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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 7:13:25 GMT
I finally came across a few of my photos from the Maldives, in slide form. The film has aged poorly, but I have deleted the worst problems. With a little luck, I will find the rest of my photos some day. Anyway, tourism didn't begin in the Maldives until 1972, and at the time I went, there were about 60,000 tourists a year. The current total is about 1,300,000 so absolutely everything has changed since my visit in 1980. Although a few luxury resorts had already been built back then, Bandos was not one of them. It was a collection of about 50 concrete bungalows circling the tiny island with running cold salt water, no television or radio, and a collection of about 25 geckos in the room to keep down the insect population. It was perfect. Obviously, there are direct flights from Europe now, but I remember very clearly my itinerary back then: Paris-Frankfurt-Athens-Karachi-Colombo-Male. All of the travel fatigue instantly disappeared as the flight began to descend over the atolls of the Maldives. I was quite the spontaneous traveller back then and had made absolutely no arrangements for accommodations before arriving. It was the middle of the monsoon season, so I knew the resorts would not be fully booked, and I had a few names of the cheaper ones from my guidebook. The airport was a bit of a surprise. It can best be described as an air conditioned shack, perhaps the size of a school cafeteria. There were a couple of people sitting at tables to stamp passports, and then you walked out the back of the building to discover a pier with about a dozen boats tied up from the hotels waiting for people from the flight. One man was holding a sign that said "Bandos" so I walked up to him and asked is there were rooms available there. He said "probably" and anyway the people he was waiting for never showed up from the flight, so he was happy to have at least one person to transport. When I say "boat" I am talking about a small motorboat of the sort you might use to get around in a calm harbour or maybe to closely follow a coastline on a calm day. This one could hold about six passengers at most. It was long with low sides in the Asian style, so when we set off across the high seas, water immediately began sloshing over the sides. I had a canvas travel bag, so I ended up keeping it on my lap for the entire trip. The driver was unperturbed and clearly knew where he was going from a few tiny specks on the horizon. In any case, the trip lasted 45 minutes and later I learned that Bandos is one of the very closest atolls to the airport. Most of the resorts required 3 or 4 hours by boat. Of course, these days they use sea planes, helicopters or more seaworthy boats for the transfers. 21st century tourists to the Maldives rarely need to worry about the expense. As I said, it was the monsoon, so even though this photo was taken from the shore, we navigated with the sky looking pretty much like this.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 7:21:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 11:50:38 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 30, 2016 15:14:50 GMT
This is like a time machine! Most of the pictures have held up quite well, with some looking as though they were taken yesterday (except for the format). Great narrative, although a mixed blessing to be reminded of how fun and more hassle-free travel used to be, even though it took longer.
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Post by mossie on Sept 30, 2016 15:14:57 GMT
I bet you thought you were Robinson Crusoe, at least it made a welcome change from Paris.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 15:48:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 16:05:03 GMT
I hope I find my other pictures one of these days.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 30, 2016 16:46:46 GMT
Thanks for that long ago introduction to the Maldives. I've never been there but can say that they look almost identical to Phi Phi island before the devastation of the sunami. There too, one could only turn lights and aircon on when you inserted your key in a special lock. This didn't suite us as it took forever for the room to cool down - So, we prized the key off the ring and room number which allowed us to let the room cool down whilst we ate our dinner. That was the only time we took this advantage.
Your photos of the ocean and the Dows on the horizon are super!
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Post by htmb on Sept 30, 2016 19:05:01 GMT
Very interesting. I especially like the photos of the clouds and boats.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 7:03:39 GMT
I found a few photos of the capital Malé. Here is where the resorts had their administrative offices. The dock for arriving visitors was here. the local cinema Most of the streets looked like this. Naturally, I felt compelled to pull up a few pictures from the web to see what the city looks like now. Here is the entire capital city. Since the Maldives will be one of the first countries to be submerged, it will almost certainly be gone within 50 years.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 1, 2016 10:24:32 GMT
I'm astounded! It's that big?! One can see there isn't a spot to swing a cat - cheek to jowl sums it up for me. Even got what looks like a cricket ground and sports track. Thanks for the comparison.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 12:39:20 GMT
The capital island was already completely full back in 1980, just with much smaller buildings. They have added a breakwater to make a small craft port on the right, though.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 12:43:33 GMT
Just in case you're wondering where the Maldives will be going after they are submerged:
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Post by mossie on Oct 1, 2016 13:47:03 GMT
Full marks to the Maldives government for sensibly planning for their uncertain future. just wish our politicians and bureaucrats had as much common sense.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 2, 2016 7:56:32 GMT
I agree Mossie - full marks to the forward thinking.
