Maldives - continued

Saeed and his family have been extremely helpful with our aims whilst in Maldives.

We have received our shipment of hammocks for photography. Saeed went to Male and got them. He had another reason for going too, but it was still incredibly helpful for him to do that.

The hammocks came from Male to Ukhulas on a fishing boat called a Dhoni. They charged about $10 for the 2 boxes weighing 35kg each. Saja and her friends helped unload the boat and deliver to our house.

We took some hammocks to the Gundaru Inn. They were letting us use their internet for free. They bought all 6 traveller hammocks at the trade price, and an Iguana.

We went on a day trip with Saeed , Saja, Sajia, Sadjias, Jakob, and their 2 kids Yanarl and Yara.  We used Jakobsen dads boat, and only had to pay for the petrol which cane to about $50.

First we went to a resort island which was closed to tourists because the management hadn't paid the staff.. It was a perfect paradise island, and you can see why people are prepared to pay $300 per night for places like this.  We set up some hammocks in a covered bit of jeti and took some pictures. Winston. Went straight in to the sea to play. After about 30 mins all the staff turned up trying to look macho, but it just looked like a bad Hindi movie.. They had a moan, but they didn't kick us off the island.  We went to the other side of the island and took some more pictures on a perfect beach. Yanarl who is 5 got stung by a bee.  There were large parrot fish just by the shore so the kids could easily see them.

Sadjia had been in the photos and later Saeed asked me to edit any pictures of her because she wasn't wearing a headscarf.

After that island we went to another smaller island that just had one shack on it belonging to a shrimp fisherman
The island was about  200m x 400m. in the middle in the shadiest part there was a kitchen and barbecue area. They cooked chicken over a coconut shell fire and a huge pot of rice.  We drank fanta and coke. I think it was the kids first time to have fanta. The giant ants over an the picnic, so we mainly ate standing up and we set up a hammocks which the kids sat in.

After that we went to a sandbank in the middle of the sea. This was 2 tiny island a about 20m x 5m surrounded by in damaged coral reef.  There were tons of fish. Winston and Henry player with Saja jumping in the water and had a great time. Then Jakob caught an octopus and the kids loved that too. When it tried to escape it squirted a load of ink in the shallow water around Winston's feet. Then Jakob killed the octopus. Winston didn't like that idea..and was asking why we had to kill it. He was then more interested in looking for fish under the water through the snorkel mask.  Once the octopus was dead and skinned, Henry got to hold it and posed for a picture.

We had some struggles getting internet connection and it was too annoying, also we were spending a bit too much time on our windowless room because it was too hot, so we decided to leave the island a day earlier.

Some other Ransome memories of our time in Ukhulas...

The burka clad women in our pink house were about as friendly as hermit crabs.. There was always really loud Allah worship TV on even when no one was around. The 9 year old boy started off friendly, but I got the impression he was not supposed to talk with us.

Henry particularly loved coconuts. He always wanted to take one with him everywhere. I learnt how to open one with a knife by hitting it around the middle then prising it open.  Caroline used the coconut grinding machine to get the meat out of it. 

The Maldivian food of mainly fish, coconuts, curry leaves and chilli was fantastic.. Someone should open a Maldivian restaurant... Bug like most places it was such better at someone's house than in the restaurants.

It seems like the mother in laws have some power and can be mean or nice. The house we lived in had a mum with her 3 sons and her daughter, and the son's 3 wives.. The burka clad ones. I was told that women can choose wether to wear burkha or headscarf or not... But husband's and mother in laws can override them.

Saja had been married, but got divorced after 4 months because the mother in law was over demanding.

Saeed was about 20 when he married his wife who was 12... They had there first child when she was 15.

To get divorced, the husband just has to say 'I divorce you' twice in front of some witnesses. Women can't get divorced unless the man agrees.

Question

Winston:  Why are monster trucks smaller than trucks ?

