The Maldives: Where Tuna Tastes Like Bread | Islam, Islands, Tourism
Splendid beaches. Hey, here's the debauch. It's a tourist beach. Oh my. Azure ocean. - 60-70 dollars a night. A double room, breakfast included.
Then, you'll have a nice beach. Palms with no people around. That's how many people see their perfect vacation. And their perfect vacation is connected with the Maldives. Celebrities from Volochkova to David and Victoria Beckham spend their time here. And the Crown Prince of Dubai.
People consider it the earthly heaven. - How do you like it here? - I love it. - Do you? - I don't want to leave. But even heaven has its hidden side.
When I see what life in the Maldives really looks like outside the expensive resorts, I get shocked with their double standards. In Norway, they'd screw Coca Cola company in all their Coca holes for making such a mess. But here, it's fine. We shouldn't be surprised with all the microplastic, air pollution and cancer.
How come we have it all? Today, I'll show you what the real Maldives look like. You know, before the take-off, they warned everyone against bringing alcohol to the Maldives. If anyone has alcohol with them, they must hand it over before the aircraft doors are locked.
The flight from Dubai takes 4 hours. And I'm surprised my plane is nearly empty. I love traveling on empty planes. I can stretch myself out just like in first class. I can take the whole row, lie down and sleep. Let's talk about the Maldives in general.
The Republic of Maldives is located in the Indian Ocean and consists of 26 atolls or coral ring-shaped archipelagos. The archipelagos amount to 1,192 islands. All tourist atolls look the same, small islands with coastal villas built on the shore or on piles.
Also containing separate settlements for service staff. Most Maldivian islands are either uninhabited or very low populated, with both local and expat dwellers. You won't see any splendid villas or fabulous azure shores there. You' re more likely to find never-ending constructions and garbage there. One of the islands consists entirely of garbage! That was my first destination. Looks nice.
Not a single girl here, by the way. Workers only. They are going to the garbage island to work.
They recycle garbage on the island. All the garbage from other islands goes there. As you see, the ferry... Tourists don't go there. Only workers do. The Maldives takes nearly 750 thousand of tourists annually.
The number may seem small. But for the islands 8 times smaller than Moscow, that's a lot. Such influx of people results in the Maldives drowning in garbage.
It's more than 860 tons of garbage a day. The garbage is mainly plastic bottles, boxes and straws. There's so much garbage in the Maldives, they had to choose an island to store it. As you see, that's not a place of heaven.
The island is called Thilafushi. Once it was a common island. In 1992, the Malé government decided to use it as a garbage station. Now, Thilafushi is known as a garbage island.
Nearly 330 tons of garbage come here daily. The main problem is, not only bottles and wrappings go here. The ex-lagoon contains plenty of toxic stuff, like oil barrels, lead, and other harmful metals. They seep into the water and poison sea inhabitants. The garbage that doesn't go to the island is burnt in the open.
The toxic fumes are harmful for both locals and tourists. Birds and small rodents finish the remaining microplastic. The government takes various measures to cope with the garbage problem.
Since 1 June 2022, the government has prohibited the production, import and usage of bottles, straws, and other plastic items. In fact, the government wants to build a waste recycling plant in the Maldives. It's supposed to convert garbage into electric power. The construction site is over there, but it's still just a fence and a billboard. Oh, here it is. - Get in there. - Will we sit in the bed? - Yes, it's fine.
- In there, right? - Someone built a new sports ground here. That's how a non-tourist part of the Maldives looks like. If someone has a nice vacation somewhere, others have to take care of their sh*t.
Of all the tourist sh*t. Most garbage goes to the nice island. In fact, they are supposed to recycle it.
At least, the ads state that. Ecology-friendly approach is in now, you know, recycling and stuff. It doesn't look like they care much about recycling or steady development here. It smells like sh*t and looks rather lame. I mean, the garbage's right at the shoreline, you see. And with that smell, I guess they burn it here too.
That's how the Maldivian backyard looks like. Amazing. - Alright, I see. That's where they recycle waste. That's one of the recycling sites.
The garbage here looks kind of sorted out. Here's glass. It's already powdered. Here, they sort out the garbage they can sell. Here's pressed plastic and metal.
They choose the garbage they can sell, sort it out and send it to recycling, I guess. They store it here. Then someone like India or China buys it and takes it to recycling. The garbage they can't sell remains here. It either gets burnt or goes into the sea. I can tell by the smell they burn something here.
I can smell it. My camera and me caused a sensation here. The workers came outside, because they don't get visitors often.
Oh, here's the main dump site! I was wondering about the smell. The huge garbage mountain contains the non-recyclable waste. You see, they sort out the proper garbage, mostly plastic.
Then they press it, collect it and take it away from the island. And the rest, liquids, cans... Lots of cans here. Crude oil, fuel, oils - they remain here. That's how a dump site looks like.
Speaking of recycling process. The garbage they can't sell just remains here, making up a waste mountain. That's what happens to various oils, fuels, and God knows what else they have here. They just drain it down the ground.
They obviously try to pump or sort something out. Here are some barrels. The sight is horrid, I'd say. It's not something you expect to see in the Maldives. Nothing like the heaven. In fact, the sea is like 100 meters away.
They bring barrels and depleted fuel in here. Engine oil and stuff. Plenty of them.
The site is rather large. And the liquids end up in the sea. Don't delude yourself about that. They do end up in the sea, and no-one cares about that.
They refine and sort out the garbage they can sell, the rest remains here to rot or leak into the sea. I tell you what. Lots of local hotels boast their ecology-friendly approach and zero waste production.
Describe the process of sorting and recycling. For their wealthy tourists to stay calm and happy while making a mess. According to the local dweller, each island has a consul responsible for the atoll's life.
They also control the garbage issues. But their way of solving them is rather dubious. Back then, they used to dump waste from the island right into the iron cage.
