The Maldives: An earthy paradise in India's backyard
Sameer Arshad Khatlani was born and brought up in Kashmir, an oval-shaped valley in the Himalayas universally regarded as one of the most beautiful places in the world. He would often describe his native place by quoting 17th century Mughal emperor Jahangir's couplet that roughly translates to: 'If there is heaven on earth, it is here [Kashmir], it is here, it is here.' That was until he visited the Maldives and realised Kashmir's natural beauty is not unrivaled and perhaps Jahangir may have had second thoughts had he visited the archipelago of sun-kissed white-sand beaches in the middle of warm turquoise waters as far as the eye can see.
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| The Maldives’s topography and sparse population makes it an ideal location to unwind without the hustle and bustle of touristy places. Photo courtesy Shangri-La's Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives |
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| Sameer Arshad Khatlani @SameerAKhatlani |
I was born and brought up in Kashmir, an oval-shaped valley in the Himalayas universally regarded as one of the most beautiful places in the world. For long, I invariably described my native place by quoting 17th century Mughal emperor Jahangir's couplet that roughly translates to: 'If there is heaven on earth, it is here [Kashmir], it is here, it is here.' That was until I visited the Maldives and realised Kashmir's natural beauty is not unrivaled and perhaps Jahangir may have had second thoughts had he visited the archipelago of sun-kissed white-sand beaches in the middle of warm turquoise waters as far as the eye can see.
My soothing Maldivian experience began around half-an-hour into taking off from Bengaluru airport in southern India as part of a delegation of journalists invited to the Maldives. As soon as we flew out of the Indian peninsular, I could only see blue waters and clear lagoons across swathes of the Indian Ocean. I could not take my eyes off and continued looking out of my aircraft widow until we began our touch down at the main Maldivian international airport. It was clear that we were landing in an exceptionally beautiful places as we began our final approach on the Hulhule island. I have been to over a dozen countries, and with exception to Hong Kong, San Francisco, I have never seen an airport as close to the sea. The conical island, in fact, is only big enough to accommodate the airport and few other buildings. The airport’s runways are meters away from the sea on all sides. It is a unique sight.
As we stepped out of the airport, there was not the unusual hustle and bustle of touristy places. There are no traffic woes to worry about; 90% of the Maldives is water and ferries are the chief mode of transportation across the archipelago of 1,190 coral islands in the middle of warm turquoise waters as far as the eye can see. It is a country like no other scattered in the Indian Ocean. The islands account for less than one per cent of the country’s area. Only 200 of them are inhabited with the longest road in the country being 16-km-long. The Maldives's population—417,492—is less than Delhi suburb—Noida (637,272).
The topography and sparse population of the archipelago make it an ideal location to unwind. The country offers an unparalleled privacy to visitors if they have deep pockets. At least 100 palm-thatched resorts across the Maldives occupy an island each and are nestled among palm, banyan, bamboo, mangroves and coconut palm trees. Visitors need not go farther than balconies of luxury resorts for diving and snorkeling or to soak up the sun on white-sand beaches of the earthy paradise. I stayed at the Hulhule Island Hotel near the airport, where my room was just 100 meters from the sea. I could just step out and plunge into the sea. I could see the skyline of the nearby Male island and ships docking at the port close-by. High speed boats were the only mode of transportation from Hulhule then. A mile-long China-Maldives Friendship Bridge has since been built to connect the two islands. It has become a major tourist attraction with the Lonely Planet calling it an 'incredibly impressive piece of engineering' over the open sea.
My soothing Maldivian experience began around half-an-hour into taking off from Bengaluru airport in southern India as part of a delegation of journalists invited to the Maldives. As soon as we flew out of the Indian peninsular, I could only see blue waters and clear lagoons across swathes of the Indian Ocean. I could not take my eyes off and continued looking out of my aircraft widow until we began our touch down at the main Maldivian international airport. It was clear that we were landing in an exceptionally beautiful places as we began our final approach on the Hulhule island. I have been to over a dozen countries, and with exception to Hong Kong, San Francisco, I have never seen an airport as close to the sea. The conical island, in fact, is only big enough to accommodate the airport and few other buildings. The airport’s runways are meters away from the sea on all sides. It is a unique sight.
As we stepped out of the airport, there was not the unusual hustle and bustle of touristy places. There are no traffic woes to worry about; 90% of the Maldives is water and ferries are the chief mode of transportation across the archipelago of 1,190 coral islands in the middle of warm turquoise waters as far as the eye can see. It is a country like no other scattered in the Indian Ocean. The islands account for less than one per cent of the country’s area. Only 200 of them are inhabited with the longest road in the country being 16-km-long. The Maldives's population—417,492—is less than Delhi suburb—Noida (637,272).
The topography and sparse population of the archipelago make it an ideal location to unwind. The country offers an unparalleled privacy to visitors if they have deep pockets. At least 100 palm-thatched resorts across the Maldives occupy an island each and are nestled among palm, banyan, bamboo, mangroves and coconut palm trees. Visitors need not go farther than balconies of luxury resorts for diving and snorkeling or to soak up the sun on white-sand beaches of the earthy paradise. I stayed at the Hulhule Island Hotel near the airport, where my room was just 100 meters from the sea. I could just step out and plunge into the sea. I could see the skyline of the nearby Male island and ships docking at the port close-by. High speed boats were the only mode of transportation from Hulhule then. A mile-long China-Maldives Friendship Bridge has since been built to connect the two islands. It has become a major tourist attraction with the Lonely Planet calling it an 'incredibly impressive piece of engineering' over the open sea.
