Lifez a Beach--Mesmerizing Maldives

Ever wondered, what it would be like, to leave behind all the unnecessary work-stress, your chagrin boss, the monotonous and mundane life , the hustle-bustle of the city and live like a King in paradise, with your loved one? Well, I experienced exactly that and much more. I am talking about my unforgettable '4 days and 5 nights' vacation in the mesmerizing islands of the Maldives.

Me and my wife, Poornima were on the lookout for a splendid, unforgettable and pocket-friendly international vacation package, for quite sometime. We had finally squeezed down our options to the Terrific Thailand, Mesmerizing Maldives or the Magical Mauritius. Initially, we had decided to explore Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket and we were pretty excited about it. But, alas, the rain played a spoil-sport for us as we came to know that it rains cats and dogs in Thailand during the season of May. But that didn't dwindle down our spirit. I started checking with different travels and tours, including ezeego1.com, yatra.com, travelchacha.com, makemytrip.com and some local travels and tours for packages to Maldives and Mauritius.

Finally, we hit gold when Mr Subbaram of GEMINI TOURS and TRAVELS, Bangalore (www.tours2paradise.net) replied back to my inquiry with the best package rate and with a plethora of facilities included, in the package.

The trip cost us only 65k for both of us which included:

--Return airfare with all taxes (Air India flight--1.5 hr flight trip from Bangalore)
--Accommodation for 4 days in a Beach Villa on Paradise Island Resort (5 star resort)
--Seaboat transfers from airport to resort and back, for 2 people.
--Full board (Lunch Breakfast and Dinner included).

With all these included in our package, we finally decided we will go for this and boy, this was a decision which we will never regret for the rest of our lives. :)

Maldives is a beautiful island country, made up of 1322 islands and 26 atolls(an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely). We started for this beautiful island country on 1st May 2010 from Bangalore on Air India Flight. We covered a distance of 1074 km in a span of 1.5-2 hrs. The pilot announced that the plane was going to land in another 10 minutes or so. I could not help peeping out of the window and what I saw, could only be described as pure bliss. I saw crystal clear blue water everywhere and the playful reflecting and shining sun ray's made me believe that piles of pearls lay scattered everywhere on the ocean bed.

After a safe landing, we got out of the plane and went straight to immigration counter.One of the best things about Maldives, is VISA ON ARRIVAL is FREE. No extra charges, no hassle. After completing all the formalities, we came out of the airport and we met a friendly executive from Paradise Island and Resorts who was waiting exclusively for us. He guided us to the jetty where we hopped onto the sea boat,which was waiting for us, to make a short trip to our Paradise Island resort. It took 15 mins for the speedboat to cover 10 kms from the airport to the resort. We thoroughly enjoyed our short trip. We had a feeling that the stay is gonna be even more fun.

After reaching the resort jetty, what we saw, could only compared with heaven, if there is any. The photo on the right conveys exactly what we saw when we reached Paradise Island Resort. We could not control ourselves and the shutterbug inside us took charge and we kept on clicking away zillions of snaps one after another.

After a warm welcome by the Resort people, we were rushed towards the Common seating area where we had our lunch. I will come to food later on. Then we were transferred to Room 239--Beach Villa which was, luckily for us, just next to the Swimming Pool, Dining Space and the Reception area. And the best part of our room location was, you open the back door and BAM!, you are on the beach with the ocean just 10 steps away. And top of it, the resort had arranged a complimentary wine bottle and a fruit basket for us. Poornima almost went hysterical after seeing all this and started running all over the place after seeing the white sands, clear lagoon, excellent service, with five star settings. Well, I don't blame her ;).

The 1 km long & 221 m wide island resort had 260 rooms. The best of the villa rooms, called Water Villas/Water and Ocean Suites, built on the water, were reserved for people who were willing to spend Rs 30000 to Rs 100000 per night. ;). Coming back to our room, it was splendidly maintained with an interior design which will make you visit the resort again and again.Facing beach, Air -conditioning, Ceiling Fan, IDD Telephone, Satellite TV. In house movies, Mini bar ,Room Safe, Attached Bathroom Fresh/cold/hot/water, Hair dryer, Shower, Open air shower, Bath Tub, Telephone in Bathroom and Bidet. The bed was extremely comfortable and I guarantee you that you will fall asleep on it, if you just sit on it once. :). The bathroom was super clean with all 5 star facilities including our very own Open Air Shower...Woooww..that was something which I hadn't experienced. Check out our snaps and you will know what I am talking about...:)
The resort had everything one could ask for.

