1st Arrival In The Maldives (Not As Expected)
have you ever dreamed to visit the Maldives s one of the most stunning places on Earth ever since I started traveling the Maldives have been a dream destination for me I always imagined to be on the postcard perfect beach with crystal clear blue water in front of me and today I'm finally trying to make that dream come true at the end of this day I want to be at such a beach but the problem is it might not be the best time to visit the Maldives the weather forecast for the next few days rain so this entire trip could turn into a complete failure and I could end up losing my money and wasting my time going there and as usual I booked this trip very spontaneously just a few days ago so I haven't done much preparation I don't even know how to get to my hotel which is on a different Island than the airport so we have to figure out everything step by step so join me on this adventure to the malds and let's see if we can make it to a picture perfect Beach later today all right and here I am at my gate I'm actually flying business class today and I think I might found the world's cheapest business class flight I will tell you the price later first let's see if the flight is actually any so if the upgrade was worth it I think this is my gate right here c23 okay time to board the plane is actually quite small I was expecting a bigger plane for an almost 5-hour flight to be honest and as usual I always touch the plane before I enter all right and here we have the business class and then we have the regular economy class over there and I have seat 3A which is right here okay first impression here the seat is of course way bigger and more comfortable compared to the regular airplane seats we and we also do get a water yes thank you you have some more orange juice no it's fine I guess ladies yes thank you T so yeah I really love the seat so far already the leg space here is amazing yeah the seats are very comfortable as well even a headrest here and then there's plenty of space to yeah leave your phone leave your watch and then I think here I can uh get up a table later when the food is going to be served and then you can even charge your phone here and this is for the headphones and then even here you can uh recline the seat of course Let's test that out we have these buttons here and then we also have a leg rest here just like this and then this is a good position at least for a quick nap yeah I got a pillow as well they also offered me a blanket so if you do really want to get a nap here and let be possible and yeah of course there's also food included here which will be served after takeoff welcome you on our flight 293 for mod the commander this is Captain okay and we have left KOA L the start was about 45 minutes delayed but the expected flying time is only about 4 hours which is half an hour less than expected and yeah right after the start we actually had quite a few turbulences I am flying a lot but turbulences like this are actually quite rare for me and I'm actually quite hungry it is 11:00 a.m. in the morning now and I didn't have breakfast yet oh I am surprised uh it looks like in a fancy restaurant you now okay there were four different options to choose from I decided to take chicken Teryaki and there was also a crong and a little cake on the side and yeah overall the food was okay nothing too special but for a meal inside a plane okay but I also have to say that I think there's not a big difference between this meal and the regular meal in economy class just the presentation here was a bit better than usually the presentation of food inside a plane and yeah now I think we have about 3 and 1/2 hours more to go and I'm really looking forward to finally see the beautiful islands of the males later through this window right here and yeah this is the bathroom here which is very very small I think there's no difference between the bathroom here in the business class and in the economy class and you can see I can't even stand straight here with my 1 M 90 but yeah of course this bathroom is only shared with the people in the business class we are only 10 people here so you don't have to share your bathroom with like 100 people in economy class and yeah I think I haven't mentioned the name of the airline yet this is by the way batique Airline which is a Malaysian Airline and yeah I also just took a naet for about an hour and I really love how spacious it is here even if there would be a second person sitting next to me there would still be plenty of space for me here so that is really really great so overall the experience here in business class has been great also the staff was really friendly it was possible to order drinks at any time also like coffee or tea and yeah how much did I pay for this flight so the regular ticket for the economy class by the time I booked this flight was $200 and for the business class ticket I paid $300 so only $100 more than the regular economy class ticket and I think that makes it the world's cheapest business class flight only $100 for a 4-Hour business class flight that is pretty good value in my opinion but I also have to mention that my business class ticket was without a lounge access the same ticket including lounge access would have been $150 extra which is still a good price I think so yeah let me know in the comments if you think paying $100 extra is worth it for a business class like this and now I really can't wait to arrive I am very very excited for my first time in the malds dear thank you very much and we have arrived in the Mal Dives let's see how the arrival cres will be like here I'll actually be able to enter the country because I don't have a Visa yet and we have to take a bus first and wow the arrival here was so beautiful seeing the islands the clear blue water that was really impressive already all right then here we are I'm not allowed to film here usually so see you on the other side all right and I am in the country I can stay Visa free for 30 days with a German passport and this was literally a thing of 2 minutes they are very organized here I think there were like 10 immigration officer ready to check the tourist so very organized and what are we having here Bank of malds uh okay here we are yeah the Maldives one of the most touristy places in the world one of the most well-known Destin worldwide for luxury travel for honeymoon Travelers so I'm