For sharks and rays to swim up there and for the tourists to have fun. It was also useful for the fishermen, as the food scraps attracted plenty of fish. But the scraps polluted the ocean. An activist from the island, our island, claimed the scraps polluted the ocean. They stopped dumping waste into ocean, instead they collected it into a boat, went far into the ocean and dumped it there. If they want to build a waste recycling plant, they'll have to create a separate artificial island for that.
Because even the locals lack ground on the Maldives. I doubt they'll do that. If you think you can find garbage on separate islands only, that's so not true. My trip to the Maldivian Coca Cola island proved that.
My friends, I arrived at Thulusdhoo island to see the world's only Coca Cola plant that uses desalinated water. The company has worked on the island for more than 30 years. It's the only supplier of Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Bonaqua in the Maldives.
The plant can produce more than 9 million liters of beverages annually. That's equal to 4 Olympic pools of soda. So all Maldivian Coca Cola, Bonaqua, Sprite, Fanta and so on are manufactured here, at this plant. The Coca Cola company provides not only beverages, but also jobs for the locals. Nearly 1,400 people live on the island, and more than 100 of them work here. Here's an interesting point.
They have factory tours here. You can have a look at the manufacturing process. It's more or less common. If you have once seen a beverages manufacturing, here it looks the same. First, they produce a bottle, then they dilute the syrup with desalinated water and pack it up.
Everything is automated. I have no idea what those 100 people do here. Most are support staff like cleaners, I guess. Because the production line is fully automated.
If you pass or swim by, you can take a tour. It's free, but filming is not allowed. You're not allowed even to use your phone, because it's a special covert facility.
The problem of the nice Thulusdhoo island is that it's easy to get in here, but not so easy to leave. Boats seldom come here, once in 3 or 4 hours. If you arrive in the morning, you can leave only at midday.
Or you can rent a private boat. It costs 4,000 rufiyaas. Or more than 200 dollars. Not cheap. Let's wait for the local shuttle. Here, Coca Cola sponsored the water supply.
Drinking water. Here's a water tap. In fact, I think Coca Cola could think of something better. Like a tiger's head spewing out water. The tap looks like it provides process water in a toilet. They skimped on Thulusdhoo locals.
I hear there are people collecting Coca Cola beverages. They can even tell Coca Cola produced somewhere like Australia from European or American Coca Cola. Maybe I should've tried the local Cola, but I remembered I don't drink it. You tried it, didn't you? Let's ask Anna.
Anna, you're an expert. We found someone who tried local Cola. Does it differ from the foreign Cola? I didn't feel any taste difference. Even with the desalinated water it contains? Yes, I didn't notice any difference. It's the same.
Let's explore the island further. Welcome to my beloved littered slums. You may think the Maldives have the only garbage island they don't take care of, and the rest of them are heaven places.
But no, no way. Nearly each island not taken by a single resort has dump sites. What do you think the guys do with the garbage? Right. In the Maldives, they divide it into 2 types.
First, the garbage you can earn money with. It's clear that most of the garbage is hard to recycle, hard to deal with. So they just dump the rest in forests and burn it.
That's how it looks like. No place for miracles in here. That's one of the many dump sites. Looks like... Here's the sea,
here are the nice jungles. And here's the dump site. Let's see what's burning. It's plastic. Plastic, plastic, plastic. Various waste.
That's not like smoldering grass. Here's Bonaqua they produce here. All the plastic bottles. Everything Coca Cola produces here, ends up burning. See how many Bonaqua bottles are in here? They burn them all. Everything.
Right in the open. They don't sort it out or anything. That's total bullsh*t. All those tourist fairy tales like, 'We take care, we sort everything out, we make sure it's nice, well-developed, and ecology-friendly.' That's how the backstage of Maldivian heaven looks like. A smoldering dump site on nearly every island with local dwellers.
It looks like they recycle 5-10 percent of it. The rest goes to the forest. I arrived at a paradise island and expected to smell roses. But no. Now I smell like dump sites
and burnt plastic. More waste forests over here. You see, they don't need something anymore and simply dump it.
A kind of construction here. Old boats rot in the forest too. Everything's overgrown. All islands with local dwellers have it, don't they? - Each island has a dump site. - Each island has a dump site.
Here's Coca Cola! From the local plant. It was produced here, and dumped here. The local plant workers claim they recycle it all, that everything's fine and reusable. The plant is 1 kilometer away, and they take it all to the forest and simply dump it here. After that, it either rots here for ages, or gets burnt. It goes... Yes, it was produced right here.
By Coca Cola. Right here, on this Maldivian island. At the Maldivian Coca Cola plant. Some may say they will deal with it later, but there's plenty of grass and cobweb over it. Lots of plastic bottles are just piled up in the forest.
I doubt they'll ever take them away for recycling. That's what tourists don't see. The reaction of some people keeps surprising me. I posted photos of local waste sites on Instagram with a caption, 'That's how heaven backstage looks like, the side tourists don't see. That's how the real life in the Maldives looks like.' Some people commented on it angrily, like, 'A pig can find mud anywhere! Ilya, you are searching through your beloved trash again! You are like a fly! Each city has it!' My friends, I'd like to ask you something.
Are you kidding me? First, I'm sure you mustn't ignore the sh*t that goes on. Some may not care about it, but I do. I care about the air I breath, about the water I drink, about the sea I swim in and about the food I eat. When I see what life in the Maldives in the Maldives really looks like, outside the expensive resorts, I get shocked with their double standards. Some 10 kilometers from here, they bow their backs, drive you around in fancy cars and everything's perfect, nice and clean. But the islands with locals look like crap.
With dump sites and smoldering plastic. But the sea is the same. The sky and the air are the same. And our planet is the same.
Some may think they can leave their crap and burn plastic in here, but 20 kilometers away, it'll be wonderful, but of course no. And such sh*t is hard to find. The claims that you can find it anywhere are so not true. You can find open smoldering dump sites say, somewhere in Africa. Or in some poor European countries.
