The MaldivesMap
August The Maldives consists of many-many islands, each of which has some kind of hotel. In other words, the country essentially consists of hotels. Their level varies, although of course every single one is passed off as paradise on earth.  A few of the islands have been set aside for infrastructure—there’s a power island, a garbage island, a capital island. MaléMap
The capital island.  I must disappoint the reader up front. The capital of the Maldives doesn’t have a single trash can. There’s nothing to show whatsoever. Therefore, I ask my readers to forgive me in advance for the blandness of this report. In Malé, garbage is piled up in bags on street corners.  On the other hand, Malé has plenty of motor scooters.  A bus stop sign.  A pedestrian.  Crossings are marked with British Belisha beacons (yellow globe lamps on poles).  A pedestrian traffic light.  A vehicle traffic light.  Interestingly, the post box model used here is French (like in France, Morocco, Algeria or Mayotte), but it’s painted red instead of yellow.  A storm drain.  Storm sewers, covered with grates, run along all the sidewalks (like in Palau)..  Even the poster about how to safely walk with children has the storm drain grates drawn on it.  Plastic police barricades.  Practically every building has a gas pipe or electrical cable coming out of the ground next to it, covered with a decorative cap.  Water meters.  Every house has a sign with its name over the entrance. The names can be anything from Luxury Garden to Pentium.  Stores are stocked with canned fish.  A welder.  A digger.  A store that sells security systems.  Vehicle inspection stickers.  The fashion here is to cut license plates out of yellow plexiglass and size them to fill the entire available area.  The whole island is paved with extremely shoddy tile.  Streets are lit with fluorescent lamps.  Almost every AC sticking out into the street has a can or bottle under the hose to collect the condensate (like in Nakhchivan).  In the evening, I return to my hotel, go up to the restaurant, order a steak and ask for the wine list. “Sir, only the airport hotel and the islands have alcohol. Here we are a Muslim country.”  Fine then. I didn’t want it that much anyway. |
