gets a month off after their two months at work. Their work week is 12 hours/day from Monday to Saturday with Sunday off.

The overall project involves building the new island's south part (completed - photo below), then building the north section (in progress) and then building the middle part between the south and north sections to complete the entire island. Building means dredging sand from the ocean to create new land. Yes, there are environmental impact studies and dredging guidelines to conserve the environment while achieving the government's building objectives. 

The company is also working on extending the north part of Gulhi Island. Robbe has indicated he may have time for a site visit before I leave next Wednesday afternoon. I look forward to sharing more publicly available information in next week's blog.

Completed south island - referred locally to as the South bank

Beach Birthday BBQ

I was a guest at beach bbq celebrating Robbe's birthday on Wednesday evening, my first day on Gulhi. My introduction to Robbe, Charles, Turr and Mike happened as part of being a birthday party guest (Thanks Emily!). Robbe was the primary instigator for arranging the birthday celebrations for his birthday with Charles' capable assistance. The hotel staff where the three amigos live also had a big helping hand with setting up the bbq and cooking the meal. Robbe had been in Male during the day so he went shopping for the bbq supplies. We were treated to tenderloin steak, fresh Dutch cheese (acquired separately by Mike), roasted vegetables, bruschetta (Robbe's creation) with grilled peaches and grilled pineapple for dessert. Robbe had also purchased tempe for Emily as she's a long time vegan. 

Tenderloin steak

Meal preparation

Prepping steak and bruschetta

Emily overseeing tempe preparation;
preventing cross contamination from steak

Bruschetta preparation
Robbe on right, Mike
in background

New Friendships

Emily and Lilly

Please meet two more amazing people in my journey, Emily and Lilly, sisters who hail from Manchester, England. My friend Emily was the common thread on my way to meeting these remarkable women. The sisters and I had been staying in the same hotel, just feet away, without even seeing at the hotel. Emily had mentioned these two English women who were joining our Friday morning boating excursion. I also saw her speaking to Emily and Lilly on the beach on Thursday afternoon so I knew who they were. I finally met these two amazing individuals later on Thursday when I heard voices on the balcony just around the corner from my room. There they were playing Yahtze on the balcony in front of their room. They invited to play Yahtze with them and with that act of kindness, a new friendship was sparked. My two new friends maintained their competitiveness as I lost both games I played. I had a chance to share some minor medical supplies to help Emily treat a blistered heel. I also shared a few packages of Starbucks Via coffee that I have carried for the last five months without ever using. 

Emily and Lilly

Lilly

Emily has had traveling as a key priority for the last three years after finishing her masters. Lilly's trip to join Emily in Maldives was her first trip in navigating through the mechanics of reaching Emily. Kudos for her to persevere in the fact of all the newness (and uncertainty) associated with traveling solo. Their mother insisted on having a photo of the two of them together when Lilly arrived. What makes this story extra special was that Lilly was joining Emily in Maldives as Emily was finishing up her current travels. The two sisters are returning to England together after their time together on Gulhi and two additional Maldivian islands. They jointly taught me what a non-foodie I am. The best I could do when they asked me what national cuisines I liked was share specific dishes I enjoyed. Each of them readily identified their top five cuisines that they then modified based on more discussion. They also shared that they are busy deciding what they will have for lunch and dinner for that day while they are eating breakfast. I'm happy to leave my next meals as a surprise. An unexpected (and much appreciated) gift from them was learning about ordering coffee with milk for breakfast. The instant coffee is put on a cup of warm frothed milk - so delicious. When you add up these special small moments in a day - you have the best day ever! 🦄 Thank you Emily and Lilly!

I wish I could capture the depth and breadth of our conversations, how easy both Lilly and Emily were to talk with, and their positive energy.  I'm most appreciative for the universe's incredibly special gift in meeting and spending time with Emily and Lilly - even more magic infused in my life. 

Robbe, Charles and Tuur

Three remarkable men who have hospitality and kindness as their middle names. I've been blessed to be welcomed to enjoy meals with them throughout my stay along with spending time on the beach. The universe's benevolence in developing new friendships seems unbounded!

