First things first
With a 3h time difference, I woke early and was out by 0700 for a walk. My intention was to secure my ticket to Gulhi or work out options if there was no 1500 departure as per the schedule.
I confirmed that there was a 1500 departure from the Hulhulmale Ferry Terminal, next to where I had arrived yesterday but tickets would go on sale at 0930. That’s quite convenient as last time I had to walk to Villingili Ferry Terminal on the opposite side of the island.
As for breakfast, the yummy local eateries I had seen last night were all shut. Looking around, there was hardly anything. Oh dear, the joys of travel during Ramadhan.
I explored the waterfront area all the way to the eastern coast of the island where the new Sinamale (aka China Maldives Friendship Bridge) was visible.
All grown up now
Male was a sleepy town when I first visited 24 years ago and it’s even changed considerably since my previous visit 8 years ago. It’s one of the most densely-populated islands in the world with 250000 people in 8.3 square km.
With the Sinamale Bridge, Male is connected to two islands now, meaning that cars and motorcycles are actually useful now. There is considerable traffic and parking all around.
There are more and more high-rises exceeding 10 storeys tall whereas on my first trip the max was around 4-5 storeys.
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- A dhoni running from the city to the airport.
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- Dhonis parked up.
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- Double-decker buses now run across the Sinamale Bridge to other islands.
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- namale Bridge to the airport and Hulhulamale island.
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- namale Bridge to the airport and Hulhulamale island.
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- Motorcycles and cars are now common and useful, now that they can be driven to other islands.
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- Male is increasingly high-rise.
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- Male is increasingly high-rise.
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- The motifs on this drum depicted on the currency note is very Bornean.
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- Hulhulmale Island in the distance is heavily built up.
Killing time
I tried some ATMs in the city to top-up my local money, just in case, but none of them worked. Just as well I withdrew money at the airport last night.
I sat down for a leisurely breakfast at Coffee Club above the ferry terminal. That was the first to open at 0800 while another in the building, Sea House Café, opened at 0900. Burger King next door normally opens at 0900 I was told, but being Ramadhan, the sign outside clearly says it opens at 1600.
After getting my ferry ticket at 0930, I explored more of the city before returning to my room around 1030. I caught up on admin on the computer till my late check-out at 1300. I was ready for lunch at Sea House to kill time till my 1500 departure on the ferry.
Some may say that I’ve wasted time by not paying for a speedboat transfer to Gulhi. But, for me, it was good to see how Male has changed over the last 25 and 8 years. And it’s not like I have very few days at Gulhi.
Getting a local SIM card
Outside the airport arrival hall last night, there were two vending machines giving out free SIM cards. I tried activating them this morning and both were equally exorbitant with packages of USD35 (17GB) and USD50 (100GB) valid for 30 days. These are obviously targetting long-term visitors or they’re hoping that short-termers will buy them and forego the full usage.
Checking the local shops, cards start at USD2 with a token data packs but more quota can be purchased reasonably. Unfortunately, one requires a work permit to buy one. Other prepaid options seem on offer at convenience stores but not many were open being Ramadhan. The few that were open had ran out.
I believe that I should be within hotel wifi for most of the time. The exception being on the short ferry rides and while at the beach. But a local SIM is always handy if one encounters bad hotel wifi.