But less likely. But somewhere in Scandinavia, when people take nature responsibly, I can't think of anything like that. Somewhere in Iceland or Norway, imagine depleted oil spilled in huge puddles on beaches or in forests. I can't imagine the Coca Cola company, with their European factories dumping their empty bottles in a Norwegian forest.
In Norway, they'd screw the Coca Cola company in all their Coca holes for making such a mess. But here, it's fine. Here, they have a plant where they produce it and then it goes to the forest to rot. We shouldn't be surprised with all the microplastic, air pollution and cancer. How come we have it all? We get it directly from here. Here's a paradise beach over there, and I'm roaming around a dump site.
With equipment. They dumped plenty of equipment here. Plenty of equipment. You see? Old cars no-one needs anymore. They are simply parked in the forest.
Their oil and liquids just drain down the ground. They don't get rid of it. It's smoke over there.
It means something is smoldering. Someone burns something over there. Check it out, it's rusty all over. It's remained here for ages.
It's rotten here for years and passed to the ground. And here's the sea. You see the palm trees over there? It's the sea. My friends, that's why such things are important to notice. If you don't note the problem, you can't solve it. It's clear that instead of solving the problem, the locals just dump everything in the forest and burn it, as if no-one will notice.
But no. We do notice it, we really do. What's wrong about that? The problem is, there are lots of migrant workers in here. Because the country can't deal with so many tourists. They make the tourists pay, but the money seem to go somewhere else.
The service staff consists of migrants from Bangladesh, India or Sri Lanka. And as you see, the migrants don't give a damn about the local ecology. They don't care about clean water or air.
They just don't think about that because it's temp work. They come here to earn money. Tomorrow, they'll be kicked away or just leave.
But the waste will remain here. Okay. Here, they pack dried fish. Here's the fish. That's what it looks like. I've no idea how they use it further. It doesn't look delicious.
Here are the packages. Talking about the island special waste site, there's a place where they collect all the garbage from all houses, restaurants, coffee shops, and guest houses. They also burn it there. They burn it every day.
And there, in that part of the island, where they do it, the rent is very cheap. The locals live there. There are no hotels, because the smell is rather distinct. It turned out they do take away garbage on Thulusdhoo only before large events, like a surfing competition.
The island I live on is famous for its surfing competitions. World-class champions compete here. If you look at the island from above, to the south you'll see a smaller one.
It's separated from the main Thulusdhoo. Before the competition started, the smaller island contained plenty of garbage. Like plastic items or flip-flops.
People came there to look at the waves and dumped their garbage right over there. The island was littered all over. But you know, before the competition...
It took place in June this year, I presume. Or maybe in July. They cleaned the island, laid new pathways. Even constructed a viewpoint to look at the surfers. The president came there to see the results. And he liked it.
Yes, they can do something useful and pleasant before such big events. Let's have a look at the tourist island Maafushi and compare them. Do they have garbage there too? Maafushi is the main tourist island here, in the Maldives. It's considered the affordable part of the Maldives. It's located next to Malé.
It's one of the most popular islands among the low-budget tourists. The affordable Maldives. They come here instead of Turkey or Egypt, right? Yes, right. Low-budget Maldives cost 40,000 rubles a week or more.
Welcome. A billboard boat. And here's Maafushi. Check it out. The first thing they have here is restriction rules. What you must know.
No bikinis, no such bathing suits. No transparent gowns. No such items for men I guess. But shorts are allowed.
You can put on shorts. Here are the cafes, of course. You can buy a milkshake here. Or a smoothie, or a delicious sandwich. Check out the palms and stuff.
Even though the island is considered low-cost, it still looks grand. Because of the snow-white sand, because of the cleaners doing their best. Palms and greenery are all round.
Nice hotels are right at the shoreline. It really looks pretty well. A night fishing trip. A fishing trip costs 30 dollars. 30 dollars for watching the sunset, and they can even cook your haul. Morning fishing also costs 30 dollars.
All inclusive. - Hi. - Hello. May I take a photo with you? - Of course. That's why I'm here. Go ahead. - Cool. - Where are you from? - From Russia. - But where exactly? Russia is large. - Nizhny Novgorod. - You came here from Novgorod?
- From Nizhny Novgorod. - From Nizhny Novgorod, okay. - Yes. - I got it. - We are leaving in 5 minutes. - How do you like it here? - I love it. - Do you?
- I don't want to leave. - Here are the water sports. - But look, swimming here is not allowed. - It is actually.
- But with no debauch. - Yes. - Bathing suits are not allowed. I got it. Everyone has T-shits on. That's a common beach.
They do water sports here and everyone wears T-shirts. Here are all the local entertainments, right? - Water sports, yes. - Here are the hotels, right? - Right, these ones are more expensive. - How much is such hotel? - 70-80 dollars or more.
Around 100 dollars in general. - A night? - A night, yes. - I see everyone has bathing suits on.
A beach where debauch is allowed. You can swim with no T-shirt on. It's considered Maldivian all inclusive with a kind of Turkish vibe. Because there are lots of people including plenty of Russians.
It's considered a party island. As for the garbage... There's more garbage there because it has more tourists. There are almost no good beaches left.
Finally, I reached the Maldivian capital. Let's see how the life goes in here. My friends, the first thing to shock you in the Maldives are the prices. Oh, those prices. First, I paid 40 dollars at the airport for a tourist SIM card.
Oh my, check out the SIM card prices. Why are they so expensive? Tourist SIM cards cost a lot. The Maldives are an expensive country, that's it. 20 Gb for 40 dollars. Amazing. Check out the hotel room.
A common 4-star hotel, a shabby dingy room is 250 dollars. Here's my room. It must look fine from a distance, as a picture. It seems fine.