This morning

We were just discussing homeschooling... And what sort of structure to have.

This morning was unstructured, but quite educational anyway, without leaving the new accommodation.

I looked up Wikipedia about geckos, and found out that they can't blink, so they lick their eyes. I got Henry to blink and to try to lick his eyes.

Henry collected some coconuts in the garden, and Winston was shown the parrots in cages by the little girl.

Winston watched a lady scraping out the inside of a coconut with a specialised tool/seat, and we discussed why people in Maldives eat so many coconuts.

Then we drew treasure maps og out new accommodation. Then we played a game where you add lines to dots and write your initial in the box when you complete a square.

Then we did an alphabet sticker book.

Quite productive in hindsight, although it didn't feel so at the time.

Maldives 10th-14th March

We took the speed boat to Ukhulas. It is about 100minutes and stops at Rasdhoo where there is 4g internet on the way. It cost 1500mvr for us. The children are free and the adults are $50 each. Maldivians pay about half that.

Winston and Henry loved the boat ride.. They both had huge smiles for about the first 20 minutes. For the last 15 minutes of the journey Saeed who was arranging out accommodation took us yo the front of the boat. That was even better. They hand out water, juice and a cake on the boat, so we needn't have bought anything beforehand.

On arrival in Ukhulas, we found out that the accommodation we had arranged was no longer available. Saieed took us to another guest house, but it was a tiny room with no window and there were no cooking facilities. We had agreed to stay somewhere with AC, internet, a double bed and a spare mattress on the floor, and cooking facilities.  They tried to offer us a bigger room but for more money.

We then went to a place that was a half finished building, it had a staircase that was more like a ladder and it had a balcony with no sides... I.e. a deathtrap for the kids.... Then we went to his daughters house Sajda. A very nice place with a good garden and terrace for the kids. No air conditioning and someone had lost the key to the kitchen. Sajda packed up her things and moved to her sisters house, and we moved in. The water smelt like poo, and had done for about 3 years. But they had a clean water tap, so the next day bought some pipes and connected that up instead. I thought it was weird to live with that for a few years when it was just a small job to change it over.

We met Saeeds daughters Sadjia and Sadja, and Sadjia has a daughter aged 3 called  Yara and  a son aged 5 called Yanarl.

The 3g internet with Dhiragu turned out not to work, but the Island has a WiFi network called coaxnet. The admin of that is also the school head teacher, and he was also the guy I paid for the speed boat.. On an island of 1000 people i guess people have to multitask.

Everyone seems to know everyone one here.

I'm finding out that it is quite common for foreigners to get a different price. In restaurants they have a tourist price which is about double, so you can save quite a lot by getting a local to order for you and to hand over the money.... This is partly for market reasons and partly because there are taxes on all tourist activities.. Eating, travel, accommodation...

Maldives. ... Days 1 2 3 4

At the airport in Kochi they have a shop called Kocaine, and a remote control bomb detecting robot... except the remote control is a wire about 2meters long, so it is not very remote..

We flew on a propeller plane to Maldives. It took about 1hour 45minutes. On landing we saw a harbour full of sea planes. 

The water is amazingly clear and a very bright turquoise colour. The Maldives is a load of sunken volcanoes that have grown a coral reef on top.

We had booked the UI Hotel for the firat 2 nights on Hulumale...the man made island connected to the airport. The hotel cost $55 per night.

In the airport I bought 2 simcards with 2.2gb of data each for $45 each, which are 4g so really fast, but they are only valid for 2 weeks, so I had to buy 2... Quite annoying, but they should work everywhere.

The hotel had arranged a transfer from the airport for us, but they took about 90minutes to show up, and it was too hot...so it wasn't a great start from them
They did give us $5 off the $8 transfer fee though.

Hulumale island is a building site with loads of 3 storey concrete buildings going up. There are lots if Bangladeshi workers.

