The flight from Brisbane to Singapore was rather uneventful. The 5 or so hours we spent at the airport waiting for our next flight to Male' was passed by visiting the butterfly garden, converting currency, eating and camping out on the floor of the E wing of Terminal 2.
Apart from the turbulence (which actually helped put me to sleep!) the flight from Singapore to Male' was great. We (myself, Charlotte, Caitlin, Nicole and Jo) were seated in the second half of the plane. This section was so empty that the flight attendants invited us to take a whole row of four seats to ourselves if they were available. I stayed in my seat and so had two seats to myself. Certainly more comfortable than sitting next to another person, but still slightly uncomfortable to sleep.
The best part was the descent. The resorts! We could see them from the air, even at night, and they were beautiful: tiny islands, huts branching out from the beach, orange lights flickering. Definitely one of the prettiest sights I have seen. It's an image I don't want to forget for a long time.
The heat and humidity took my breath away as soon as we stepped onto the tarmac at the Male' international terminal. We were looked after at the airport by immigration who knew who immediately knew who we were. After taking our passports (which, needless to say, I was hesitant about) we were assigned with a business visa, allowing us 3 months stay in the country. I should mention at this stage that it was about 11pm and we all believed we were sleeping at the airport overnight before catching our domestic flight at 6:30am the following morning. After being led to the domestic terminal and checking in our luggage we all came to the confused conclusion that this was obviously not the case. Apparently Asad had to fight pretty hard to get us on the flight.
We arrived at Thinadhoo around 2am. My first thoughts included:
- How quickly Asad and the other Maldivians helped us, pushing trolleys and carrying our suitcases on their motorbikes.
- The smell of the bathroom (not too crash hot, but with the door open it's bearable)
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