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Today I do not tell you about a typical trip to the Maldives,
i do not tell you about one of the 87 paradie tourist islands in the Indian Ocean
and also not about Mirihi our dream island, no,
today i want to tell you about the Republic of Maldives
and our evening visit to the capital, Male.
The Maldives are a land of island in the southwest from southen part of India in the Indian Ocean
and consist of 2,000 islands,
whereof approximately 200 are inhabited by locals
and 87 more exclusively reserved for tourists.
The only international airport is located on the island Hulhumale,
only a few kilometers away from the capital Male.
Already the approach to Male is an adventure,
the island was several times artificially enlarged due a longer the runway.
The front camera broadcasts the landing live on the inseat video screens.
and gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Before leaving the aircraft,
we study the travel guide to get an insight of the most important facts.
The settlement began in the 5th Century BC
In the 12th Century Arab merchants established a sultanate on the islands and introduced the Islam.
The only possibility to go from the airport island to the city
are the traditional Dhoni,
which serves here as the only public transportation.
The transit takes about a 15 minutes and the fee is one dollar.
Our time frame in the evening is about four hours for the city visit.
A piece of luck for us is a Souvenir dealer,
who offers us his services as a travel guide for free.
Ali speaks very good English and as we soon find out
it doesn´t fall out of the sky, because he has studied tourism in England.
He tells us fast and accurate the most important things about Maldives and his birthplace.
1932 the Maldives got its first constitution,
1953 the Republic of Maldives was proclaimed,
1965 the Maldives gained independance
and from 1972 on the era of mass tourism on the islands begun.
Male is the capital of the Maldives and is not a larger than 2qkm
and taking the quaremeters probably the smallest capital in the world.
In the city are living appr. 80,000 people,
almost one third of the Maldives population.
All residents are Sunnite Muslims.
Religious freedom is impossible, Islam is the state religion.
The maldives language, Divehi, is similar to one of the official languages from Sri Lanka.
Only Male and two other islands do have streets and cars and also left-hand drinving.
The cars and mainly their emissions are becoming here a plague
and therefore, very high taxes are charged for all vehicles.
Less expensive for the people here are bikes and motorbikes
and therefore very popular.
Ali tells further that in no city building may be built up higher,
then the tower of the Friday Mosque.
The Government Palace is actually not looking muslim.
and the park around may be entered by public.
Ali tells us, it is not difficult to navigate through the city.
The fish, timber and fruit markets are situated right at the Marine Drive, the wharf for all boats.
For tourists, the town is safe,
like no other town in the world.
Here you can walk as a tourist at any time, day or night.
Tourism is of course the main source of income for the Maldive population.
By now, every year nearly half a million people visits the Maldives.
Ali tells us, that the locals are very happy to work at the tourist islands,
because the average monthly income in the capital is about 100 dollars,
on the islands it may be multiplied several times,
when the tourists are generous with the tips.
The smell here is so intense that it can have a breathtaking effect.
We finished our city sightseeing
and rest in Ali´s souvenir shop.
Even now Ali do not mention with a single word,
that we must buy something, he offers us a drink.
our shirts are drenched, outdoors, it is still very hot.
Our summary?
Male has all the charm of a small town,
but also the atmosphere of a cosmopolitan city.
It is really a different world
and although there are only few places of interest here
a short visit can be recommended in any case.