Services
Welcome Drink, Basketball, Volleyball, Satellite TV, Table Tennis, Towels at Poolside, Fruit basket & Champagne for honeymooners, Cake and bottle of Wine for guest celebrating birthdays at the resort, Fruit basket & bottle of wine for guest celebrating Silver/ Golden wedding Anniversary

Facilities

Main Bar, Conference facilities, E-mail & Internet facilities at back office, First Aid, Guest relation Officer, In-house Doctor, Sauna, Steam Bath, Massage Center, Laundry service, Pizza Express, Porters, Safe Deposit at reception, Swimming pool, Children pool, Jacuzzi

The BEST THING ON THIS RESORT was the FOOD- no second thoughts about it---HANDS DOWN!!!

Dining with fresh produce from around the world flown in daily, the master chef and his team deliver temptation at every turn with flavorful, light and healthy cuisine in always stunning settings. Be it danish, buns, pancakes, sausage, bacon, idli/dosa-sambhar, puri-chutney, live egg-omlette, etc etc during breakfast, be it pasta, spaghetti, pulao, thai rice, fish bake, chicken tikka, aloo bhuna, paneer kofta, chicken tangdi kabab, beef saute with paprika sauce, gateux, tiramisu cake,dragon fruit, passion fruit, kiwi fruit etc etc or be it lasagna, noodles, singapore friend rice, fish mehrauli, chicken lababdaar, chicken roast etc etc, every single dish was better than the last. Hats off to the 220 people working in the F&B section.

Tip: Every meal costs $33, so always better to go for a full board package, while choosing any resort in Maldives, else you will end up spending more.
1.5l Water costs $ 3.85 and is not included in meal package. In the mini-bar in your room, same water costs $ 5. It is always better to buy water from Male airport or even better, if you can carry all the water from home.

Night Life:

You can shake a leg or two, after dinner at the Resort's very own dance floor, be enthralled by Mr Shareef's Maldivian Magic tricks, enjoy the the various songs played by the resort's own live rock band or buy a crab to take part in the Crab Race.:)

Apart from eating and enjoying the night life, there are many things you can enjoy doing at the Island.
--You can take a dip in the pool
-- swing in the swings
-- cherish the moment by sipping a cocktail in front of the ocean facing restaurant while the sun sets,
--enjoy a romantic hand-holding stroll in the beach with your partner in the evening
--take zillions of pictures of the picturesque landscape
-- enjoy the various water-sports which the resort has to offer
-- go for Snorkeling Scuba diving Submarine experience or Night fishing or Big game fishing.

Snorkeling : 44 $ per person
Submarine: 110 $ per person
Night Fishing: 44 $ per person
Day Fishing: 65 $ per person

There were many other things to do...you need to book well in advance for the activities as usually these activities are all house-full. Contact the Les Concierges desk at the resort for more info.

We had gone for The Submarine experience which was so great that it left us keep asking for more. The Night Fishing was the best out-door experience which we both enjoyed. I am all praises for Snorkelling. The experience of swimming with the fishes amongst them in the coral reefs was out of this world.

Our trip finally ended on May 5th 2010 and even though our trip was for a short duration of time, we thoroughly enjoyed and a trip like this is a must for everyone and especially for the newly weds and the couples who want to relive their honeymoon experiences.

Tip: If you want to buy any souvenirs from Maldives, buy at the resort or from Male. Do not buy from Airport Duty free shops. They are much costlier.

I hope I have given enough information to all who are reading this. Do leave a comment if you liked my blog or if you have any queries about my trip.

P.S: All the snaps have been shot on Canon EOS 1000D DSLR Camera with 18-55 mm Non IS lens

Love
Prady and Poornima

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