Banyan Trees are one of the enchanting tropical natives of the Maldives. Every resort has a monstrosity of a towering ancient specimen that they are proud to show off. Nika’s own Banyan highlight is more of a Banyan copse. Four Banyan giants that have intertwined to become one. The resort celebrates the space with a mystical yoga area set up directly under their canopy. But perhaps most distinctive is the resort name itself, “Nika”, which is the Maldivian word for “Banyan Tree”.
For a more natural hang-out over water, take stroll down “Climbing Tree Alley” at Vilamendhoo. The nearly horizontal palm trees are nearly as iconic a shot of paradise as the sunsets and the turquoise lagoons. The palms start to grow this way by the water’s edge when erosion undermines the stability of their root system and on the water’s side and the start to gently tilt and eventually grow in that direction. You will find such orthogonal specimens across the Maldives, but Vilamendhoo has a particularly extended stretch of them along the northeast side which they have named after many people’s favourite activity on these arboreal jungle gyms.
Bridges are often icons of the places they join together. The Golden Gate. The Brooklyn Bridge. Today is the anniversary of the Budapest Bridge which has a personal connection to me as its miniature cousin graces the banks of the Thames in my hometown of Marlow.
Most cities are situated on some body of water, a river or a harbour, due to a heritage of waterway commerce. And yet with all of the water surrounding the Maldives, I had never come across a bridge until One and Only Reethi Rah. They actually have two. You can see the second one in the distance in the photo above. It is a charming Kodak moment spot with distinctive vistas in both directions.
Bridges also have their own romance about them. Pont des Arts in Paris started the now worldwide trend of “Locks of Love” where lovers attach locks and throw the key into the river. The Khaju Bridge in Isfahan, Iran is a famous as a lovers tryst as it is elegantly captivating.
Reethi is sort of a Rialto Bridge for Venice of the tropics.
Not only can you find a “Best of…” for just about anything in the Maldives these days, you can also find a declared “Day of…” just about anything as well. And today is “World Toilet Day”. Declared by the UN no less (with the very credible objective of raising awareness of sanitation issues in less developed areas of the world).
Constance Halaveli celebrates the pinnacle of hygiene convenience and technology with the latest Toto Neorest model featured in its Presidential Beach Villa. No spouse arguments over leaving the seat up as it automatically raises and lowers the seat for you. And I guess you can get a more aptly labelled gadget button than “Rear Cleaning” (see below).
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million. Videos are surging in on the web in general and in particular to try to capture the magic of the Maldives in even higher fidelity. I
Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo has taken cinematic illustration to the next dimension. The third dimension of 3D TV in its dive centre with stereoscopic footage taken of the house reef. Just need to get some footage of a shark coming straight out of the screen at you for a bit of hair raising fun.
Today is Domink’s day…Guinness World Record Day.
“I once tested the count of bubbles on one breath. I ended up with 42. Since the Guinness world record is stated to be 18 I guess I should submit a video to them.”
Dominik Ruhl, GM of LUX* Maldives, doesn’t (yet) have a video of 42, but he does have this quite impressive YouTube clip of an extra big one (see above). Dominik has the special advantage of his freediving mastery which is primarily focused on breath control.
The dive master at Bathala did an impressive air bubble when we were diving the house reef with him, but that was with a scuba tank for air.
Dominik might not have the official Guinness record (yet), but as far as documented bubble blowing, he seems to be the best of the Maldives at least.
One of the traditional gifts for an 8th anniversary is linen. And another Maldives modelling gig for Lori (see below).
Lori had been looking for some more warm weather dresses, but has struggled to find styles she likes that fit her the way she wants. When we arrived at Gangehi we met Kumareshan at the gift shop who offers a complete dress making service. This seemed like a fine solution, but with our short stay, we only had a few hours until departure. Not a problem, Kumareshan took the measurements and had the dress ready for us while we ate lunch. And at a relative snip for 95 euros.