actually very excited to be here first of all I need cash I see the sign ATM up there that is now the first mission and after that we have to figure out how to get to my hotel which is on a different Island but first things first let's get some cash hell you want to change money no I just want ATM other ATM is good this one sometime hungry the ATM was hungry hungry do you put the card card not coming hungry now oh let's see don't take the let's see if the ATM will keep my card or not I guess that he's just saying that because he wants to sell me his money how much do I need so the currency here is maldivian rofia let's get 2,000 I think that should be around $150 and that's the sound I like to hear and the card is coming out yeah I would never change money from a guy waiting in front of the ATM approaching me but yeah this is what the money is looking like we have uh 500 notes Here 100 notes and yeah $1 us is about 15 Malian rupia and have a look at this I can see the ocean already oh wow actually let's get a first very quick glimpse of the ocean before I will enter the airport again and figure out how to get to my hotel oh wow this is already nice oh wow check out the water here that looks beautiful already oh I'm so excited to be here that is amazing oh I hope the water looks as good on camera as it looks here in real life that is amazing and we have trees here already palm trees looking beautiful wow so yeah I am actually now in the capital which is called Mali actually I'm not in the capital I'm next to the capital the capital is on a small island by the way the capital here is the most densely populated city in the whole world about 200,000 people are living on this small island which is about half the population of the whole country and in total there are over 1,000 Islands here in the malds but only about 200 of them are inhabited and you have to differentiate between local islands and Resort Islands some islands are only for hotels and resorts and some islands are also for the locals of course and here the first island where I am staying for the first few days is actually a local Island which is right next to the airport called hulali more information about this island later because it's actually a very interesting Island so let's see how I can actually get there I think I think actually I need to go there or I can go there via boat excuse me how can I get a boat to Hulu Mal Hulu there is no boat to hulali there's no boat to hulali you can take tax from there taxi from there yeah all right I have to abort the mission there's no boat going to My Island there's only a ferry these are the faeries going to mallei which is the capital uh Island which is actually right over there in the distance which we will explore in probably the next video oh yeah here you can get a taxi to Mali but yeah I am going to hul Huli hul hulali that's my Island but wow this is probably the most beautiful arrival I ever had in the country you literally step out of the airport and then you're welcomed with this water here that is quite impressive oh and we very lucky with the weather so far the weather forecast for the next days was only rain rain and rain some driving here and we have Sunshine that is great although we do have some clouds over there but let's stay positive and hope they will not come closer hello can I get a taxi here just this one okay thank you all right hello I want to go to Amber Beach Hotel Amber Beach Hotel in Hulu Mal yeah you know it yeah I know oh perfect very easy then okay so far the arrival here very stressfree very beautiful so I'm having really good good first impressions here and I'm really really excited to uh spend the next few weeks here how many minutes do we need uh 15 to 20 15 to 20 okay not that far are you from here yeah yeah it's my first time here I'm very looking forward to stay here yeah I hope not the last time hope not the last time let's see let's see the first impression here is very good where you come from I'm from Germany Germany there is quite often German people is coming there's lot of German people here what is the number one at the moment is the China and the chines yeah then the UK I think if you are going to the the local Island totally different concept I would like to stay on a local and also you can really see in the local people and the TR CER of local that's what I'm interested about yeah yeah we are entering Hulu now which as far as I know is an artificial Island which was created because the the main capital Mali was getting too small for all the people so I created this artificial Island right next to it and the airport is basically in between these two islands how many years ago was this island created There is almost 15 20 years now 20 years okay so pretty new then it's actually pretty fascinating that uh they can create a whole island in the middle of the ocean basically here and then being able to build houses and everything here how much you get $7 or 100 rupes 100 ruia yeah okay I later found out that there's actually a fixed price for this ride of only 80 rufia which I actually saw here on the sign as well before I entered the taxi but to be honest I just didn't notice it then all right here we are so yeah my hotel is about 100 m over there he just dropped me off because this is a oneway road here but guys I think we are lucky today because there's a beach right here and we are going to check it out of course very soon but first let me check in I'm actually also looking forward to the hotel uh it's not that cheap the malds are a bit more expensive than other places in South or southeast Asia and yeah let's see what $150 a night gets you in the malds right at the beach is it this one right here oh yeah I'm staying in the Amber Beach hotel which is this right here hello good afternoon I have a reservation for Ken yeah the Maldives are one of the most priciest places you can go in the world but not everything here is fancy luxury hotel resorts for hundreds of dollar you can also get a more simple room like this for $150 only a night this is the view from the balcony here that is pretty cool what a view this is already oh I can't wait to uh go down to the beach later all right before we are going to check out the beach I'm actually quite quite hungry again and if you want to get to know a new country there's no better way than doing it by trying the local food so I'm trying to find the spot now where