!!!Maldives. W Retreat & Spa

by Oleg Gaponyuk,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

14 June 2016

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

The Maldives Islands are often associated with calm and lazy leisure
full of utter bliss and tranquil solitude. Their distant location from
Europe (the flight from Moscow, for instance, lasts 8-9 hours) as well
as high and, as a consequence, non-economy service standards are not
available for most tourists who, for example, can afford themselves to
travel round Turkey or Egypt.

Many international resorts offer their guests "primordial purity, unique
nature, snow-white beaches" and so on, when on the Maldives all these
are perfect in a special way. This insular state consists of about 1190
islands. From 90 thousand square kilometers, which compose the country's
area, the land occupies only 298 square kilometers, i.e. less than 1 per
cent!

[{Image src='01_Maldive islands.jpg' caption='Maldive islands' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='633'}]

The islands lie on the territory of 815 km from the North to the South
and 130 km from the East to the West in the Indian Ocean. Some of them
are below the equator. The exact quantity of the islands is unknown now
due to some of them, from time to time, are divided into two parts and,
vice versa, they can join each other and go down under the water,
another appear.

[{Image src='02_W Retreat & Spa.jpg' caption='W Retreat & Spa' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='507'}]

People live only on about 200 islands when the rest is uninhabited.
There are completely tiny islands; at the same time, the biggest island
is only 8 km. The most distant islands can be reached by a seaplane or a
regular airplane. The closest islands can be reached by the local little
boats named Dhoni or a motor boat.

The unique idea of Maldivian resorts is "one island-one resort-one
hotel" and each one differs with its unique atmosphere and design. But
it's not easy to leave your island whenever you wish: the special permit
is often required and, moreover, you have to pay for it some amount of
money. Besides, you will be obliged to return back to the hotel in order
to spend there a night.

[{Image src='03_Fesdu Island.jpg' caption='Fesdu Island' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='474'}]

By the way, on the Maldives there are other restrictions which differ
from many international resorts. Alcohol and pork meat are forbidden
there and can't be taken by the tourists. It's not only forbidden to
bath in the sun topless (we don't say a word about nudism at all) but
also such a harmless occupation as watching porno is out of the law
frameworks. All these are consequence of Islamic religion which
dominates there. FYI, the Maldives is the smallest Islamic country in
the world!

[{Image src='04_Coral reef, Maldives.jpg' caption='Coral reef, Maldives' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='536'}]

In spite of its size, ecology is so important there that sometimes the
guests are provided with special garbage bags in order then they take
the rubbish away from the island. So, thanks to all these measures the
Maldives are that kind of place with clean white beaches, rich tropical
flora, multiform underwater life and nearly most picturesque beaches on
the planet.

\\ \\
[7 Panoramas of Maldives. W Retreat & Spa|Geography/Asia/Maldives/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Maldives]










[{SET customtitle='W Retreat & Spa (AP)'}]

[{Metadata Suchbegriff=' ' Kontrolle='Nein'}]