YOUR HANDY TOUR GUIDE. Travel Well
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ENG 2012 Issue YOUR HANDY TOUR GUIDE. Travel well Official Publication of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation www.visitmaldives.com Welcome to Maldives Welcome, welcome traveller. Welcome to a land that has granted many a fatigued, stressed and over-worked souls inner bliss, solitude, peace and tranquillity. If this is your first time coming to the Maldives, then get ready to be enthralled by our lush white sandy beaches, the serene turquoise lagoons, the richly colourful coral reefs renowned the world over for their great bio-diversity, the radiant flora and fauna being host to the mother of all tropical trees - the Maldivian Coconut Palm and most importantly the friendly and hospitable Maldivian people. You’ll love that rapturous feeling of swimming with dolphins, gazing at the majestic Manta Rays underwater, catching a gnarly wave, dancing the night away at a beach Q party, indulging on the scrumptious tropical and multi-cultural food on offer or just plain lounging on the beach sipping on a refreshing cocktail, Recurrent visitors would know exactly what we are talking about and to Maldives Marketing & Public Relations them we first wish a hearty welcome back and remind them of the fact Corporation | 4th Floor | H. Velaanaage | Ameer Ahmed Magu | Malé | that they’ll always discover something new and wondrous about these Maldives | Tel: + 960 332 3228 | Fax: + 960 332 3229 | pearl-like islands on each different visit. Sit back, relax and let our island mmprc@ visitmaldives.com and sea spirits give your mind, body and soul that heavenly high you’ve come seeking for once again. Published by: On a more serious note, we would like to remind all visitors to become and function as environmentally conscious and aware tourists on your Ma. Dhilaasaage | 1st floor, Chaandhanee visit. Global warming, pollution and other man-made crimes against Magu | Male’ | nature the world over are devastating the natural eco-systems of various Republic of Maldives | Tel: (960) 300 1000, (960) 300 1011 | countries including ours. We are a rather small island nation being host Email: [email protected] | www. zebracross.mv to a rather fragile and vulnerable environment and marine eco-system. Help us protect our coral reefs and shores so that we can preserve them Druck: Times Printers Pvt. Ltd., Singapur for future generations. Please keep our beaches clean and adhere to responsible diving and snorkelling practices such as refraining yourself from touching the corals and marine life or extracting them for personal Publisher's Note use (more information will be presented to you by the relevant resort/ No reproduction, copying, image liveaboard that you are staying in). scanning, storing, recording, broadcasting or transmitting by any All in all, we wish you a pleasant and sunny stay in our beautiful country means, in any form, of any part of this and look forward for more and more visits from you. As we locals say directory is permitted without the express “Majaa Kollah Chey” (Translation: Do have fun) prior written consent of Zebra Cross Pvt. Ltd. Copyright ©2011 by Zebra Cross Pvt. Ltd. Production CONTENTS Team 08 | WELCOME TO MALDIVES Mohamed Luveiz Step onto the beautiful islands waiting to be discovered anew with every visit. Abdulla Ziyath 12 | PEOPLE & LOCAL CULTURE Discover the rich culture and the roots from which the exotic mix became the Maldivians. Ahmed Shuau 17 | ENVIRONEMENT Sustaining and conserving the beautiful, yet fragile Aminath Hasna ecosystems of the Maldives 22 | ESSENTIAL & USEFUL INFO All the things you’ll need to know, from general tips for what to pack Yusfa Athif to making it smoothly through immigration, changing currency etc. Lazzath Shareef Moosa Mamdhooh 28 | THINGS TO DO IN THE MALDIVES Mohamed Binah Handy tips to see you through your day, spend the day exploring the capital city, or plan out the perfect day filled with sunny options. Hussain Saleem 30 | MALE’ CITY GUIDE Make sure you know all the hot spots, explore the charming little cafés by the sea side or go shopping for souvenirs and trinkets to Samra Saleem take back home. !!" 