But look closer, and you'll see everything's filthy and shabby. Here's my bathroom. It's surely not a 5-star hotel. Well, at least it seems clean. That's something. You may think I arrived at a resort with snow-white beaches and splendid excesses. But no.
Let me show you something. The view from my window. Good, I have a lounge chair! I can sit back here and look at the rusty roofs and apartment blocks. Here's my sea view! Do you think there's no view? Here it is! The famous Maldivian sea! And here are the outlines of splendid Maldivian islands with expensive resorts and magnificent life.
But the magnificent life is not for us, my friends. The real life is for us! So let's see the real Maldives. After the hotel check in, let's look at the sweet Maldivian life. I'm amazed, because the real life in the Maldives is completely different from all the Maldivian fantasies. No place for luxury here. Looks like a common Asian outland.
Like a small town in Indonesia or Thailand, you know. A usual one with several large mosques and office buildings. There are no chain hotels in the capital. There are some on the islands, but not in the capital. I'd say I'm surprised. I expected...
Well, the town is not large. I expected them to invest the money they get from tourism. Say, in their infrastructure. They could make the town neat and clean.
But no. Well, the town looks tidy. I can't say it's shabby or anything. But the infrastructure is rather simple. With patched roads and broken slabs. The place is a mess. How am I supposed to walk here? Malé is the capital of the Republic of Maldives and the largest island in the archipelago.
The main infrastructure is located here. Like large hospitals, schools and kindergartens. The Maldivian Government also works here. Almost a half of the country's population lives in the capital. Nearly 250,000 people of 500,000 in general.
That's a common street in Malé, the capital of the Maldives. Lots of scooters are parked here. The street is rather narrow and the cars often can't pass each other here.
But the street looks rather tidy and neat. It feels heartwarming. Asian-ish heartwarming. But I can't walk here. Let's get back to the pavement. The pavement is not so broad either.
Old Malé areas feature the local vibes. But the new ones are occupied by the apartment blocks. I'd say they don't look attractive.
The paths are unpaved, the construction waste is scattered around. People already started inhabiting the buildings. What's your vision of Maldivian residential areas? Tourists live in their fancy villas at the azure ocean, of course.
But where do the locals live? They live in the apartment blocks as well. I arrived at the brand new area next to the Malé airport. And it looks like suburbs in a typical Russian town. Well, in summer. Check this out, looks like Novosibirsk.
I wanted to say, 'Looks like Saint Petersburg', but the buildings are not high enough. Looks more like Novosibirsk or Krasnoyarsk, you know. Let's walk around the new areas in Malé and check out the local buildings. First, take a look at the splendid bus station! Made from polycarbonate. That's... Hey, some guys are passing by. They are migrants from India.
Indians are building houses here. A fabulous green fence! The construction is in progress. And take a look at the wonderful concrete boxes! A special net is here, so that you don't get hurt by a falling builder. I can see the construction quality is fine. Some weed is flourishing here.
A half-dead acacia tree. And be sure, we are in a new area! What do people do in a new area? They settle in. And they can't do without a rotten board lying in a puddle and a half-drowned crosswalk. People need to settle in the new area. The Maldives must melt a Russian heart with that. Here, they also finish houses...
People start inhabiting the houses still surrounded with crap. In Russia, it's totally fine. Russians are sure they can build houses right in the middle of nowhere.
No-one cares about public transport or any infrastructure. The construction can still be in progress. But people already buy apartments, sit there and keep silence. And hope someday it comes to an end. Someday they'll finish it.
Amazing. A new house. By the Palestinian flag hanging off the balcony, I guess people already live here. There's an entrance over there. But the construction is still in progress. One more splendid bus station.
Made from colored polycarbonate. Check out the splendid Maldivian pavements! Let's watch her cross the obstacle line. That's it. Just stay cool. Here's an apartment block.
It's already inhabited. Instead of a parking lot, they have a parking wasteland. The obstacle line is getting tricky! We passed to the next level. It's not that simple. Hold on, I got it. I must go like that, right? The Chinese are constructing the building.
To which city does the skyline belong? Shanghai, good for you! Of course it's the wonderful skyline of Shanghai. That's how a finished house look like. It's interesting. No pavement, some crap and construction waste are scattered around. Looks like someone stole their construction fence.
The building itself is clearly still in progress. But if we go upstairs, we'll see the house is claimed finished. Some apartments are already inhabited. Let's go upstairs and check it.
It's rather interesting. Where's the right stairway? Let's go up to the 13th floor. The locals are clearly not superstitious as they have the 13th floor. What's with the area, Anna? Tell me about it. The area is called Hulhumalé, Phase 2. It was built in 2015.
The locals usually take mortgage to buy an apartment here. It's a kind of local suburban buildings, right? Yes. But they also can get an apartment almost for free. They pay only a part of money. Alright. 13th floor. As I said, people already live here. You see, here are some slippers, shoes.
People live here for sure. Here's the hallway exit. The building exit. It leads directly to the crap.
They call it improvement. The construction is clearly in progress. And people mustn't live here already.
They don't have pavements or anything. I left the hallway and have to walk on crap. I've no idea how they stay safe here.
But they still live here. And no-one cares about the unfinished construction except for me. Piles of crap everywhere. Plastic, foams, construction waste.
They clearly don't take it away. And of course we can't avoid my beloved 25-story houses! Here they are. Well, I'm glad the houses are fully inhabited.
By the littered balconies and plenty of drying clothes... Check this out! An a*shole parked on the pavement! Just as we love it! I was expecting it! A trash bin! We didn't search for it, it found us! We were just passing by. Alright. The main thing is... Let's not pay attention to the flawed infrastructure. The people here are settling in.
Cars are parked here. Happy tenants are passing by. A wonderful sight. I think they forgot to lay a road. Do you agree? A kind of road should've been here, because it has a boom barrier. The boom barrier means someone's supposed to drive in.
Here's the hallway. Amazing. Check out the splendid courtyard. Yes, that's a courtyard.