I can't help imagining the buildings slowly sinking beneath the waves year by year. This has got to bring curious scuba divers from all over the world. Eventually if all things being equal - the coral and sea creatures will completely change anything recognisable now and form the most incredible undersea garden.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 2, 2016 13:50:05 GMT
My earlier comments on the photos apply to this newer batch, but the new group also has the drama of the monsoon skies and the segue into nighttime.
The foresight of the Maldives in securing their own future is astounding, especially when compared with the bureaucratic patchwork planning that characterizes most countries, even -- and perhaps particularly -- more "advanced" ones.
Extra thanks to Tod for piquing our imaginations so beautifully.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2016 14:21:30 GMT
During the tsunami in December 2004, the Maldives were completely submerged, but luckily it was just in the form of a huge ocean swell there, and most people were able to just go up on a roof or hold on to a tree as it went through. "Only" 108 people died, but there was a lot of damage to the reefs. A lot of sharks were stranded inland when the water went down.
As you can see from the photo above, Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
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Post by amboseli on Oct 3, 2016 8:39:23 GMT
Oh my, this brings back memories. We were in the Maldives for a week, in 2002, after a wonderful tour in Sri Lanka. I remember the tiny airport 'building' on Malé and our over-water bungalow at Full Moon Resort. And the heat and humidity!
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Post by nycgirl on Oct 8, 2016 12:56:22 GMT
What a stunning place. How fortunate that you got to see it before it became so developed. Luxury resorts can be a boon to the local economy, but it is a shame to not be able to experience the untouched beauty of the Maldives as you did.
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Post by lugg on Oct 9, 2016 9:09:59 GMT
Fantastic report K2 really enjoyed reading and seeing the photos, wow has it changed. I guess the "no shoes, no news" rule was necessarily true at this time .
I have just been for my 4th visit ( August) and this was the first time I had ever travelled to an island by boat. I have some pics of Male now taken from the boat which will really show the differences and the new land reclamation and bridge. Did you still arrive on the airport island rather than Male - the boat dock looks the same; so I am guessing you did? The squareish island in the first sequence is also one that has changed drastically , I have some pics of that too.
Not just rising sea levels but also as discussed high population density and high rents also is problematic to the population in Male. Hulhumalé a neighbouring island is therefore developing at rate of knots. The land around it is also ( very controversially) being reclaimed from the sea . This new island is close to the airport island and Male and a bridge is being built to connect it with Male. I can post those too if anyone is interested and K2 does not object to them being added here?? I have never seen sailboats like that during my visits - seems they must have mostly died out in general use - now the boats used have engines - dhoni. I know what you mean K2 - the travel fatigue just melts away as the atolls and islands appear below - really very special and unique.
I do hope you find some more photos.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 9:20:19 GMT
Yes, I arrived on the airport island. I only went to Malé later in my trip on the day they were running a boat from Bandos.
I would love to see your pictures, lugg.
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Post by lugg on Oct 9, 2016 9:21:51 GMT
I forgot to ask where you were when you took the fish pics -in the sea or on land? The turtle must have been a really good size judging from the remora hitching a lift. The shark is a nurse shark, probably sleeping as it was during the day . Of course the locals would have been eating the fish but then had the good sense to keep it for themselves Thanks K2 will do once Ive negotiated Flickr
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 9:32:37 GMT
I was standing on the dock for the fish pictures. They knew that tourists would drop them quite a few morsels there.
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Post by lugg on Oct 9, 2016 17:01:19 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 9, 2016 17:02:31 GMT
Most interesting and nicely expands the scope of this already excellent report.
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Post by lugg on Oct 9, 2016 17:13:42 GMT
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Post by lugg on Oct 9, 2016 17:23:50 GMT
I think this is Hulhumalé but not absolutely certain - it could be Male, but anyway its great to see the locals are making the most of the sea for themselves
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Post by htmb on Oct 10, 2016 4:16:02 GMT
Lugg, maybe I missed something, but were your photos taken very recently?
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Post by tod2 on Oct 10, 2016 5:22:58 GMT
Great photos Lugg! Nice to see the improvements since Kerouac was there.
Htmb - I think Lugg mentioned 2002 after visiting Shri Lanka.
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Post by lugg on Oct 10, 2016 5:56:32 GMT
Hi, no I was lucky enough to visit the Maldives for the 4th time August 16 - these pics were taken then. I did a two island stay and caught a boat to the first island - these pics were on the way to an island called Embudu in the South male atoll , which is about 40 mins away from Male by boat.
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