Our 1st trip in 2015 and we are back to Maldives after 5 years! Ever since we went to Velassaru Maldives in 2010, I told everyone that they must visit Maldives at least once in their lifetime. Everything there is so preeeeetty, the sun, the water and food! Yums!
I was glad that Roger jio-ed us along for this Maldives and I was really looking forward to it. Hong did reminded me that it is a budget trip but I thought it should be okay. The only difference will be the accommodation, right? Since we stayed on the water villa, I didn't see the point to waste on such extravagance again so I agreed to staying in hotel. I was more looking forward to the seafood delicacy! I just want to eat that king prawn and the fried rice again!!!
So the budget trip began with us flying in via Tiger airline. The flight was okay as we slept for half of the trip.
Landed and instead of the resort's chartered speedboat, Roger planned for a day trip on the main island before we take the public sea transfer to Maafushi.
Bought the tickets for the shuttle ferry to the main island. A very cheap and short ride.
We didn't go onto the main island in 2010 as Hong insisted that there was NOTHING on the main island. Since Roger planned for a day trip, I was looking forward to it. Though Hong did remind us that there is NOTHING on the main island again, we didn't pay much attention. I mean this guy has been travelling around a lot and I always feel that we have different definition of NOTHING. Truth is we should trust the man. Haha.
The shuttle ferry brought us to Terminal A and we are supposed to board the other ferry at Terminal B so Roger suggested for us to make our way to Terminal B to buy the ferry tickets first before lunch and sightseeing. So we made our way towards Terminal B and only to realise that it is a super duper hot and sweaty and tiring 30 minutes walk. We were completely exhausted when we reached the terminal and we succumbed to our weak bodies and bought the tickets for speedboat instead.
There was really nothing on the main island anyway.
We passed by a tiny driving circuit. So amused by it.
Finally after feeling slightly sick on the 45 mins speedboat ride, we found ourselves on Maafushi. So different from our last trip. Nothing is pretty or yummy here. I think we slimmed down after the trip.
Maafushi is their common island which consists of their citizens, their residences, school, police station, super mart, prison and lots of small hotels. The stay was decent but the island pales so much in comparison.
It looks more like Malaysia than Maldives.
After a not appetising lunch, we explored the island a little before we searched high and low for Roger's cheap lobang.
The back of Maafushi. Where is the beauty?
After the high and low search, we managed to get ourselves a pretty good night fishing deal - USD25 per pax, inclusive of a nice speedboat and dinner. Always follow Roger when you need cheap lobang.
Our friendly fishing crew brought us to the middle of the sea for our night fishing.
No rod one hor. Just bait, string and gloves.
Hong attempting to lure in the fish with his bait.
We were very unsure in the beginning. How do we know if the fish is hooked to our bait? Maybe when you feel a tug at your string? But the current is pretty strong and we keep feeling tugs at our strings?
If your bait caught a fish, the tug is definitely different and I caught our 1st fish. So happy as that equates dinner!
The tiny banana fish that keep biting out strings. We let the first banana fish go as it was too small. Then we caught the 2nd and 3rd one. We let all of them go. We even wonder of it was the same fish after all.
Did we ask for grilled or bbq fish for our catch? Cannot remember but it doesn't matter. It tasted awful. The fish is fresh but their chef suxz. All their meat tasted the same, black, hard, dry and salty. Same goes for our prized catch. :(
Ended dinner unhappily and walked around the tiny island for an ice cold beer but the whole island doesn't sell alcohol!
We had juices instead and ended up feeling more fed up than ever as their service was terribly slow. It was SO slow that we asked for our bill the very minute the drinks were served. The bill didn't even reach us when we finished our juice.
Started Day 2 with full day snorkel. Only USD50 and inclusive of lunch. Good deal!
The last time when we snorkeled in Phuket or Krabi, the crew dropped us at some reef near some island. I was already having a super hard time breathing and staying 'alive'. After our boat circled around for 10 minutes, I realised we were not going to any island. It's snorkeling in open waters!!! Wah Lau!
Already paid USD50 = bo bian also must jump in. :(
BUT I must say... I enjoyed the snorkeling this time. Everything is so pretty! Would I want to go again? Still no.
Taking a break after the 1st 2 stops. Hair is super tangled la.
An enchanting encounter.
Lunch was sian again.
It actually cost around USD20 to go to a sand bank. Advertisement and picture are such a powerful...... con tools? Haha. The advertisement and picture made me feel like visiting a sand bank cause it seems so romantic. But in actual fact, it is just a tiny lump of sand that is popping out. If I paid USD20, I will feel very angry with myself. We manged to get the crew to drop us at a sand bank for a quick visit. We took a few pictures, sat for 5 minutes and went back to our boat. Sian.
Still feeling the excitement from last night's fishing, we went for our 2nd round of fishing.
The man is reeling in his catch.
Our 1st catch!
And mine!
After wasting so many baits, Roger caught the biggest fish of all!
All for dinner! We were so excited that we started planning the dinner menu.
But it turned out to be a super duper huge disappointment! We steamed one and fried one. We never had such HARD steamed fish before. It was totally edible! We left the fish untouched. :(
Maldives is a place where you go and relax and nua and since there was nothing to do on Maafushi, we spent all our time on fishing. I mean... We stayed in a hotel with a tiny swimming pool so we didn't feel like going to the pool. Also, the pretty stretch of beach was very short and overcrowded with ang mohs.
We woke up with 5am for our day fishing. We thought our good luck would continue and Hong even made plans to fly our catch back.
High expectations = Utter disappointment. :(
We spent 2-3 hours circling the sea on a tiny and uncomfortable boat. Sea waters kept splashing onto us and we were wet and cold and hungry and sea sick (at least for the ladies. I was okay as I had motion sickness pills but the after effects is crazy)
Poor girl became sick and we cut short our trip. We didn't see the fishes anyway.
We didn't go home empty-handed. Caught at least 1 tuna(?) for USD400. Haha. The worst activity ever.
1. It was expensive.
2. The boat was sucky.
3. The guys had to hold onto the heavy rods all the time.
4. The girls just sat and kena all the sea waters.
Cooked the tuna for lunch but inedible as well.
But they had so much difficulty getting onto the canoe. The instructor buay tahan and came out to help them. Haha.
Ended the night with fishing again. We were already very bored by then. There was nothing on the island. No entertainment. No beer. Nothing. We had no choice but to go fishing again. Didn't catch a single thing.
We were so sian that we forfeited our free dinner. We decided to treat ourselves to one good meal. The food wasn't fantastic but easily the best we had over the 3d2n. Haha. There was Singapore Fried Rice on the menu and we asked the waiter about the fried rice.
Us: What is Singapore Fried Rice?
Waiter: Where are you all from?
Us: Singapore.
Waiter: Then you all better don't order.
Us: Hahahahaha.
Though the main island was disappointing and food was terrible, I enjoyed this trip pretty much. I guess it was a totally different experience from our previous trip. However... If this was my first Maldives, I will never want to return to Maldives again.
I really miss the so picturesque sea, water, sand and sky.
No comments:
Post a Comment