The country of Maldives.
By Lore2009
@Lore2009 (7378)
United States
November 12, 2010 2:16pm CST
I finished reading about Maldives. This country is located in the Indian Ocean off of India. It is an archipelago of atolls, not just islands. The capital is Male. The people here speak the language Dhivehi and write in Thaana script. The islands and atolls appear and disappear depending on the tide but over all it is sinking due to global warming.
I found this country most interesting because of these facts: for crime and punishment, they banish people to a remote island; they fish traditionally so it is ecologically safe; tourists are isolated in specific islands so they do not interfere with the local's Islamic way of life; the people avoid emotion and few children even talk to their fathers; until recently the words 'thank you' and 'hello' didn't even exist; and there are no dogs!
(If there facts are incorrect, please let me know! Thanks.)
Has anyone visited or lived in this country? Or know any other interesting facts to share with me?
3 people like this
5 responses
@puccagirl (7294)
• Israel
12 Nov 10
I have never been, but I have several friends who went there. They said it was incredibly beautiful and nice, so I would really want to go. I had no idea about most of the facts you mentioned though...
1 person likes this
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
19 Nov 10
I booked a flight to Cancun in Mexico but it got canceled due to a hurricane. So I had to quickly choose where to go. I decided on the Maldives when the travel agent offered it to me because I knew it was a country with tropical islands. Then I went to my local library and got a travel guide book on the Maldives. Oh my! I got a shock when I saw the cost of accommodation on the resort islands. I looked at the Internet at the cheapest resort islands. I booked a weeks accommodation at a tiny tropical island. A single room there and boat transfer was a lot of money. I spent a week in a bungalow with a view of the beach. I swam, went in a canoe, walked around the island, went snorkeling and read some books. I got a bit bored there in paradise.
I spent a couple of days in the capital city which is called Male. It has the Grand Friday Mosque. I did some souvenir shopping and tried to find out about another interesting place I could go to. Off I went in a little plane with superb views of the reef to Gan Island. It is situated south of the Equator. It used to be a British Airbase. They had built bridges to make an island chain. I spent a week there and went off exploring on a bike.
I have heard that the Maldives local people all belong to the Islamic religion. If not the government would look it to that. Tourists are allowed on some islands and the local people on all of the islands it seemed. Yes, tourists are isolated away from the local people most usually. I went to the capital where many local people are and the island chain up from Gan Island where they are lots of local people. I sat next to a local man on the plane down to Gan and he pointed the island where he lived. It was an island tourists are not allowed to.
@Lore2009 (7378)
• United States
19 Nov 10
Wow, sounds like you had a great vacation, but too bad it ended up being boring. I've read about the Grand Friday Mosque in the book I've read, also about the Gan Island. That's great that you were able to meet a local too. It seems like you like a lot of adventures. Thanks for sharing some.
@sweety_81 (2124)
• India
15 Nov 10
Yes, Maldives is great tourist place to go. We can get more facts from Wikitravel website.
@propertyofxo (9)
• Maldives
29 Jul 14
yes thats right. i live in Maldives and i am a Maldivian. feel free to ask :)
