A memorable trip to Singapore and Maldive, August 2008

When I use to work on EF school We had just 2 weeks off( Annual leave) and last year I really wanted to visit Maldive.I do love travelling and especially to nature and do water sport.
In my last trip to Malaysia as I stayed there for a month I had chances to do some scuba diving.and I wanted to practice it in Maldive as I hear a lot about underwater mysteries and turquoise blue and coral riffs in Maldive.


I took a photo from airplane before take-off and that was great joy and success as I discovered later which I have to pay $500 dollars for just 15 minutes to be on the sky-propeller plane to get some photos from the Maldive Islands.




My trip started in the second week of August and I had a direct flight from Shanghai to Singapore and decided to stay there overnight .










I don't like big cities like Beijing ,shanghai,Singapore( capitals) are always crowed,expensive and noisy and a lot of thieves around..Anyway,flight from shanghai took me to Singapore and I booked a common hotel in Singapore.



Brief about Singapore,This small country used to be part of Malaysia and especially in 11 century and after that around14 century Melecca ( a district in South of Malaysia) which was colonised by Portuguese and if you go to art district and look for Chinese sits and some handy crafts ,you will see a combination of Chinese ,Malay and Portuguese culture in art and building constructions.
As you know majority of people in China can't speak English but in Singapore is totally different.


A lot of Chinese and Malaysian migrated to Singapore and as I am artist,I mostly look for art districts and art activities.There are local Singaporean dance similar to Malay dance which is amazing ,covering face with Mask and especial movement of hands ,like talking to the people by beckoning.In China town in Trennganu Street you can see Beijing opera,Cantonese opera.
If you like to try Chinese food I suggest first go for Cantonese as you might have much variety and taste in reasonably similar to international taste.
If you feel exhausted from your long way walking and your trip ,the best medicine is go for foot massage .In China as I live ere is pretty common ,but to be precise as I have seen and been to these countries,most of South East Asian countries are popular destinations for tired tourist and a great ,relaxing one- hour foot massage is your remedy.

Anyway after a night I got my plane to go to Maldive.,Maldive is located in North Indian ocean and is approximately seven hundred kilometre far from sri lanka.That is pity I couldn't got o Sri lanka.As it is a great destination for people searching for natural life and adv nature and hiking and jungle discoveries,but due to civil war around 30 years running there,pretty risky to travel there.
The was a tsunami in 2004 happened in Indian ocean which caused a lot of damaged and so many homeless in Maldive.Maldive hold the record of being one of the lowest lands in the world ,just few centimetres higher than sea level.
Majority of people in Maldive are Muslim and some Buddhist.
As Maldive imports all the product as other Islands so pretty expensive to get food and fruit there.Most of the ships land in Maldive harbor come from Sri lanka or India.There is a great local market in Maldive which I visited and I payed 5 dollars ,just for 2 mango's.

In local supermarket you could see so many tuna fish ,actually Tunas make there and export to Sir lanka and other neighbouring countries.


When I arrived there as a surprise I saw so many motorcycles,exactly like Bali and Malaysia.People use motor a lot.Unfortunately this vehicle destroy the green plants and fresh air there.I got a motor taxi ride to reach to my hotel and after the whole evening rest on the next morning went to the harbor to get the ferry to the Island that I wanted to go.There 3 ,4 and 5 start hotels and islands are pretty classified.I didn't want to send 400 dollars per night for nothing.so I chose a 3 star lovely and small Island which is famous for water sport.and cost me 150 dollar per night include food as well.Most Maldivians converted to Islam in 12 century due to Muslim traders,and When I wanted to visit the Musk they wanted to charge me and give me some scarfs,which pissed me off.
Maldivians economy entirely depend on fishing and marine lives and agriculture,but lack of cultivated area which is the biggest problem there.

As I got a tour package for one of the Islands i Maldive I had sport coach or better to say tour sport-guard who helped me a lot and made my life much easier,in matter of renting sailing boats , snorkeling,and so on.

There were so many craft and souvenir shops ,but the prices pretty high compare to other places .I was trying to get a pair of fin for snorkeling and they charged me for 100 dollars.




During the time I was there almost everyday I went for scuba diving and when I was in open water under 20 meters deep I could catch great and fantastic photos.Even though I was so panic first not floating in deep water and take good photos at the same time,but all worth trying in fact.I have found quite nice girl during my stay in Maldive and we were snorkeling and did some scuba diving together.It was a package for scuba diving 4 time pay and get one time trial.well in fact not a bad deal at all and we were all together .

In one of photos I saw some nice sharks,but luckily they were not interested in human meat and we were in a big group,as well.IN another photo we went for diving at night with professional divers ,thank god,and went to deep under 35 mete res and I have seen some crap and rubbish at them bottom on sea bed,which bring pity and sorrow as we see how we make our world so dirty.According to environmentalist Maldive has changed a lot and a lot of Marines already dead or dying due to so much pollution in the ocean.







There are different type of rare Marines in Maldive ,which alike Hawaii and the can range number 3 Bali ,Lankgkawi( In Malaysia) and South of Thailand are the best in the world.
basically Indian ocean has invited different type of dolphins,turtles due to coral reefs which are very important cause prevent erosion in land.



FOR YOUR INFORMATION THERE 4 DIFFERENT TYPE OF SHARKS IN MALDIVE AND NOT SOMETIMES QUITE FRIENDLY AND HAVE GREAT SENSE OF SMELLING.

There are plenty of sea animals and fish specifically are poisonous and it is very important for sea swimmer and scuba diver to know exactly where they go.You can't just say i am great swimmer let's start.
this picture shows one of the poisonous sea animal which is Guangdong province in China they eat it( some part d middle is edible) .







That was a great shoot from that huge,giganic turtle.I tried to touch him but he was a great swimmer much better than me.