Back to paradise with a friend

Flying to Male

I had set the alarm for 0445 but woke at 0230, having had around 5h30 of sleep.  I lay down for a bit longer but hopped out of bed around 0420 and prepared for check-out.

I managed to get on the first train to the airport at 0500 rather than the third at 0540.  I got breakfast at a very nice landside lounge and stayed for about 90 mins before heading airside with little no queueing.

Once airside, I realised that there was a large lounge near the P gates which I could have used instead of the landside one but with so much time today and no crowds, it didn’t cause any stress or issues.

I walked off my breakfast to kill time before boarding commenced at 0800 as I walked into the gate area and joined the queue without taking a seat.  To my surprise, the airline staff checked that we had done our immigration and customs declaration online, as with the Singapore one, it can be done upon arrival at the customs hall if one had been unaware.

Once on the airbridge, it was a 20 min before we were let on the 0840 flight.  It’s the typical budget airline process of “Hurry up and wait”.  But it helped us get away on time.

Waking up at 0230 gave me a chance to check the flight’s seat map before it closed 4h prior to departure.  It was pretty full but I had seen a couple of spare rows near my allocated window seat and took the available aisle seat once on f was a good feeling once the doors closed with me not being forced back into my allocated seat hemmed in by people against the wall.  I even had a short lie down on the flight.

Arriving in Male

I landed in Male a little earlier than the scheduled toof 0955.  I’m meeting my old friend Boo, arriving on Malaysia Airlines 2h30 later (originally only an hour later but rescheduled).

Despite seated midship and with BA, EK and EY widebodies parked on the apron, immigration took seconds.  I was out in no time and the ATMs were where I remembered and it gave me my money with no hassles.

I connected to the wifi briefly before taking the dhoni to Male for MVR15 (they also accept USD1).  I was in the city at 1025 which was only half hour after the aircraft doors opened.

Straight away, I got our tickets to Gulhi for MVR22 per person, departing as per my research at 1500.  The ferry was nearly empty last year but I didn’t want to take the risk of buying the tickets once Boo had arrived.  Besides, the ferry terminal is much more airy than the airport.

With the tickets sorted, I took a brief walk, in search of some eateries. There was a Nepali (which I enjoyed before) and a couple of local joints.

As I wasn’t hungry yet, I returned to the terminal to rest and await Boo who turned up about 1300.  We grabbed a meal together at a Nepali café and returned in time for the 1500 ferry.

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Our island paradise

We arrived at our little island paradies of  Gulhi around 1615 for our 3-night stay at the Pearlshine where I had stayed before.

We saw the sun set off the south-west end of the island where nurse sharks were playing in the water.  They were the length of a human adult and probably four of them.

For dinner, we ate at the poshest place on the island, the Ayala.  The meals were reasonably-priced and delicious but the 26% service and tax on top was a bit steep. The wait staff were nice though, being a mix of Indonesian-Balinese and Filipino. Many wait staff here are Indonesian-Balinese while many hotel staff are Bangladeshis with some Sri Lankans.

We retired around 2100, with both of us having had long days.

Arriving in Gulhi.