The beach is 50meters from our room, and it is a bit shaded at around 4pm, so it is cool enough to play on then. The water is warm and full of dead coral. It stays about 1 meter deep and there are big balls of dead coral that Winston can stand on when in the deeper water. The visibility is not great.

We have been trying to find somewhere nicer and cheaper to stay until 30th March, and after joining some groups on Facebook, Caroline found somewhere for $40 per night, and she also found some people who are interested in selling our hammocks on to hotels.

The first lunch we had came to $52 which is a bit over budget, but then we found a local eating place for the construction workers where they have nice sri-lankan food for about $3 per person.

As a Muslim country, it is not permitted for women to wear bikinis on the beach, although we saw someone yesterday... so Caroline has to swim with a dress on.

There are women here so Burkarized that they are head to toe in black and even have black gloves... Must be roasting in there.

We took the local bus for about $2 to GT the boat for about $2 to Malé city. Not much going on there, a few crappy souvenir shops and a load of motorbikes, we had an ice cream, got some drinks and came back.

I spent a morning catching up on work while Caroline went to the beach. The internet is good here, so it was possible to make progress.

Today we went to a cash machine... They charge about $7 for a withdrawal... So I don't be doing that too often. We found a local book shop which had mainly english books from India for small kids. It was a good selection. Winston got a toy plane and a  treehouse book, and Henry got a plastic toolkit and some paper to draw on.

Winston's numeracy is coming on well... Today I asked him... If it takes 4 eggs to make enough cake for 2 people how many eggs do I need to make a cake for 4 people...he answered instantly... Not bad for a 4 year old.

It takes a while to adjust to the idea that we are not on a holiday where you have to see as much as possible in the short time you have, but that we can take our time like we would at home.

Kerala

We got up late and took a rickshaw to find a hotel with a pool we could use. We ended up at hotel Killian where they charge 700rs for all 4 of us to use the pool, and they provide towels . the pool is 1.1m to 1.4m deep with a 50cm wide step that was about 50cm deep so Henry and winston could stand on there.

We has lunch there for about 1500rs. I went and booked the backwaters tour for 2600rs. Then, on the advice of the place I booked the tour , we took a rickshaw for 300rs to see an elephant festival about 20 minutes away.  You could go right up to the elephants if you wanted, but people kept themselves at least a trunk and a half away. There was loads if noise from trumpets and drums, then the elephants walked to the other side if the showgrounds and the crowd all ran to get out of the way... No need for officials and barriers etc.

On the way back we stopped at a cheap dosa restaurant. It was full of locals. The writer chose for us, and it cane to less than £2.50 for a meal for all of us..  And the service was quick and the food was good and fresh.

Then Winston and Henry had an ice cream in the shop opposite. Then we went back to our home stay .. Coconut grove..

We got up and i booked some train tickets, then i went to book the flight tickets and it was now cheaper to fly from Trivandum to the Maldives. So, that meant I has wasted about £10 on the train ticket. It took about 2 hours to book the flights because all my credit cards didn't work as they all thought I was suspicious at the same time.

Eventually booked 4 return tickets to the Maldives for £500 with SpiceJet.

Our rickshaw driver, Shahir, had been waiting the whole time. We moved 200 meters down the road to a new home stay.  1300rs for an air con room. Very nice Christian lady called Charlot who married her house 25 years ago.

Then Shahir took us to the money changers where they wouldn't change rubles kronor or Nepali rupees.

We went to the laundry place where people were hand washing clothes. The white pressed shirts looked perfect. There was a little play park there so Winston and Henry had a go on the roundabout. 

Then we went to see a boring church and went back to our homestay to wait for the taxi for our backwaters trip.

The backwaters was about 1 hour drive away. The boat had a roof, 2 drivers, a guide and some plastic chairs. The drivers powered the boat with long sticks. Not bad value for about £28. We stopped at a local house to see how to make rope from coconut fibres. Winston got his hair caught in the rope as it was being made. We had to cut some hair off with a handy razor blade.

