Sri Lanka & Maldives

Still feeling a bit drowsy from the flight and of course the fact that I hadn't slept all that much, we arrived at Dubai airport and our main goal of the first couple of hours was to find a small space to lie down, which on itself isn't that easy because this must be the airport with the most bright lights I had ever seen.

As we finally came across a place where loads of other people were trying to take a nap, we joined them and as we set our alarm clock at 6 AM, we tried to sleep, but it was the hardest thing to do. At the most you can say that we led our eyes to rest till suddenly we heard that infamous invite of the imam for his muslim friends to tell them it was time to pray. We were quite awake at 5 AM in the morning and from that moment on, we just wandered some more through the airport of Dubai till it was time to have a quick breakfast.

With our tummies full, we were ready to board our plane back home and although I tried to stay awake, once we were airborn, I was just so tired that I immediately closed my eyes.

As we were already flying above Europe, there was just one more change to see the movie "Coat of Many Colors" telling a bit of the life of that beautiful singer Dolly Parton and although I tried to ignore it, I must admit that I couldn't keep my eyes dry ... it was just such an emotional but at the same time also a happy movie that I was glad to be back home and ready to see my family again.

Once back in Amsterdam, Tania's parents awaited us and it was nice to see their friendly faces again. Traveling is so much fun and I honestly couldn't live without it but as I am getting older, somehow it also brings joy seeing your family and loved ones.

As we were talking about all the things we went through the last couple of weeks over a nice hot cup of coffee and a delicious "broodje kroket", it was time to drive back home and although the roads were busy with traffic, about 2 hours later we arrived at my house and I was glad to see my parents again as well.

Later that evening we had a nice dinner and seeing my little rascals again felt so good that I was more than ready for the upcoming holidays, but knowing me, next week I am already thinking about my next big trip. That's what happens if you got bitten by the travel bug I suppose!

Yesterday I wasn't really in the mood for an early rise and shine but today was our last day here on our tiny atoll. I just wanted to make the most of it and for the very first time since we were on the island, we set our alarm clock at a little before the sun would rise.

Still very sleepy, the both of us just went outside on our terrace lying on our sunbeds till suddenly the sun was there and with it, its warmth as well. This was just so awesome!

Feeling hungry, we went for our last breakfast and it was a little bit sad knowing that our holiday sadly enough came to an end. Today was a day with nothing but things we were going to do for the very last time, such a swimming with the fishes, sunbathing, enjoying a cocktail ... thinking about the fact that tomorrow we were home again was a bit hard to digest, but it also meant we were going back to our loved ones for the holidays, so in the end that is what counts the most.

As we were lucky to keep our room till about 4 PM, there was plenty of time to pack our stuff till the very last moment when we suddenly heard that knock on the door. Our bell boy was there to pick up the luggage and slowly it got to us that we were going to leave this beautiful island behind us, that's faith as well of course!

Packed and ready to go, we still needed to wait almost half an hour for our speed boat to take us to the airport and as we said to goodbye to the staff and left our little atoll behind us, we also noticed some dark clouds. It seemed that the weather gods agreed upon us to wait with the bad weather till we left, how cool is that!

It took about an hour to go back to the airport and as we arrived at the scene, we still had a few hours "to kill" so to speak coz our flight was not going to leave till 10 PM at the evening.

As we were getting our luggage of the boat, someone of the agency, asked us if we would like to go on a short "city trip" of Malé. Since it was but a 2 hours trip, we gladly accepted coz this sounded more interesting than staying at the airport for more than 2 hours.

It looked like we were the only 2 ones interested and as soon as our luggage was stored away safely, we followed a rather young looking man into a ferry towards Malé and although he tried to guide us as good as possible, you could feel that things werent' in the best of ... so to speak. Being a muslim, he instantly had problems with guiding two women and we tried to ignore that, but sometimes he made a woman unfriendly comment which we ignored all together. 

Being a guide, I think you have to get yourself over the fact that you guide all kinds of people and religion, so if you can't do that, stay out of the business, but that's just me thinking out loud!

Malé on itself is a very busy city and although we saw it only in the dark, I still am glad I did the trip so that I honestly can say that there is not so much to see besides a few mosques, some markets who are opened 24 hours a day and a big beach which was as good as empty at 7 PM in the evening.

Once back at the airport, we still had time to have a bite to eat, got rid of our luggage as soon as possible and walked alongside and of course in the souvenir shops till it was time to board our plane to Dubai.

Surprisingly enough, this flight was but half full, so we had more than enough space to lie down and try to sleep. I tried to watch a movie first but somehow I didn't manage to see it completely and I didn't even remember arriving in Dubai at 3 AM in the morning.

Sunday is usually the day to rest and take things easy after a whole week of working, but now that we were on holiday, we decided to take things slow as well, so after we slowly woke up and got dressed, we admired our view on the terrace for a while and went on our way for another delicious breakfast.

At the main restaurant everything is set up in buffet style, but there were just so many delicious things to choose from that it was more than difficult what to try first. Luckily we were staying here for more than one night, so every morning, lunch or evening it was about choices, choices and more choices, what a harsh life we lead!

Back in our room about an hour later, we changed into our swimmers and took along our snorkling gear, the most important thing here on the island and still amazed with all the luck of having a water villa, we were still happy campers about a day later.

Today we decided to have one more look again at the other side of our tiny atoll, so we went back to the west side where we were swimming the first day and today I took my camera with me. 

Although the sun was still shining brightly high up in the sky, we noticed a change in the water and although it was pretty quite the last couple of days, it seemed that things were about to change. 