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| The Maldives’s topography and sparse population makes it an ideal location to unwind without the hustle and bustle of touristy places. Photo courtesy Shangri-La's Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives |
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The Maldives is no longer meant only for luxury high-end tourism with the world’s first underwater nightclub, restaurant, and spa. Its charms are not restricted to honeymooners either. Families with low budgets can chose from guesthouses that have come up on inhabited islands since 2009. The tourists were earlier restricted to resorts and kept apart from the populated islands. In 2009, the Maldivian government lifted restrictions on visitors from exploring the country beyond the luxury resorts, the centrepiece of its tourism model.
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| The Maldives is no longer meant only for luxury high-end tourism with the world’s first underwater nightclub, restaurant, and spa. Photo courtesy Shangri-La's Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives |
Travelling to the Maldives from India is like a walk in the park. You just need to buy your tickets, do the hotel bookings and have enough cash. There is no need for hassling paperwork, to queue up for submission of sheaf of documents or to appear for any personal interviews before curt embassy officials. All you need to do is just hop on to a plane from any of four Indian airports in Delhi, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Cochin to fly to the earthy paradise, where tourists including those from India are offered free visa-on-arrival. And there are no strings attached. Indians do not need visas to travel to or enjoy the visa-on-arrival facility in 54 countries. But in most countries, some conditions apply. For instance, Indians get the facility in the UAE only if they have valid American visa. No such conditions apply for Indians in the Maldives, where they get 90-day visa-on-arrival. Yet Indians accounted for just five per cent of visitors to the Maldives between January and October 2018 despite the geographical proximity. In contrast 247,911 Chinese tourists accounted for a fifth of all visitors during the same period.
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| The Maldives offers free visas on arrival for people of all nationalities including Indians, who can choose from a range of flights from Delhi, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Cochin. Photo courtesy https://gulfnews.com |
To enter Maldives, no pre-arrival visa is required. A thirty-day free visa is issued on arrival to people of all nationalities, provided the following conditions are met:
- Should possess a valid passport and;
- Have a valid ticket to continue the journey out of Maldives and;
- Have enough funds to cover the expenses for duration of the stay in Maldives. (US$100 + $50 dollars per day) or a confirmation of reservation in a Tourist Resort or a Hotel.
- Caution: Full 30 – day visa is not a right of the passenger to claim, but lies at the discretion of the Immigration to issue not more than thirty days and any period less than thirty days
- EMPLOYMENT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED UNDER THIS CATEGORY
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| Maldivian capital Male is around 10-minute ferry ride from the country's main airport. The country's oldest grand mosque—made of coral stone– is among the main attractions in Male. Photo courtesy Wikipedia |
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The capital Male is around 10-minute ferry ride from the airport. Scenic beauty and heritage sites make up for the chaos on the island, where 153,504 people are cramped in 5.8 sq km area. The country's oldest grand mosque—made of coral stone in 1656– is among the main attractions in Male. Maldivian presidential palace—Muleeaage—is a few meters away. Sultan Shamsuddin III had built Muleeaage for his son in the first decade of the 20th century before the monarch was deposed. The building was allotted to the Maldivian President when the country was declared a Republic in 1953. |
| The Sultan's Mosque in Male, Maldives. Photo courtesy Wikipedia |
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Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari’s mausoleum—Medhu Ziyaarath—is a stone's throw from the palace. He is revered for introducing Islam in the Maldives in the 12th century. The legend has it that al-Barbari, a North African, had slayed sea-demon Rannamaari, who preyed on young virgins. According to the local folklore, a virgin girl was sacrificed to the demon to protect the Maldivians from Rannamaari’s wrath. Al-Barbari is believed to have drowned the monster into the sea with his spiritual powers and inspired the king to convert to Islam; his people followed suit. |
| The National Museum is among other major landmarks in Male. |
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Like all major landmarks, the National Museum is at a walking distance from the Ziyaarath and located just 800 meters away. Housed in a Chinese-made building, it contains a range of artefacts linked to the Maldivian history including 30 Buddhist stone carvings. There are galleries each for artefacts from the ancient, medieval and modern periods. The famous lacquer-work boxes are on display on the first floor, along with first gramophone, phone and computer used in the country. The minutes of an underwater cabinet meeting President Mohamed Nasheed had held in 2009 to highlight the existential threat global warming poses to countries like the Maldives are preserved at the museum.
The Maldives is a must-go place for lovers of marine life. Whale sharks can be spotted on South Ari Atoll to Male’s west. Snorkeling trips are organised to the Marine Protected Area throughout the year. North Male Atoll is known for its dive sites; the colours and beauties of the Maldives are best captured from low-flying seaplanes.
Anytime is a good time to visit. The Maldives is blessed with moderate climate with the mercury staying between 26 to 30-degree C. The monsoon season marked by short afternoon rains starts in November and ends a month later. The peak season starts around this time and lasts until April.
Anytime is a good time to visit. The Maldives is blessed with moderate climate with the mercury staying between 26 to 30-degree C. The monsoon season marked by short afternoon rains starts in November and ends a month later. The peak season starts around this time and lasts until April.
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| The author, Sameer Arshad Khatlani, in the Maldives |
Sameer Arshad Khatlani has been a journalist for over a decade. He was a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, India's most influential newspaper known for its investigative journalism, until June 2018. Born and raised in Kashmir, Khatlani began his career with the now-defunct Bangalore-based Vijay Times in 2005 as its national affairs correspondent. He joined the Times of India, one of the world's largest selling broadsheets, in 2007. Over the next nine years, he was a part of the paper's national and international newsgathering team. Khatlani has reported from Iraq and Pakistan and covered elections and national disasters. He received a masters degree in History from prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi and is a fellow with Hawaii-based American East-West Center (EWC). Travel writing is his labour of love.
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Write to us: plustravel.travel@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter: @traveleq
Facebook: @TravelEquipped.Equip
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