If you look up, you can even see the sky. People are standing in line to the elevator. There are clearly more people than elevators can take. Some will have to wait. Alright, I must settle my nerves. Let's have a look at the lawn parking.
If you can call it a lawn. Looks more like an earth parking. Here's a pile of crap of course, don't forget we're in the Maldives. Drowned pavements. Everything's fine.
Nice people are walking around in the puddles. Here's a super parking lot for scooters. People use them to ride around. It's the main vehicle here.
I haven't seen a single park in the new area. Instead, I found the main park of the island. That's how the main Malé park looks like. The main park looks perfect, but for some reason the playgrounds are closed.
Here's a kind of installation with slides and stuff, and it's also closed. That's how a new Malé school looks like. The local state schools don't teach History, Geography or Literature. You can study them additionally in high school or at international schools. Here's a list of subjects.
Okay, for grades 1-6. What is Dhivehi? What does it mean? Dhivehi is their mother tongue. Dhivehi is the mother tongue, okay. Islam, English, Maths, Science and some Social Studies.
Social Studies, yes. Like Social Studies in Russian schools. Kind of, yes. The main subjects are Maths, Islam, Dhivehi, and English. Those are the main ones, and they even take extra lessons, even after they finish school. My friends, I think I know why they don't teach Geography in the Maldives.
They don't want anyone to leave the heaven islands. They just don't have a map and so they stay here. They may not even know there's a whole world beyond the Maldives. Here's a local school, and let's find out if the local kids really don't study History or Geography. Hearts here look nice. The parents are waiting for their kids.
I'm shocked, I can't believe it. They really don't study Geography and History at school. They don't know anything! They don't know where great and wonderful Russia is! They don't know where Torzhok town is! Why live in the Maldives then? They may not even know there's a world beyond the Maldives. And that it existed before the Maldives.
There's a reason for not studying the subjects here. Maldivians originate from Hindus. Back then, no-one confessed Islam on the islands. Some atolls still have Hindu statues. The country is fully Islamic now.
The government tries to get rid of Hindu culture and their Hindu past. That's why they don't study Geography and History at school. So that the people don't reflect on their bonds with India. Anti-Indian attitude is visible all around the town.
While walking around the Maldives you see lots of signs saying, 'Indian military out.' What does it mean and why there's Indian military here? The Maldives and India started their relations in 1996, after the Maldives gained independence from the UK. Since then, India has built the local infrastructure, and the Maldives have named hospitals after Indira Gandhi.
In May 2023, India rented one of the Maldivian islands for 30 years. Word comes India is constructing a military base there. The locals clearly took the relations negatively. Many claim it makes their country vulnerable and dependent. Oppositional politicians declare the Indian military presence makes the Maldives an Indian slave. It becomes more complicated with China having its own interests in the Maldives.
Beijing and Malé signed an agreement about building the infrastructure on the islands. And also the Free Trade Agreement. Here, China struggles with India for its influence in the Maldives. Their cooperation with the Maldives is supposed to help Beijing strengthen its political influence in the Indian Ocean.
So, Maldivian government has to choose its allies. The previous Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih used to cooperate with India. The Indian military resided on the islands. They trained the local army. Not all of the locals were against them, but most of them objected the course. That's why there are lots of signs saying, 'India out.'
This year, the oppositional pro-China candidate won the Presidential Election in September. After that, the Republic of Maldives and India agreed to take the Indian military out of the country. According to Maldivian SunOnline newspaper, they are leaving the islands by 15th March. We have only two political parties here, MDP and PPM. The new President is Mohamed Muizzu, he was the PPM candidate, the party cooperating with China.
It's stunningly beautiful at night. People are strolling along the seafront, right at the shore. Huge rays are swimming down there.
The President was inaugurated here yesterday. On this very square. You can roam around the scenery and feel like the President of the Maldives. One of the local infrastructural objects built by the Chinese is the bridge.
It connects the capital of Maldives to the island with the airport on it. Behind my back, there are people who came to look at the bridge. That's not just a bridge. That's the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge. The Chinese constructed it in 2017. The bridge connects the international airport where everyone arrives at, to Malé, the capital.
Back then, you arrived at the airport and used a ferry to reach the capital. Now, you can take a taxi and drive along the bridge. But it's not so easy. Beware of the Chinese bearing credits, you know. The Chinese follow their usual plan. They come to their countries of interest, give them money, start constructing state objects.
The local leaders and presidents like it, and are eager to use the foreign money to show the citizens their development and prosperity. Look, we have new hospitals, modern bridges and fancy state projects! But it's not that simple. The Chinese are not about the charity.
They are about the credits. Some countries get addicted to their credits, can't pay them back, then the Chinese come and take their properties. That's what happened to Sri Lanka.
First, the Chinese gave them money to construct a large trading port. When Sri Lanka ran out of money and couldn't pay off their debt anymore, the Chinese rented the port for 99 years. That's how the Chinese captured the country's largest port. Now it's theirs. The same story takes place in the Maldives. The Chinese crave to lay their hands on them, offering their wonderful Chinese credits. So that they have a chance to possess some islands.
The strategic position of the Maldives is rather beneficial. Even though their population and land area are small, the islands are widely scattered, which makes the country strategically important. Many trade routes pass through the Maldives. The Chinese want to secure their presence here. The Bridge of Friendship is a reminder of the Chinese influence.
The time will show the future of the friendship. They're constructing a new airport terminal over there. Someday, they'll finish it. Next year, they say. The important point is that the Maldives are a democratic country.
The local elections are eligible and the parties do compete for the support. According to my friend Anna, the locals are very politically active. Some even paint their houses the color of the party they support. I checked that myself on the Gulhi island.
By the way, the houses are painted according to politics. Various parties, I mean. That's the yellow MDP party. There's a pink party, they paint it pink. There are lots of colored houses. People here support various political parties and show it by painting their houses.