Robbe (on shoulders), Tuur (L), Charles (R)

Simon

I had brief conversations with Simon during Friday's excursion where I first met him. How many more amazing people are there in the world? He is a pastry chef in the Turin, Italy region. He spent seven years working as a pastry chef on Australia's east coast. Simon returned to Italy about a year ago, now immersed in the business of making gelato. We also learned he is masterful with a drone as you'll see in next week's blog. He spent sufficient time in Australia to become an Australian citizen as well as carrying an Italian passport. Simon is a person who I want to stay in contact with.

Excursion

Emily's job on Gulhi is organizing half-day/full-day speedboat excursions which she accompanies as a guide as her time permits. Great job to have if you are living in the Maldives, right? Anyone, besides me, envious? 

The universe benevolence continued in a blessed way. I joined a full day excursion on Friday that was to visit with dolphins, snorkeling with turtles, lunch on the Sandbank and snorkeling with whale sharks, rays and all other fish that appear as well. 

Emily was also instrumental in helping me with starting to enjoy the joys of snorkeling. She introduced me to a full face mask which addressed my discomfort with using the standard snorkeling mouthpiece. I can now snorkel to my heart's content. My immediate challenge is learning how to kick properly with fins. Pretty sure with some practice I'll have full mobility for my future snorkeling! 

Dolphins

Our first sea adventure was tracking an enormous pod of dolphins. We witnessed dolphins shooting out of the water to do 360's in the air and doing flips in the air. My timing was somewhat off in capturing all this dolphin excitement. 

Reef Snorkeling

Our next stop was at a location known for turtles being present. I had my first positive snorkeling experience albeit I only saw several different types of fish. The turtles were elusive in my initial snorkeling foray. All that would be addressed in the excursion I took on Sunday (more next week!).

I had a technology challenge in trying to load Emily's GoPro videos in the blog. My alternative approach is providing you with the link below to my One Drive site to view the videos. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this creates for your viewing pleasure. 

Reef Snorkeling - Turtle

Whale Sharks and Rays

Our plan to have lunch on the sandbank was stymied by the mid-day rain shower we encountered. After lunch we headed to where the whale sharks and rays were known to hang out. A contributing reason to their presence is the tour company's practice of using fish parts to attract the marine life. My thanks to Emily for the videos she captured with the GoPro. 

I had a technology challenge in trying to load Emily's GoPro videos in the blog. My alternative approach is providing you with the link below to my One Drive site to view the videos. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this creates for your viewing pleasure. 

Whale Sharks and Rays - Video 1

Whale Sharks and Rays - Video 2

Whale Sharks and Rays - Video 3

Whale Sharks and Rays - Video 4

Whale Sharks and Rays - Video 5

Whale Sharks and Rays - Video 6

Travel Administration

Every country with eVisa or ETAs are likely to also have documentation requirements that include the minimum of an image of your passport's bio page and a recent selfie. Countries have a habit of confounding these requirements by limiting the image's file size (maybe as small as 300 kb) or file format (may require jpeg, png or pdf). This is where the help of free online file converters (jpeg to pdf/ pdf to jpeg) or file compressors (reduce file size) are very handy. For example, Nagaland requires foreign tourists to complete a separate application to enter their state. A requirement is to have a copy of the Indian visa in jpeg format whereas the Indian visa I have is in pdf format. I used a file converter to transform my pdf visa into a jpeg visa. Application submitted and approved. They also required all jpegs to be a maximum of 300 kb. File compressor software to the rescue. 

Both types of tools are be readily found by Googling the words 'file compression' and 'file conversion'. My suggestion is to review the various tools' terms and conditions are comfortable with using the tool given the sensitive information you are submitting for being converted or compressed. 

Next Week

I spend the first three nights of the week in Gulhi along with participating in another speedboat excursion on Sunday. It's a speedboat ride back to Valena International Airport on Wednesday afternoon for a 2.5 hour flight to Bangalore to start my India adventures. I'll be spending two nights in Bangalore as I make my way to Nagaland in eastern India. I land in Dimapur (Nagaland) on Friday, April 11 for the next three nights.

See you next week!