I can actually try some maldivian food to be honest I don't know much about the local food here yet all I heard that they eat a lot of fish here especially tuna fish and that is actually quite good because yeah I'm not a huge Seafood of fish fan but tuna fish is actually my favorite fish so I'm definitely curious to try tuna here in the Maldives so let's get some very first impressions of this island here Hulu Mal which yeah is a local Island but still many hotels here but it's not like some of the islands that are only with Resorts so some islands you can find here in the males there's no local life on these islands they are only in the hands of hotels and resorts but I am here to uh yeah see more of the local sides of the country I mean you all probably have seen the famous Instagram shots from the malds before the beautiful hotels the water Villas I'm more interested to see the local sides of the country that's what I usually like to do on my channel so I think the city here is actually quite walkable I think you can basically walk from one end to the other in like half an hour or so and there's a park right in the center of the island which I would like to visit now and then maybe from there we can see if we can find the restaurant around there or make some other plans and here we actually have a mosque and in case you didn't know the Maldives are predominantly Muslim country I think I remember reading that 98% of the population are Muslims so you can find mosque all around the country but I also read that it is a bit different once you leave the local Islands if you go to the tourist Islands then of course you will see tourists walking around the beach with a bikini you will find tourists drinking alcohol but on the local Islands you will not find that I really have to say I always really love first days in the new country it is so interesting for me just to walk around everything is new I think actually that this is quite a local residential area here so just like a 5 minute walks away from from the beach from all the hotels you have a local residential area here which actually looks quite nice but wow I am so so happy that we are lucky with the weather literally yesterday when I checked my weather app it says raining and the forecast for the whole week was raining raining raining so I was really a bit worried but now we arri here and the weather at least so far is beautiful hello what are you selling here some food yeah yeah ah what is this oh we have some snakes here by the side of the road green peas green beans yeah beans ah and this one is this one is sausage sausage yeah ah okay you said fish fish yeah oh and this looks like cake here oh we do have a little bit of sweet food here I'm definitely curious to try something is this homemade by you you make at home yeah oh okay what can you recommend here I thought you're having a mic but oh it's a it's a camera you know I would like to try something which which which one can you recommend uh you can try this is also good and this is a little bit chili this look like Samosa yes fish okay how much is one piece rupia okay can I get one of this one please you can try each one so that you'll know which one is better yeah I want to try more than one is this typical for Mali Malian food yeah it's all all Malian food all maldivian food potato yeah oh okay then one of this please as well and then one of these was with fish right yeah it's fish yeah I I get one of these taste is different in everything The Taste is different okay okay I'm happy to try okay then one of these with fish yeah fish this is with egg oh this is with egg yeah it's very delicious okay then one as well please if you say it's very delicious then I have to try it okay I think that's enough for me to try so in total how much you get 11 rupia 11 rupia yeah oh looks like you can also find Sweet food here in the malds that is lovely oh and it's a homemade by by them right oh nice okay okay thank you very much how do I say thank you herea yeah it sounds Arabic like an yeah it's Arabic language yeah mix up Arabic and Malian mix languages okay I learned my first word here I just arrived here my first time in the miv really I just arrived one hour ago where you from I'm from Germany how how do I say hello again yeah that meanso okay very easy okay thank you so much for this have a good day byebye byebye all right I got some snaks maybe we're going to eat them in the park very curious to try it and I also learned my first local words and yeah I actually heard that the local language here is a mix of Hindi and Arabic and English and yeah we just learned shukuya already which means thank you which is the same word as far as I know in Arabic as well and my first impression here is also that people here do speak English which of course makes the life for me as a tourist a bit easier here you know what let's also get a drink for the snakes and I think I can get some drinks here maybe even a coconut not sure if they have local coconuts here or if they import them from maybe Sanka which is also nearby but we're definitely having coconut here hello can I get a coconut here yeah how much is one coconut 30 Ria 30 rupia okay can I get one are these from the malds or you import them from the malds okay maybe I just uh this one okay all right so they are indeed from the mald so we have local coconuts here and then I think he's now cutting the coconut freshly open somewhere in the back there okay thank you very much 15 all right and just like that I got myself my first Malian coconut oh coconuts are always good can't go wrong with coconuts especially when it's as hot as today here and I think the park where I want to go to is actually right over there and yeah now you can hear the prayers from the mosque in the background okay I found the park I found the place here in the shade by the way very beautiful Park here really love it very well maintained lots of trees here to get shade from the Sun and yeah let's uh give these snakes a try so the first things I'm going to eat in the malds some homemade snaks from the lovely couple by the side of the road uh to be honest I forgot already what is inside which item so let's just try it and maybe I can figure it out oh lots of spices in here some onions not sure what else The Taste reminds me me about food I ate before in Sri Lanka maybe the maldivian cuisine is similar to the Sri Lankan Cuisine I'm not sure