{"id":36457,"date":"2025-03-12T17:43:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T06:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=36457"},"modified":"2025-04-28T08:30:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T22:30:49","slug":"male-maldives-%f0%9f%87%b2%f0%9f%87%bb-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=36457","title":{"rendered":"Mal\u00e9, Maldives \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfb 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date : 10th March 2025 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelled : 430 NM from Sri Lanka to Mal\u00e9 in the Maldives <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visited : Mal\u00e9  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed : Holland America\u2019s Zuiderda<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A relaxing sea day was definitely in order after our big day in Colombo. The seas remain calm as the Zuiderdam continues west at a leisurely 12 knots. The ships clocks moved back another 30 minutes overnight. The clocks changing back by 30 minutes or an hour every few days is the only unsettling feature of a cruise this long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As usual of day starts in the Crows Nest with a coffee, this morning with the Maldives coming into view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mal\u00e9 is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives<\/a>. With a population of over 200,000 people it is said to be the most densely populated on earth. A long bridge joins the island of Mal\u00e9 with HulHule island and the airport. A second large bridge is being constructed to link Mal\u00e9 with Villingili island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the ship\u2019s tours associated with our stop in Mal\u00e9 involve going to one of the various surrounding island resorts for the day, but we decide to do a walking tour (free) around the city instead. Most tourists to the Maldives arrive by aeroplane transfer straight to a ferry to the island resorts for their vacation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a relatively short but very bumpy tender ride we find ourselves in Ma\u0142e. First thing that takes our attention is the plastic bottles and bags floating around the marina !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

100 metres to our first stop the markets. But first behind the markets there are schools of stingrays moving past looking for a handout. Not the best photo so use your imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The market is colourful and aromatic, though not always in a pleasant way. Tuna is the main catch in the Maldives and we see large plastic containers being dragged past. However the variety of dried seafood was extensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mal\u00e9 is the business heart of the Maldives, certainly not a tourist destination. Once away from the waterfront the streets are narrow, lined on both sides with scooters. Cannot remember seeing so many scooters both parked and moving anywhere, in our travels. The footpaths are very narrow if there is a footpath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armed with a map of the highlights we wander off in search of the real Mal\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once part of the Sultan\u2019s Palace, Sultan Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Maldives National Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pictured above the Tomb of Sultan Muhammad Thakuraufaanu, he ruled The Maldives from 1573-1585 and remains something of a local hero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pictured below just a couple of random examples of Mal\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With thanks to Google maps we find the Hukuru Miskiy or the Old Friday Mosque<\/a>. Being Mal\u00e9\u2018s original mosque it was built in 1658 using local coral stone. The external walls having been carved in decorative patterns. Inside the timber work and doors are also ornately decorated. Made our walk around Mal\u00e9 in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being Ramadan we were a little surprised we were allowed to go in and wander the mosque and cemetery as we did (perhaps the US$1 helped).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pictured below and just on the other side of Medhuziyaarai Magu (street) is the Muleeaage the original royal palace, now the official residence of the President of the Maldives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pictured above the Grand Friday Mosque or at least the best photo I could manage of the gold dome and minuet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s it we\u2019ve done the best we can in the heat and humidity. We turn and make our way back to the waterfront and the pleasant breeze that doesn\u2019t seem to extend more than a block away from the water. In retrospect maybe visiting a resort would have been better, but life\u2019s an adventure. We can go to the best beaches in the world only a short drive from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another short tender ride back to the Zuiderdam and a swim. Today\u2019s final challenge is reviewing tonight\u2019s dining room menu. As a post script I went for two servings of the coconut prawns. The lamb chops which were extra trimmed Australian lamb cutlets, medium rare, so good !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michael + Pam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Date : 10th March 2025  Travelled : 430 NM from Sri Lanka to Mal\u00e9 in the Maldives Visited : Mal\u00e9   Stayed : Holland America\u2019s Zuiderda A relaxing sea day was definitely in order after our big day in Colombo. The seas remain calm as the Zuiderdam continues west at a leisurely 12 knots. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":36487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[67],"class_list":{"0":"post-36457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-maldives-","8":"tag-cruising","9":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36457"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36494,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36457\/revisions\/36494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}