When Tania looked at the weather forecast, it seemed that it was about to rain here in this part of paradise, but with just a bit of luck, we would be long gone and back to cold and freezy Belgium. For now however, we were enjoying the warmth of that bright yellow thing up in the sky and although the sea was a bit rougher than yesterday, we didn't mind it one bit.

The fishes and the coral were still there, so yet again we had a more than amazing time in the water. With the sea being a bit rougher than yesterday, it was more difficult to spot smaller fishes and taking pictures of them of course wasn't an easy task as well, so after a while I just enjoyed snorkling around the area.

Our day in total may sound pretty boring to most people but for me it was a incredible good day because after months of working in the office it was nice for a change to say ... I did nothing else but snorkling, sunbathing, eating, sleeping and repeating things the whole day till the sun went down ... doing just nothing for a day was more than a bliss!

As we watched yet another beautiful sunset, afterwards, we went for total relaxation as we got ourselves pampered having a Balinese massage. This was truly a nice ending to the day and all rejuvenated again, we had our last dinner here on the island, went for it during dessert which was more than delicious by the way and to top things of there was a karoake going on with all the wrong music you could ever imagine, but with a few cocktails this all sounded more than amazing.

It was the best Sunday I had in a long time and still with a smile on my face I went to bed way after midnight!

Another day arose and although sleeping in sounded so tempting, knowing that we were here on our little island for just a few more days, was a bit more exhilarating, so after a sturdy breakfast, the both of us just went back to our room for our snorkling gear and went on a snorkling trip organised by the crew of our island.

Together with 6 other people we were going for a snorkling tour of about an hour visiting 2 reefs with the inspiring name Turtle point and Vale Giri.
We were promised to see some turtles at the first reef, hence the name, so of course we were game, but nevertheless, once we were in the water, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the corals and other fishes, small and even smaller swimming around the reef.

Since my underwater camera broke down last year, I recently bought a new one at the airport, but not knowing what to expect, it was quite a challenge using it for the first time. Although all the fishes looked so colourful and pretty, they were quick as well and taking pictures of them was a more than difficult task.

It seemed that our turtle had left turtle point but as we left for our second reef, which had even more beautiful coral and fishes swimming around, we were lucky enough to see our promised turtle. It seemed that he moved on to another reef and seeing such a magnificant creature was really an incredible experience.

As we arrived back at our island, Bernie was waiting for us at the reception. Yesterday, he promised us to have a look for a possibility to upgrade to a waterbungalow and although there wasn't a chance the day before, today it seemed we were in more luck and if we were up for another move, we could have a room in one of the watervillas.

What a question, of course we were up for it and as soon as we gathered all of our stuff, we were asked to have an early lunch and as we were looking for a suitable place to snooze near the waterfront, we saw our luggage been moved from our normal room to the upstairs watervilla, it felt like winning the lottery and with all the exitement going on, curiousity took over and we wanted to go and check out our room, which turned out just simply awesome.

Still wanting to check out part of our house reef, we took our snorkling gear to the east side of the island and went on discovery only to see more than beautiful fishes and for the second time around we saw a turtle which decided to go for a swim with us as well!

Going in and out of the water sure makes you loose track of time and as we started to get cold, we just used the remainder of the day soaking up the sunrays till it was time to go and watch another beautiful sunset.

Dinner just like yesterday, was simply delicious and after yet another walk around the island, we decided to go and enjoy the view on our terrace. By the time it was almost midnight, I just wanted to close my eyes. After all, it had been a long day and tomorrow another lazy day awaited us.

Last night we arrived at our island pretty late and although we were welcomed by a huge friendly German guy named Bernie, whenever he spoke, I just had a hard time not to laugh. He spoke just in the same manner like that other German speaking actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and I just regret till this day that I didn't let him say : "I'll be back!"

As we arrived at the atoll, Bernie was so nice to make sure we still had something to eat and although we weren't into eating a full meal, the hot tomato soup with bread he arranged was to die for. It was really heart warming and it felt nice to be pampered for a change, to be honest, which girl doesn't like that!

It wasn't to hard to find our room, since the island was but a few meters long, but as we arrived at the room, we noticed a double bed and I guess they all thought that me and my buddy were a couple. We love eachother to death, but if I have a choice in it, I rather have Hugh Jackman! We had a bit of a laugh about it and afterwards we asked the reception and our friendly guy Bernie if he could arrange something.

Understandable it was hard to do this in the middle of the night, but somehow he arranged a second bed and before we could say goodnight to each other, we were already sound asleep, only to wake up about 6 hours later.

Lying quite awake early in the morning, the two of us were wondering why we couldn’t sleep anymore, the only thing we could come up with was the simple fact that we wanted to see the island and who could blame us, so as soon as we jumped out of bed and changed into our beach wear, we were on a discovery tour of our own little part of paradise.

Our island or atoll if you may call it, had a surface area of 400 x 150 meters and I have to admit that I had to look this up, but what we experienced ourselves is that one could go around it in about 10 minutes, 5 minutes if you wanted to go for a run… how cool is that!

The sun was already shining as we walked outside our room and as we went for breakfast and later on to the reception area, we were glad to hear that the staff was doing its best so that we could have a twinbedded room in the early afternoon.

With this all sorted out, we tried to enjoy our time here on the island and needless to say, we didn’t had to try all that hard.

As we walked around our atoll, we tried to look for a fair enough place to have a rest and unlike our prior experience in Koggala, where you literally had to fight to find a suitable place, here we had a luxury problem, since we couldn’t choose where to sit and I haven’t even began to talk about where to go for a swim coz the reef looked inviting from every angle.

Needless to say, we spend the remainder of the day snorkeling and sunbathing on our little part of the island and it was pure bliss … it felt like paradise and I was liking it a lot!!!