what is inside here could be fish together with onions and some vegetables and lots of spices but actually The Taste is really nice I really like it also the dough here is quite fluffy and nice and then this one I'm pretty sure this one was with egg also some spices in here so I think the the maldivian cuisine typically uses a lot of spices similar to like the Indian or the S Lankan cuisine as well and this one I'm pretty sure was with fish looks almost like a chocolate cookie right but no it's not not sweet definitely Savory and there's a slight fishy taste to it but not in a bad way and then I have two more this little one here the first bite tasted the same as the one before also with a very Savory filling inside here and the last one this one oh this one is for potato inside M oh this is really good I think this one is actually my favorite okay honestly all these snacks were really good I think I have to go back to them later to tell them and look at this looks like China is also investing here Hunan construction Investment Group yeah it really seems like China is investing everywhere we have seen plenty of countries before on my channel where China is investing and looks like it's also the case here in the malds and in fact actually the bridge that we used earlier from the airport to the island is called The Chinese friendship Bridge because that bridge was also built by the Chinese actually these snakes were pretty filling so I might skip the full meal now I'm definitely curious to uh try local food definitely so I'm probably going to do that in the next video then actually the snacks from that old couple were so delicious that I'm curious now to also try their cake and I think some dessert is still fitting in my stomach it was very delicious very good oh I would also like to try your cake this is all cake no 1 two three this one this one chocolate cake chocolate cake this one p p p yeah I'm not sure what is is this one uh milk milk yeah milk cake okay how much is one piece this one okay I think I take one of each three pieces I can I can just eat here I don't need a plastic bag okay I will just uh eat them right right here let's see I can just pick one yeah okay okay let me pick this one okay this is with milk milk okay let's try this milk cake here in the Maldives oh that's very good oh it's a very milky taste to it which I would like very good you make it yeah yeah yeah oh delicious and also quite a good bite size okay I'm not really sure what what this was I didn't really understood what he said but also English is not my first language so I might just not know the English word if you know it let me know in the comments reminds me about kui in Malaysia if you're from Malaysia you maybe know what I mean in Malaysia they have a pandan flavor with kui which looks and tastes very similar to this oh so delicious very good wow this looks like a decent uh piece of chocolate here oh it's so delicious very good it's a very nice chocolate flavor to it oh how do I say delicious in uh the local language okay the local language is called D let's see if we can translate it meu meu yeah very tasty that means tasty right ah meu okay okay thank you very much it's okay no change thank you very much have a good day byebye oh lovely that was a lovely street food experience here some SA snakes some sweet cakes and yeah now I think it is time to complete our goal let's see if we can find a beautiful spot on the beach here it's so amazed the cars are actually stopping not all of them but as you can see some of them at the zebra Crossing that is definitely not the case in other countries in South Asia and also not in Southeast Asia but we are at the beach now are you ready the first time being at a beach in the males hopefully a beautiful one hopefully with very clear blue water let's check it out enjoy this moment together with me I'm about 20 30 m away from the beach now we already have nice coconut trees here that is a good start I w't cut the scene now so you can enjoy this moment yeah in real time together with me let's enjoy it I'm so so happy to be here it was a very spontaneous trip once again I literally decided to come here I think three or 4 days ago very spontaneous as usual but now I'm very happy that I made this decision so let's check out the beach here yeah this will not be the only beach that I will see in the malds as I said I'm going to spend a few weeks here I'm planning two to 3 weeks not sure yet so there will be more beaches and also other Islands in my videos and let's have a look here here we are this is the malds ladies and gentlemen oh this is beautiful oh wow I'm happy to be here this is amazing oh welcome to the mald guys oh we have high tide at the oh damn it oh my God these are my only shoes that was unexpected oh oh my God why did the water suddenly came so high oh and check it out how much sand I have on my leg now oh my god oh oh I have a problem now with my shoes because it takes usually a long time to dry shoes and they are full with Salty Sea Water now and these are my only shoes oh oh I don't want to let this ruin this moment now because this what sh a beautiful moment and suddenly I was attacked by the wave here oh actually the Raves are huge over there I'm not sure if you can see it it's maybe too far on the camera but they are looking huge and we have sea planes here because the airport is also used by sea planes so you can can see them Landing here actually I've never been on a sea plane before that would be interesting as well I think well okay trying to forget the situation with my shoes now but this feels very uncomfortable now my shoes are full with water look at this they are full with sand and salt this is not ideal how do I clean them well I'm definitely not going to let this ruin my my happy mood here of being in the the Maldives oh it feels so weird now to walk with these shoes they are still full of water I might need to organize some new shoes for this trip but yeah this was only scratching the surface of this beautiful country I'm going to stay here 2 to 3 weeks we're going to see different Islands different places so if you want to join the journey feel free to subscribe to the channel and if you haven't seen my previous video where I was still in Cambodia in the capital there then feel free to check out the video right here stay healthy stay positive and then see you on the next episode guys
2024-09-29 22:57