 

Last full day in kerala, Shahir picked us up at 10 and took us to a beach.. There were no tourists and the beach had loads of palm trees and fishing boats. Very picturesque and a good setting for hammock pictures. Winston played in the waves and henry dug in the sand..but it was too hot to stay long. The villagers were all very interested in us. 

Next we went to a fish farm where the fish are caught by channelling the water through gaps in to nets. The boys liked throwing stuff into the water. 

Then we went for lunch at the cheap place again, and then to Shahirs house to meet his family. He lives in a room about 3m x 2m with a kitchen next to it. They have 1 light, and it is made from plywood. His son was playing subway surfers.. One of Winston's favourite games on Shahirs phone.  He was paying 1000rs a month rent to his brother, and 5000rs a month to pay the loan to get his rickshaw... A 5 year loan. We looked at his arranged marriage wedding album. 

 

. We went hotel Killian for some swimming.

Cochin in India

We landed at Cochin airport, changed some money including 200danish kronor that are a bit too old..

We took a prepaid taxi .. Non-ac to our home stay in fort kochi. It took about 90minutes and cost about 1200rupees. The driver was asking for extra tea money when we arrived.

The hosts at Coconut Grove home stay are very nice. it costs about £11 per night which includes breakfast. No air con or hot water, but new, clean, comfortable and friendly. Breakfast is curry and noodles or potato .

We went to the closest small restaurant and it took about 90minutes until the food arrived. There was also a big rat and they seemed generally confused...

In the morning I did about 2 hours work on a terrible internet connection while the others were asleep. Then I walked to the local center to get a sim card. It was 500rs for 1 gb and 100rs of talk time... With a 12hout delay before activation.

After the others got up, we had breakfast and took a rickshaw to a nearby dentist. It looked so dirty that we didn't even go inside.

Then we went to the beach, but when we got there it was so hot and the beach was full of rubbish, so we just went to the nearby bob Marley cafe and had some lunch for about £9. There was a small papaya tree that w and h liked playing with.

Then we walked along the sea front and saw all the old fishing nets. We bought a fresh coconut to drink.. Which was exciting for the kids , but they didn't like the drink..

Then we took a few rickshaws to find a hotel with a pool. We and d up at hotel Killian and paid 700rs ..£8.. To swim in their pool.. Towels included.

We had lunch then went by rickshaw to find a shoe shop for sandals for w and h... And caroline went to another dentist. He checked her for 200rs, and would take the tooth out for about £25. But she wasn't sure.
We got 4 pairs if bats shoes for about£14

On the way back we stopped for dinner and the kids had cornflakes. Dinner cost about £10.

BUrj Khalifa - Dubai Day 2

This morning we went to 124 floor of the burj khalifa in Dubai. It cost about £50 for 2 adults 2 kids were free. We went out on the balcony and looked out of all sides then we queued for quite a while to get the lift back down.

We bought some hair bands in H&M and found the back of the Dubai Mall fish tank where you could stand right next to the glass and we got a much better view of the sharks and some moray eels.

We bought hot food in Waitrose for lunch. It cost about £20. We found a nice table and chairs just outside the suit entrance to Dubai mall where we could sit and eat lunch in the shade in comfort.

We took a taxi to a park to meet someone from Romania who is homeschooling her two children. The taxi driver took us to the wrong park but he did give us a small discount on the fare. Winston and Henry really enjoyed playing with the two girls who were 5 and 7 years old. 

Then after quite a long walk we got the train back to where we were staying and we had to walk a long way on the other side. We had a nice Indian dinner for about £25.

We got back and the airbnb people from night 1 failed to keep to the 7pm meeting so we still have the key and they still have our money.

Winston was using the lobby phone to phone the guy behind the desk at the hotel.

Airbnb have refunded us in full, and they have paid the not very hosty hosts for the night we stayed there. They have also give us a £50 voucher. So that turned out ok.