Yesterday was the 8th anniversary of my first blog which sort of started it all. On the topics of “Leadership and Management” and “Embracing Failure” (both linked by the shared theme of risk attitudes), it pre-dated my Maldives Complete launch by just over 3 years and helped me to get a handle on the medium before immersing it with Maldives material.
One of the messages to “Embracing Failure” is about not avoiding problems, but looking at them as opportunities. One example that I have written about it creative twists on “404 Pages”, aka error pages on websites. Usually, one gets a pedestrian message like this – “The URL contains a typographical error. A custom filter or module, such as URLScan, restricts access to the file. Things you can try: Create the content on the Web server, etc…”).
But website owners are able to set an alternative default page to display when errors are hit. I thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase yet another Sakis master shot and provide a bit more of an topical if not tropical message.
I hope I can keep Maldives Complete running so smoothly that you never hit the 404 page, so I thought I would share it here (also, wait a second with the speakers on).
Buzzfeed is the latest Internet frenzy and I admit that I have subscribed to their daily feed of wacky lists and other esoterica. ‘Top X lists’ have always been a hit on the Internet but Buzzfeed have really perfected the craft. I’m in fact working on an e-book titled “The Best of the Maldives” which features a collection of “Top Ten” lists for a broad assortment of categories drawn from the “Best of the Maldives” oeuvre. But for now, I thought I would take a bit of Buzzfeed inspiration for one of my own lists narrated by everyone’s favourite crustacean, Sebastian…
“Under the sea / Under the sea / Darling it’s better / Down where it’s wetter” – Little Mermaid
1. Guess who’s gon’ be on the plate
The first and still the most spectacular under da sea Maldives feature with its 180 degree all glass surround, Conrad Rangali Maldives’ Ithaa restaurant was the pioneer which started it all. Now the tables are turned with the fish looking in at the diners ensconced in their aquarium.
2. You dream about going up there
Conrad Rangali didn’t stop at dinner. A few years on, they realized that they could double their utilization of this amazing space by clearing out the dining tables and moving in a bed. Unfortunately, the logistics got too demanding and they have since ceased this offer.
3. Life is the bubbles
You can lie down and relax (and if you are like me, doze a bit) at Huvafenfushi’s underwater spa. Fish pedicures are not on the menu.
4. An’ oh that blowfish blow
NIYAMA’s “Deep Six” lounge turns into a nightclub. Have yours with a splash.
5. Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter
Anantara Kihavah Villa’s underwater function room is used for weddings and other special events like wine tastings from its 6,500 bottle wine cellar. Cheers!
6. Just look at the world around you
Hurawalhi has added it’s own larger grander life aquatic eaterie which is the biggest in the world.
7. The seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake
What more could you do? What could the future hold? The firm Dutch Docklands created concepts for a underwater linked links. Should help to find your ball in the water hazard. Wait, the entire golf course is a water hazard.
Under the sea
Under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here
Naturally
All of these “Best OF the Maldives”, what about the country itself. What about “The Maldives, Best of”? Can such a tiny country stand out as #1 in the world in any category?
Republic Day in the Maldives today with many patriotic points of pride to celebrate. The second round of elections has proceeded peacefully according to reports. And the country can point to many areas which despite it’s small stature on the map, where it commands a big standing on a few statistics.
Recently, Dog House Diaries created a fun infographic highlighting two things that every country on the planet led the world in. Unfortunately, the Maldives were woefully omitted. So being the master of what “best” about the Maldives, I thought I best do some research a lay down some markers.
I thought that there might be a case for the “Least Landed” with only 300 square kilometres spread over 900,000 square kilometres of country boundary in the ocean. But it turns out that Tuvalu (in Polynesia) has only 26 square kilometres across an nearly identical expanse of ocean. Similarly, Tuvalu’s 11,000 inhabitants, compared to about 317,000 in the Maldives, make them also the least densely populated (when ocean area is considered).
So my nomination for Dog House Diaries Maldives entry would be “Sea-level Resorts”