Somehow my partner and I got roped in to joining two buddies for a seven night stay in the Maldives. One had always put this destination on his bucket list, fuelled I fancied through supporting the vodka industry by drinking the stuff from morning till dusk. A self-made millionaire retiring at age 40 and spending the past 45 years on the booze! But enough said on that count.
All my preconceptions about the Maldives, alas, were spot-on. We stayed at the Ayada, Maguhdhuvaa Island, a truly wonderful resort with matching staff, all 300 of them and our very own butler. Identical villas, each with its own swimming pool and leading to pure white sands beyond, were dutifully raked and brushed by staff daily and gently lapped by the Indian Ocean. At breakfast time, you could almost set your clock around 8 a.m. by the sight of dolphins leaping in and out of the water.
So what do you do for the rest of the day? You may well ask. For three of us that invariably led to card playing from around midday, whilst our fourth member contrived to go through the cocktail list before taking a siesta around three in the afternoon. However, he did report to us on several occasions that his view of the ocean changed magically for the better after several Margaritas.
Book reading for two of us became a savior. My partner sought refuge in his i-phone. In the evenings, we all inevitably met up in the bar to enjoy our fair share of bevvies before retiring. Sometimes there would be a rather tired, worn out cabaret for distraction. My partner and I were usually in bed by 10 pm, sometimes lulled to sleep by the echoes of a hotel beach dinner party with music. We would rise early, not to plan the day which didn’t come into the equation, but because every day was the same.
Neither of us cared to go snorkeling or scuba diving whilst we rejected the two-hour fishing trip at US$300 per person. A bit steep we thought, even though we were assured that our catch could be prepared and served in the restaurant at no extra charge. Yet, without a doubt, the Maldives is a gem for newly-wed couples. Honeymooners can always retire to their villa and do other things when their itinerary of things to do decently in public runs thin.
So what were the most memorable things I brought back to Pattaya with me? It’s not cheap requiring an initial outlay of 280,000 baht (US$7,000) for seven nights. That’s a lot of cash to play cards and read by the sea. Getting there involves a four-hour flight from Bangkok to Male, then a one hour turbo prop plane to our small island, followed by a 50 minutes speedboat to our resort. Yes the Maldives is a tropical paradise, but mainly for the newly betrothed who want to look googly-eyed at each other 24/7. For the rest of us, once in a lifetime is enough.