That expresses their true devotion. That's a kind of village, yes. Nearly 1,000 people live on this island.
- 1,000 people? You mean locals? - Yes, the island's size is 500x250 meters. I had lived here for a year. - For a year? - Yes, I kept running around here like a hamster. - You must know every single nook here. - Yes. - That's the consulate, the authority office.
- Authority office? That's a rural office! A village council. The locals don't attend beaches, do they? The locals have their own beach. It's on the other side.
And one more on this side. The locals come to the beach at sunset. It's too hot for them now. On a hot day, mainly kids are there. Many locals come there on Friday.
In the Maldives, Friday is a day-off. Look, here's the third party. That means Vote for number 3! I love the hammocks hanging all around.
I haven't seen them on any other islands. They use a metal frame, a net, and a fishing line. A thick fishing line. Together, they make a kind of hammock or an easy chair.
And people use it for chilling. Not in the sun, but... - It's a joali.
- Come again? - Joali. A traditional Maldivian chair. Here's the shadow. In the shadow, people use the hammocks to chill and swing. Check this out, they support the third party too! Everyone votes for the thirds. Those are their two nice leaders.
Remember these blue faces bleached in the sun. They seem to get elected somewhere. A third house. A third one. Everything that's painted yellow supports the yellow party.
By the way, the local islanders have lots of restrictions. Say, alcohol is strictly prohibited here. Fortunately, the law loses its power if you go deeper into the sea. The locals invented a new kind of tourist entertainment.
Booze boats. The local booze market is rather surprising. I don't know if you can see it.
There are yachts floating some 100 meters away from the shore. They're called safari boats, right? - Yes. Safari boats. Out there, people drink alcohol.
Small boats come up here, take the booze lovers aboard and help them unite with alcohol. Do they work only night shifts? What about daytime? - They start at 4 pm. - 4 pm, okay. Here's our boat! It's wobbling around, wry and uneven.
The boat is obviously tipsy. They mainly sell alcohol at the resorts, the fancy island hotels. It costs a fortune there. But if you interact with the locals, you can use a boat to visit a floating bar. All those bars just float some 100 meters away from the shore and have everything you need. Well, at least we'll check what they have and how much it costs.
Are those the booze boats? The boats float here at night. Is that our bar? Perfect. The idea of the boat is rather simple. You go deep into the sea and buy beer, whiskey, rum, and whatnot. You mustn't take your drink on the land and can drink it aboard only.
But no-one really controls it. If you take a couple of beer bottles with you, no-one will punish you or ask you any questions. I have an excellent view here. A woman's a*s. And a bar. Their menu is rather simple.
They have the cheapest booze that costs 10 times higher than it should. Wine is 100-150 dollars a bottle. The simplest common wine. Whiskey is 200, 300, or 500 dollars a bottle. Also the most common whiskey, cognac and so on.
But they do have everything. Not every local island has such boats. Only Maafushi, Thoddoo, Ukulhas, and Hulhumale have safari boats. They transfer you to the boat for free. Then you pay either for a full bottle or for a glass.
The resorts don't have such restrictions. Alcohol is allowed there. - How much is alcohol there? - At the resorts, it's... You know, you'd rather take all inclusive option there.
If you don't, the alcohol prices depend on the resort. But it costs a lot anyway. They usually send it in bottles. For like 200 or 300 dollars.
The prices are higher than on safari boats. Let's see what else the local islands have. There are two separate worlds in the Maldives. The first one is what most tourists see.
Snow-white beaches and perfect service, just like in a Bounty commercial. The second world is the true one. It's where the locals live. It's the true life, the backstage the tourists never see. One more Maldivian restriction refers to bikini.
You mustn't wear it on the islands for the locals and in Malé, the capital city. Private resorts and tourist beaches don't follow the restriction. But in other areas, women can easily get arrested for a bikini. That's what happened to a British woman on Maafushi island beach. The policemen were criticized severely for how they had treated her. The police claimed the woman was drunk and they had to use force.
Why is bikini prohibited? The Maldives are an Islamic country. Islamic rules prohibit nudity and stripping all body parts on beaches except for feet, hands and face. You'll never see any revealing bathing suits or suntan outside local resorts. It's a tourist beach. Oh my. I'd say they stroll around naked in here! Well, almost. Tell me about the beach.
In the Maldives, you're not allowed to swim in a bathing suit on the local islands. But there are some areas and beaches where you can wear a bikini, put on a bikini bathing suit. You can't swim naked. And there are separate islands with bikini beaches. So that's a special beach where you can undress down to a bathing suit, right? Yes, here you can undress down to a bathing suit.
At the resorts, you can swim everywhere in bikini. How do common beaches look like? On common ones, you can swim with a T-shirt and shorts on. And you can swim in your present clothes, right? I must swim in them actually.
I can change into a crop top, but that's it. I must have my shorts on. - What about men? - The same, with a T-shirt and shorts on. You mean men can't swim here with no T-shirt on? They actually swim shirtless, but there are signs saying you must have your T-shirt on. Let's have a look at a beach for the locals.
That's how a beach for the locals looks like. You see, women not only have dresses on, but also their scarves. The local girls. Tourist women have T-shirts on. There are no bikinis and no debauch on the local beaches. Everything looks rather decent.
The locals swim fully dressed, even with their scarves on. And they feel fine. Some beaches for the locals are completely empty in the daytime. Here's the famous sign. Not allowed... They even translated it into Russian! With so many Russian tourists coming here, it says in Russian, 'Bikinis are not allowed in public places.'
That's it, debauch's not allowed here. It's not like in Adler, where people roam around cafes, restaurants and shops with only their panties on and their bellies out. Well, not only bellies, but never mind.
Ride around in buses almost naked. Here, in the Maldives, it's unthinkable. Alcohol is prohibited, but if you want beer, you can buy non-alcoholic one. Here's even non-alcoholic Russian Baltika beer. Who would've thought Baltika would reach the Maldives? Maldivians are very tolerant with tourists. They are also very friendly and very amiable.
