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The Maldives is an island located in the Indian Ocean and lies between southwest of Sri Lanka and India. This island comprises of 26 natural atolls that are made up of about 1,192 islands of which 188 are inhabited. More than 80% of the land area of these islands is less than 1 meter above the mean sea level.
The capital of Maldives is Male or traditionally known as King’s Island because of its central location with 2 sq.km is one of the most crowded cities in the world. This is because most economic activities are centred around the capital. The statistic of people who live and moved to the capital for a better lifestyle increases. Maldives has a very stable economy for a long period. This is due to the fact that it has a sturdy economy development. Increasing number of tourists that come onto a vacation to this island and also the growth of fisheries sectors affect the stability of this country.
The peninsula was tenanted in early of 5th century Before the Common Era (BCE) by Buddhist society who came from Sri Lanka and also southern India. Based on tradition, Islam was introduced to the peoples in 1153 Common Era (CE) by Ibn Battuta who is known as a notable North African traveller, who came to the archipelago and stay there during the mid-1340s and described the conditions at that time. Before British took the proprietary rights in 1797, the isle was sultanate under the possession and protection of Dutch rulers of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). However, the representative government was proclaimed in 1953, but one year after the event, the country reverted to a sultanate. In the early 21st century, Gayoom’s government take action on a long-term plan to modernize and democratize the Maldives, especially to make the economy and political system stable.
Nowadays, the language used in the Maldives is Dhivehi, also known as Dhivehi or Divehi. This language is an Indo-Arya language used by the society of South Asian island country of Maldives. The weather in the Maldives is hot tropical climate. There are two types of monsoon which are the Southwest and the Northeast. The former starts from May to October while the latter starts from November to April. Commonly, the number of tourists drops in June and July as the Southwest brings more wind and rain in these two months. Consequently, a lot of activities cannot be carried out. In terms of time difference, Maldives is three hours lagging behind Singapore.
For those of you who want to visit Maldives, you can board a plane at Singapore International Airport (IATA: SIN). The major airport in Maldives is the Velana International Airport (IATA: MLE) which is located at Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll near Male. A flight ticket from Singapore to Male costs around SGD180 per pack depends on the dates of holidays. Once you reach the airport, there is a lot of transportation available such as taxi, Dhoni, seaplane, and boat. Since the Maldives is mostly surrounded by water, tourists can take all types of transportation above to the hotel from Male Airport. The schedule of the boat is infrequent, so to prevent from wasting time and money, tourists have to make sure that they arrive at the same time as boat present at the Male Airport. The boat is a common transport for island hopping in the Maldives and speedboat is the best way for hopping while Taxi boats take tourists from and to the islands located in the North and the South Atolls. The seaplane is a unique and wonderful adventure where it will fly at low altitude so that the passenger can enjoy the beautiful views of the Maldives from the top. Seaplanes are the fastest transport to reach the resorts.
On the other hand, Dhoni is local boat mostly used to take tourists to their destination in no time. This transportation gives less excitation to the passenger. Differ from boats that wait at Male Airport; Dhoni will stay and wait at the harbour of airport ferry jetty, the Boduthakurufaanu. It lies along the waterfront to the eastern end of Boduthakua rufaanu Magu. Yet, Dhoni cost only in between Rf1000 and Rf1500 for a day depends on the bargaining skills.
Taxi boats vary in shapes and sizes depending on the resorts. The boat will stop operating after the dark. Therefore, tourists have to make sure they return to their resort before night time if they want to use a taxi boat service. There are two types of air-taxis in the Maldives which are Air Taxi and Trans Maldivian Airways. Both air-taxis can carry up to 15 passengers at one time. Similar to the taxi boat, seaplanes do not operate at night, so tourists have to manage their time to avoid inconvenience. Water taxi is only available in two cities which are Male and Addu city.
Maafushi
Maafushi is one of the inhabited islands of Kaafu Atoll, being one of the biggest islands in all of Maldives. Navigating around the island is relatively easy since the island is just about 1270 x 265 meters in dimension. On the southern part is the tourist zone; where bikini beach, guest houses, gift shops, and restaurants can be found here. At the centre of the island, the school, administrative office, stadium, and central mosque are found here. The eastern part is typically uninhabited.
Ari Atoll
Ari Atoll is one of the natural atolls in Maldives and also one of the biggest, being found at the western part of the archipelago. For administrative purposes, it is divided into North Ari Atoll and South Ari Atoll and is 30 minutes of seaplane flight away from the capital Male. It is one of the main tourist development zones in Maldives, having more than 20 islands in the atoll meant for tourism purposes only. Scuba diving is a popular activity in the area.
Hukuru Miskiy
Hukuru Misky or also known as Friday Mosque of Male is one of the oldest and most ornate mosques that can be found in the city of Male. Coral boulders that are richly found in the archipelago are used as the basic materials to construct this mosque. It was built in 1658 during the reign of Ibrahim Iskandar I and continues to be used till this day. The mosque has intricate carvings of Quranic scripts and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage cultural list since 2008.
Maldives’ cuisines are a mix of Arabian, Indian, Sri Lanka also Oriental influences. Coconuts are mainly a major ingredient in many dishes that are served in grated form. Meanwhile, skipjack tuna, little tunny, yellowfin tuna, frigate tuna, bigeye scads, wahoo, and mahi-mahi are the most popular types of fish and have high demands among the tourist and also the residences of this island.
Gaudiya
Gaudiya is one of the most fundamental and traditional food items in Maldives, typically eaten with rice or roshi. Despite the introduction of newer ingredients and items in the Maldivian cuisine, Gaudiya managed to resist the times and remained a local’s favourite till this day. In essence, it is typically a clear fish broth that is based on either skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna or frigate tuna. However, there are also other variations that include chillies, curry leaves and even onion to further improve the taste as well as the use of other species of fish like wahoo, mahi-mahi and Bluefin jack. It is commonly found in restaurants all over Maldives.
Hedhikaa
Hedhikaa is considered as a unique collection of Maldivian snacks, being a national favourite, especially during the evening for tea time. It is also served to tourists before dinner or after a long afternoon snorkelling, diving or sunbathing. It is mainly prepared using ingredients like fish, be it fresh, canned, dried or smoked, coconut, onion, chilli and lime. There is also the sweet gulha which is a small ball-shaped, bite-sized dumplings stuffed with a mix of Tuna fish, onions , chilli and grated coconut if you do not prefer it to be salty. For vegetarians, there is biskeemiyaa which is made of cabbage, boiled egg, onion and eventually a bit of chilli and curry leaves.
Bandos
Bandos Maldives is a private island resort located just 15 minutes away from the airport, opening its doors to the public since 1972. It is well known for its pearl white beaches that are complemented by the lush and thick vegetation. The resort comes complete with its own pool, souvenir shop, spa and medical clinic, whereas there are a rich selection of villas that come complete with a suite of facilities and services. All in all, Bandos is the perfect dream getaway when in Maldives if you desire some privacy with your loved ones.
National Museum
Established on the independence day of the country in 1952, National Museum of Maldives is the first national museum ever opened in the country, being officiated by then-prime minister, Mohamed Amin Didi. It has a large collection of historical artefacts typical from the royal antiquities from the Buddhist era to the Islamic monarchs’ age. With the purpose of preserving history and instilling patriotism, the museum is now administered by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
With the flight and ticket package available at Traveloka Singapore, you can visit Maldives easily and cheaper. Choose a variety of tour packages that we offer, and modify as you like to get the combination you want.
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