When one thinks of their first international trip it always is a place they wished they could go to as a child. My childhood dream destination was Paris basically because one of my bench mates had been to the Disneyland there.
However, last year when a local travel agency in my state announced their trip to Maldives within INR 50,000 I knew my first international destination had changed.
So here's presenting to you my First International Trip to Maldives in a budget.
So since mine was a budget trip we (my cousin and I) set out from Goa on a day's train journey to Ernakulam Town Station, Kerala. There was a cab already there to pick and drop us to the Cochin International Airport arranged for by the travel agency. We arrived at the station by 22:30 pm and it took us another 15 - 20 mins to get to the airport
Our flight was at 6 in the morning by Indigo directly to Velana International Airport, Maldives. We arrived in Maldives at 7:45 or maybe 8 am after all the immigration checks were completed.
One step outside the airport and it looks like heaven. The entire airport is surrounded by water. Blue turquoise waters😍 One cannot imagine to even stop admiring how beautiful it was.
We had our pick up from the hotel waiting for us outside the airport. On arrival at the hotel we were given a warm welcome and taken for breakfast. The hotel was a beach front property with a 5 minute walk from the Hulhulmale Beach. The room given to us was just opposite the beach and the view was stunning. The sun shinning on the water gave it the crystalized look.
Today we had a snorkelling/diving and island tour planned. So we had to leave the hotel by 9 post breakfast and a taxi was already there to pick up and drop us to the harbour. We were joined with people from other hotels on the way too.
At the harbour we were introduced to our guides for the day, explained the schedule and given important instructions. We were totally about 18 people from different parts of the world including Malaysia, Iceland, Kajakistan, Bangladesh, Portugal and India.
The first stop was for snorkelling/diving. The entire group was divided into 2 sub groups. All the people who couldn't swim were clubbed together and similarly all the people who were able to swim were in the other group.
OFCOURSE I WAS IN THE GROUP THAT COULDN'T SWIM😢 How I wish I could!
So we went in the water first with all our swim gear I.e. the life jacket, and snorkelling mask. My diver was Naanu (Ahmed). Such a cool and funny guy he was. Even though I panicked at first he was always calm and relaxed. He even took me close to 4 sharks. I almost had my heart in my mouth. We snorkelled for about 30 minutes, watching the beautiful reefs and yellow finned fishes. What a sight it was. And so then went the other group.
Today as we woke up, we were a little disappointed as our plan to visit the private island had been called off due to Covid-19 safety measures. I was super excited for this day as we were to have a day's visit to a water villa. One cannot imagine going to Maldives and not staying at a water villa.
Nevertheless, I guess it was for our own safety. So we had the entire day at leisure and a fishing trip to the Indian Ocean planned for the evening along with a BBQ night. We spent the morning just going to the city and then headed out to the beach infront of our hotel.
We had lunch at one of the many restaurants facing the beach and then went for some sun bathing.
It was finally time to bid adeus to this magical yet calm and beautiful place. Our flight back to India was at around 7 so we had to be there 3 hours prior. We were dropped off to the airport and thus it was the end of our vacation in Maldives. From the Cochin airport we headed to the train station in Kerala for the train to Goa. We spent the night in the train and reached Goa early morning at 4:30am.
We got fresh and within minutes we dozed off to sleep. Without realising that the time was almost evening and that we had to head out for our sight seeing tour of the Male City.
We quickly got dressed and headed out for a light evening snack to a local Indian restaurant. On reaching our hotel, our taxi was already awaiting us for the city tour.
We saw the Presidential Jetty, the Islamic Mosque, the Presidential House, The National Museum, The Tsunami Monument and many other important landmarks around the city. As the sun had already set, we then headed to buy a few souvenirs to take back as memories.
To end the day, our driver who was extremely friendly and jolly took us to a man-made beach called Rasfannu Beach.
After that we headed to catch a glimpse of dolphins. As instructed earlier if we were lucky only then could we spot them because they were free and it was not certain. However, we were super lucky to have spotted a group of dolphins and not just one. They even jumped high enough out of the water.
Next we went to an island named Himmafushi, where we were supposed to have a buffet lunch. We had a nice scrumptious meal which was inclusive in the package itself. We were asked to rest for about 15 minutes before we headed to the boat. And the last stop for the day was the sand bank.
A sand bank is a small patch of sand in the middle of the sea surrounded entirely by those clear waters. Everyone had a lot of fun there just relaxing and bashing on the rays of the sun.
Soon it was time to head back to the main island of Male. I cannot explain how wonderful my day had been. Making all the new friends, enjoying my first snorkelling adventure, swimming with sharks (reef shark), and just experiencing the true spirit of Maldives.
The rest of the evening we returned to our hotel and just rested after a fun filled day.
We left our hotel at 17:00 pm for the fishing trip. So it was just me, my cousin and the friend we made from Iceland. We were dropped off at the harbour by the guide and told us that he could come back to pick up us for the BBQ night.
The guides took us in the middle of the Ocean and we were shown techniques of how to catch the fish. To my bad luck, I couldn't even catch 1. Our friend from Iceland caught almost 4, my cousin 1 and we were good to go.
From the harbour we were then headed to a restaurant were the fish was Barbecued along with a dinner buffet. Believe me when I say the meal was delicious. By the end of it, we were so full, it was difficult to stand. LOL
We thanked the hotel for the lovely evening they had planned for us and headed back to our hotel. We were supposed to leave back for India the next morning, so we thought of going to the beach for one last time.
The moonlight gave us the perfect touch for the walk along the beach.
My First International Trip was beyond my expectations. Everyone says if you go to Maldives and don't live in a water villa, then you haven't enjoyed Maldives the same. But that is not true! Ofcourse I was sad I couldn't visit one, but living with the locals on a local island was as much fun. We interacted with so many locals, hearing how they lived their life and made a living. I'm glad I chose to live on a local island. Also, a tip for when you plan on going on a sea trip. Don't forget to take a pill for sea sickness. You may think you don't have it. I thought the same but I did fall sick on both the days at the sea. So let me know in the comments section about where you plan on travelling for your First International Trip.