The tourists can stroll around the local islands with shorts and crop tops on and it's fine with them. The only thing they ask for is not to come in bikinis to the depth of the island. You can swim and tan in bikini without strolling around. What can possibly go wrong? With the tourists I mean.
When I worked as a guesthouse manager, we had a bikini beach there. A kind of segmented territory. A separated area. A tourist sat outside the bikini beach area, a tourist from out hotel. Someone came up to me and said, 'It's your tourist, make him leave, or we'll call the police.' Some islands have severe restrictions.
If you follow them, you'll be fine. Even if someone calls the police, they'll speak politely. They'll just warn you. But they are always tolerant. The locals are not only tolerant, they are rather shy.
I met a local woman on the Gulhi island who agreed to show me her house. - That's a usual house, isn't it? - Yes. - Amazing. It looks rather modest. - Yes. Some think the Maldives are one large hotel, with its citizens working as service staff for wealthy tourists.
But according to the World Bank data, the income of the Maldives is above average. The median income here is around 5.5 thousand dollars a year. It's a little more than, say, in Turkey or Montenegro. The figure gives the Maldives 53d place in the world, in the upper part of the rating. In Asia, the islands have the 8th place. Economy of the Maldives is highly dependent on tourism.
It takes 28% of the country's GDP. The Maldives earn nearly 3 billion dollars a year with tourism. During the pandemic, they found themselves in severe crisis.
The Maldives don't have their own fuel. They import it from abroad. It's rather expensive, because the Maldives are far away from...
Well, from almost everything. At the same time, the Maldivian government provides free education and healthcare for the citizens and pays them pensions. The population on the local islands can count from 200 to 500 people. Often, there are just several dozens of houses and a school.
The situation with hospitals is rather tough. According to UNICEF, all inhabited atolls have first-aid stations. Larger islands even have hospitals on them. But they often lack medications. Malé, the Maldivian capital, has only 3 hospitals with modern medical equipment.
In case of emergency, they take patients abroad, to India or Sri Lanka. Since 2013, hospital boats have cruised among the Maldivian islands. They have a GP on board who works both as a dentist and as an obstetrician delivering babies. China presented one of the boats to the Maldives. One more boat belongs to India.
I talked to a gynecologist about the Maldivian healthcare system. In 2011, she moved here from Uzbekistan and has worked in a local hospital since then. How does the local healthcare system work? How is it different from the Soviet one? The thing is, insurance covers everything here. It's called Aasandha. It covers absolutely everything.
The locals have everything for free, right? The locals, yes. It's for free. In tough cases, like oncology or complicated surgery for newborns, it also covers the costs. They take them abroad, mainly to India or Sri Lanka. A close relative can accompany them, the costs are also covered. But they pay for the rest themselves. The insurance covers medical costs, accommodation in a hospital and so on.
You mean if there's a tough case they can't deal with in the Maldives, the government takes them abroad and pays for the treatment? - Yes. They don't beg for money via SMS like in Russia, do they? - No, no. They work via Aasandha. They deal with the hospital, with transportation, plane, everything. For the patients themselves and for the people accompanying them.
That's obligatory. - Okay, if I have a headache and need a pill. Will I get it for free? You can buy it. If you apply to a doctor, then yes. They will issue a prescription.
- I have to apply to a doctor... - Yes. - Say I have a headache... - Yes. - The doctor says okay...
- Says, 'I'll prescribe you Panadol or Aspirin.' You get a prescription... well... How do you call it in Russian? - It's retsept. You go and get the pills.
In the Maldives, they don't perform any serious oncological or plastic surgeries. Their religious beliefs don't allow abortions and gender affirming surgeries. - If a woman wants to terminate her pregnancy, then what? - She can't just go and do it. If her baby develops abnormally, or say, her health is too weak for pregnancy, the law allows her to terminate it within the first 12 weeks. Or she will carry her baby, her abnormal pregnancy, till 7 months term.
After that she can give birth. The reason is that the baby can turn fine in the end. It needs a chance to live. A chance for one breath. That's it.
Abortions are prohibited in the period between 12 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. Well, if she has a miscarriage, then of course no-one will help, except for God. - Do they perform the rest here? Like simple surgery? - Yes, all the rest, yes. All simple and mild surgeries. They actually perform complicated surgeries too, but the oncology service is lame. - Are most doctors foreigners? - No, there are lots of local doctors.
When I arrived here, there were few of them. But they keep studying. Say, they study in Malaysia, there's a good university there.
Some study in ex-Soviet countries, like Ukraine. The average salary for doctors is 2,000 dollars. Local doctors earn 1,000 dollars more than foreigners. - You mean a local doctor will earn more than a foreigner at the same job? - Yes, but we also have privileges. - Like what? - We get paid for accommodation.
- Come again? - Accommodation. For housing I mean. We get a place to live. - Accommodation... - We get food. We get an amount of money to cover our daily food costs.
The Maldivian government not only deals with medicine, it also helps families with kids. They get monthly allowance for each kid. Do you remember the school in the Maldivian capital? Let's compare it to another one on a small island. That's how the local school looks like.
That seems to be an English classroom. The door to each classroom is decorated with pieces of art supporting Palestine. What's that? Various pieces of work. One more peculiar point of Maldivian family life is marriages and divorces. You may already know the Maldives are the world's wedding center.
People make fancy proposals, arrange wedding photoshoots and spend their honeymoon here. While tourists are arriving at the Maldives to do all that, the locals keep getting divorced. In 2021, the Maldives had the highest divorce rate in the world. Of 1,000 people, nearly 5.5 got divorced every year. Kazakhstan took the 2nd place in the rating, Russia was the third.
