Male: Flower of the Indies

MALE, MALDIVES--Wednesday, April 21, 2010

We are now into the section of this cruise that can be labeled hot, hotter and hottest. Male, the capital of the Maldives, which broke away from Great Britian in 1965 as an independent Islamic republic, must be one of the hottest. After spending three-hours exploring one of the world's smallest capitals, we were drenched with perspiration, or maybe we were simply glistening. Finding information about the islands that Marco Polo referred to as "the flower of the Indies," was difficult. The most comprehensive was from a book describing world ports for cruises that stated travelers should be certain that their ship intended to "at least hold a beach party on one of the islands (almost any of the 1,190 tiny, palm-decked coral islands would do), otherwise stopping here is not very rewarding."

Our port talk speaker Martyn told us that when he had worked on one of the islands as a disc jockey for a year in the 1960s, he and his friends would write their names on the giant snail shells to see where they turned up (daily life was that boring). The major decision of the day was whether to walk around the island counterclockwise or clockwise. Also, the island where we docked required that ladies be covered from neck to knees if they wanted to swim on the one small beach. A few years ago, the young women of the ship's crew went swimming there in their bikinis. A group of men congregated to ogle them before the police arrived and asked the women to leave.

Honestly, the Maldives deserve better public relations than this. The natural beauty of these pristine islands, the cool turquoise waters, the submarine life and the fine white sand beaches of the 80 islands that have opened resorts are a water-enthusiasts paradise for scuba divers and snorklers and for honeymooners (very rich newlyweds). However, we toured the island that is a small city in which 25 percent of the country's population of almost 300,000 live. All of the islands bob only a few meters above sea level so the possibility exists that any or all of the island could be underwater in the future.

At 9 a.m., MaryAnn and John, Mary and Ed, Doris and Claude and we boarded the tender from ship to shore to take a self-guided walking tour of Male. Our first stop was the Islamic Centre that opened in 1984, also known as the Great Friday Mosque, with its shining golden dome best seen and photographed from the tender before we docked. Once again, the women did not meet the mosque's dress code and were given shawls to wear after they took off their shoes. The trip up the marble steps that were bathed in heat and light from the sun was worth it to see the beautiful walls decorated with woodcarvings and Arabic calligraphy, gigantic chandeliers and carpeting with person-sized sections woven in the design. This mosque, which accommodates more than 5,000 worshippers, even had a section chained off in the back for the women.

Leaving the mosque, we walked straight ahead to the Sultan's Park. When the country changed from a Sultanate to a Republic in 1968, the Sultan's Palace was demolished except for a three-story building that is now the National Museum. The remainder of the palace grounds were turned into a public park. Then we headed to the Hukuru Miskiiy, the old Friday Mosque, built in 1656. The compound also housed a number of ancient tombstones erected in memory of past sultans, heroes and nobles. Other highlights included the gleaming blue and white minaret of Munnaaru that was built in 1675 to call the faithful to prayer; the Mullee-aage, the current President's Official Residence, which was built by the sultan before the World War I for his son, both of whom were banished in 1936, when the house was declared a government property; the tomb of Abu al Barakat, the great missionary from North Africa who converted the Maldives to Islam in the 12 century; and the office of the Torture Victims' Association. Crossing a street that buzzed with cars and motorbikes to take pictures in front of the sign was torture.

By this time, the heat dictated that we abandon our self-guided tour in favor of the air-conditioned souvenir shops. We quickly learned that these storekeepers do not bargain because most of the goods were imported from Sri Lanka and India. Ed and Ken soon decided that they should try to find a bank to obtain rupees to pay for our Cruise Critic's tour of Mumbai, India, organized by MaryAnn and John, who, along with Doris and Claude, decided it was time to throw in the towel and return to the ship. Mary and Sara, who wanted to shop for souvenirs, were "befriended" by a Male man who really wanted them to shop at a relative's or friend's souvenir store. When they commented about the high prices for wooden items, he told them that they were made from mangrove trees and would last more than 100 years. Mary replied that they did not need items that would outlive them. They finally lost the self-appointed guide when they left the store and he realized they were not planning to buy anything there. They walked through the fish market, where customers could buy the fresh fish and have the fishermen filet them before they took their purchases home. They started to sense that they were wanted in the town. Neilly summed it up best by saying, "We weren't welcomed, we were tolerated." MaryAnn added that the residents needed to attend charm school. Are we becoming jaded because we were not greeted by a band or dancers (most likely arranged for by Princess Cruises) or do the citizens of this poor nation resent the tourists whom they imagine are fabulously wealthy and live like the characters on Desperate Housewives?

By 12:30 p.m., Mary and Sara were ready to leave the heat and return to the ship on the tender, which was the same one Ed and Ken had boarded. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing on the shaded lounge chairs on Deck 9 and swimming in the ship's salt-water pool. The sail away at 5 p.m. provided great views of the small island near Male that is home to the Male International Airport, with it runways that end right at the ocean.

NOTE: In a recent blog, we mentioned that we were trying to extend our trip by taking a cruise on Holland America's Eurodam from Rome to Dover, England, and then fly from London to the US. Unfortunately, Princess Cruises will not budge on the 100 percent penalty if we do not fly back from Rome on May 15. Our wonderful travel agent from Fantasy Travel, Debbie, spent 50 minutes on hold with Delta Airlines to confirm this policy. Probably part of the reason for wanting to continue this trip is that we never want this experience to end and are not ready to return to the reality of everyday, normal life. This cruise has been everything that we were ever promised it would be and more. So we should be back home on May 16 and prepared to grovel to receive forgiveness from the precious, pampered princess kitty, Foxy, for leaving her even though she has come to adore our wonderful house sitters. We love you, Foxy!

Also, we received a comment from a 2009 World Cruiser that perhaps we should go directly home with our already purchased airline tickets because of all the havoc that the ash from the erupted volcano in Iceland is causing travelers in Europe. (Hi, Michelle!) So we plan to enjoy the last three weeks of this cruise and look forward to returning to Florida in May.