The 4th place went to Belarus. Among 1,000 people in Russia, there are just over 4 divorces. Some may think that's not much. Are 5.5 divorces among 1,000 people that much? Let me explain the meaning of the data.
1,000 people include both kids and elderly people who don't get married yet or anymore. Let's say it's a half of those 1,000 people. The second half makes 500 people or 250 couples. Not all of them will make a couple or get married. But let's leave it to make it simple.
5.5 couples out of those 250 ones will get a divorce annually in the Maldives. In 40 years, it will amount to 220 divorces among 250 couples. It seems everyone in the Maldives should be single. That's certainly not true. The islanders not only get divorced easily, they get married easily, too.
The thing is, according to Islamic traditions, the divorce procedure is rather simple in the Maldives. Also, polygamy is allowed here. As a result, while you keep getting married and divorced, you add up to the statistics. The divorce situation is currently getting better. In 2002, the Maldives were recorded in the Guinness Book of Records with the highest divorce rate in their history.
They had 11 divorces among 1,000 people. It seems you can travel to the Maldives not only for your wedding, but for your divorce also. I first moved here to work as a yoga teacher. Then I married a Maldivian man. - A Maldivian man, that's interesting! How come you married a Maldivian man? - We fell in love. We were co-workers at a resort.
We played volleyball together. Then the Covid pandemic started. We spent the pandemic there. We fell in love and went to his island, the farthest Northern island in the Maldives, it's called Fulhadhoo.
There are no tourists, and the life is rather interesting and unusual over there. We got married there. We lived together for 3 years as a married couple. Then we got divorced. After that, I lived on the Gulhi island.
Then I moved to the town of Hulhumale, opened my own travel agency and now I live here. - As for the divorce, why is the divorce rate so high? - Many people get divorced, yes. The reason is... - Wait, while I was asking the question, we got our wonderful Tom Yum. - Well, the country is Islamic, you know. People here mustn't live together without getting married.
As a result, they are unexperienced in family life. They don't really know each other. When they start living together, they realize they don't match and get divorced.
And you know, the procedure itself is really simple, I'd say. You can easily get divorced. And it's totally fine. People here tend to get married and divorced several times.
3 or 4 times, it's fine. I know lots of local couples who got divorced and married again 3 or 4 times, all with one and the same person. - Hold on, you mean before you got married, you didn't have any relations with your Maldivian husband? - Well, I can't say so.
- The rules are not that severe, are they? - So you entered your husband's Maldivian family. - Yes, I lived right in their house. - You lived right in their house. They realized you already had relations, didn't they? - They did. And that was a problem for them.
They pushed us towards marriage because of that. Because that was... Of course, not all Maldivians get divorced, and not all local men want to have several wives. Everyone I talked to claimed they needed only one wife. Let's get back to our roaming around Gulhi. Rich businessmen use the island for fixing their yachts.
I hear some of them are Russians. Here, they fix the boats, right? - Yes. - Hold on, I saw ducks here. - Yes, ducks and rabbits live here. - Do they eat them? - Well, I don't know, they just breed them.
- They breed ducks. - Do they live right here? Work and live here? - No not here... Well, I don't know, somewhere out there I guess. This is an island for yachts and safari boats fixing. Some Russian billionaires use it too.
What? Russian billionaires?? Say that again! - Yes, they painted Russian billionaires' yachts here. - Here? - Yes. - Are you kidding me? - It's one of a few... There are more places, but not many. - So if your yacht needs fixing... - Send it here.
To Gulhi. - That's clearly not a Russian billionaire's yacht. Let's face it. Even though Gulhi island is mainly inhibited by the locals, it still has several low-budget tourist hotels. - Are those the hotels? - Yes. - So you can rent a room in such hotel, and it'll be...
- 60-70 dollars a night. - Breakfast included? Bed, breakfast and A/C? - A double room, breakfast included. With an A/C, of course. - And you'll get... - Let's have a look. - ...a wonderful beach. Littered with construction waste.
You clearly can't swim safely here. Because, look at the sea. Here are some rusty fittings, waste, and whatnot.
It ends up in the sea. Swimming here is clearly unsafe. People living in the guesthouses for 60 dollars a night get 60-dollars sea included. I talked to the locals about the cost of life in the Maldives. How much is the rent, the transport? How much do you spend? - The rent is very expensive.
It's 750 dollars. But that was a great offer I found. It was empty, I bought the furniture myself. - How large is that? - It's a studio. - A studio? A small one? - It's around 47 square meters.
- So it's a tiny studio. For 750 dollars, and you were lucky to find it. - I was lucky to find it, yes. My upstairs neighbors are currently renovating.
I don't know why, but in the Maldives, people can move in when the house is not finished yet. Yes, so I have to deal with their repairs. My apartment faces the road, a busy one. And it's very noisy because it has no sound insulation. Those are the problems.
The average rent for a nice furnished apartment is nearly 1,000 dollars. 1,000 is the average price. Better apartments cost more. Or you can find a worse one. It's about furnished apartments.
- How much do you spend for food? - For food... Well, when I go grocery shopping, I spend nearly 250 rufiyaas at a time. 250 rufiyaas, yes. Chicken is 100 rufiyaas.
- A kilo? - A kilo, yes. Groceries are expensive, because they are mainly imported. Besides imported groceries, the Maldive have their own goods. That's what the local menu mainly consists of. The traditional Maldivian cuisine has nothing to do with the European dishes they serve in the splendid hotels.
The local food consists of 3 main products, fish, coconuts, and rice. The main local fish is tuna. They fry it, boil it, make tuna flakes and paste. They even eat coconut tuna for breakfast.
This is not only about love. They don't really have a choice in the Maldives. Almost all goods are imported, except for the local food. According to the UNO data, 90% of food and beverages are imported here, mainly from the UAE, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. They mainly import potatoes, onions, and chicken. I hear they cost more than local tuna.
Let's have a look at the local shops and markets. At the fish market, they mainl
2024-06-22 18:38