45 | TUNE UP YOUR DHIVEHI Ahmed Shuau Brush up on some common words and phrases and mingle with Mohamed Sifah the locals Mohamed Riyaz Miusam Mohamed 48 | USEFUL NUMBERS Brian Knutsen All the numbers that you’ll need to travel by land or sea and to find Oxbow medical help for a well rounded healthy trip. Kurt Amsler MMPRC Image Library #$ Hawwa Yumna Fathimath Niusha Mariyam Yasmin Ismail Miuwan Maldives Quick facts & figures Local Time +5 hrs GMT Capital Male’ Population 360,000 Languages Dhivehi (Official), English Currency Rufiyaa Rufiyaa (MRF, MVR or RF) Exchange Rates USD$1 = MRF15.42 , GBP£1 =MRF24.65 , EUR€1 = MRF21.85 Location Indian Ocean, Southwest of Sri Lanka Geographic Co-ordinates 3 15 N, 73 00 E Area 90,000km² (of which less than 1% is land - 298km²) Immediate Neighbours North of Maldives: Lakshadweep Islands Northeast of Maldives Sri Lanka and India South of Maldives Chagos Archipelago Southwest of Maldives Seychelles Climate Tropical, Warm temperatures, lots of sunshine Best Time to Visit December to April (Dry-Season/North-east Monsoon) Clothing Modest, Light cotton Religion Islam No. of Islands 1190 Inhabited Islands 201 Resorts 100 Liveaboards (Safaris) 60 Major Industries Tourism and Fisheries Electricity 240 Volts, 50 Hz Working Hours: Government 0800 hrs to 1600 hrs (Sunday to Thursday) Working Hours: Private Sector 0800 hrs to 1700 hrs (Sunday to Thursday) 0800 hrs to 1400 hrs (Saturday) Working Hours: Banks 0800 hrs to 1330 hrs (Sunday to Thursday) International Telephone Code +960 8 Maldives ENVIRONMENT WEATHER & CLIMATE Land wildlife and vegetation in the The Maldives enjoys a tropical Maldives are limited in terms of climate and has two distinct bio-diversity. However, this aspect seasons; the dry season, known is overshadowed by the abundant as the “Iruvai” Monsoon (Northeast marine flora and fauna to be Monsoon) - April to December, found in the Maldives. The month and the wet season or “Hulhangu” of June 2011 even saw Baa Atoll Monsoon (Southwest Monsoon) - LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY of the Maldives being declared a May to November. The dry season, UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. as the name suggests, is a period of The Maldives consists approximately The Maldives is home to over 2,000 regular sunshine with little or no rain 1,190 coral islands clustered in a chain species of fish ranging from reef showers. This is also the best season of 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean. The fish to Manta rays, Moray Eels, reef for scuba diving. The wet season atolls are scattered along the north- sharks and to the majestic whale is a period in which the whole of south direction with an area covering shark. These marine eco-systems Maldives experiences torrential rain roughly 90,000km². However, only 1% are both extremely vibrant and showers which includes thunder of this surface area consists of land. extremely fragile at the same time. storms. This is the best season for The nation lies between latitudes 07° Their vulnerability was made clearly surfing due to good swells and wave 06”S and 08° 00” N, and longitudes evident by the nation-wide coral generation. The wet season does 72° 32” bleaching incident caused by the offer periods of sunshine similar to and 73° 46”E. El Niño (An unusual warming of the balmy days you would experience surface water) of 1998. Furthermore, during the dry season, as Maldives global warming and rampant enjoys year long sunshine. The pollution are becoming greater temperature normally ranges from threats to the environment of the Maldives. 9 Maldivian History Ancient Maldivian history is rich and diverse in events infused with mythological elements and folklore. Archaeological records also reveal that people had settled in the Maldives over 5000 years ago most probably being of Indian, 1153 Conversion to Islam Sri Lankan and Arab origin. 1st Roman manual of HistoricalH Chinese Documents records the Century navigation Periplus Mari, MaldivianM King sending gifts to the Chinese AD Erihraei mentions of the 662 AD EmperorEm Kao-Tsung of Tang Dynasty islands 2nd Century Reference of the islands by AD Ptolemy in his geography 1573 LiberationLibera from Portuguese controlcontro Protectorate Agreementment Roman historian records visitisit 362 AD 1887 of delegation bearing gifts to Signed with the Britishtish Emperor Julian 1558 Portuguese Invasion MalabarMala Invasion establishing 1752 a 3 month rule Inception of the Maldivian Tourism Industry, first island resorts developed, 1972 arrival of first tourists TheT thirdth Republic (Election of 1978 Maumoon Abdul Gayyoon as the President) End of the 853 year old Monarchy,chy, 1968 start of the second Republic (Election of Ibrahim Nasir as President) The fourth Republic (Election off Mohamed Nasheed as the President)sident) 2008 1932 FirstFirst ConstitutionC EnactedEnacte GainedGained IndependenceIn from thethe BritishBritish 1965 EstablishmentEstablis of the first Republic (Election(Electio of Mohamed Amin Didi 1953 as thethe President)P Failed Coup attempt by hired Tamil mercenariesmercenar (PLOTE)LOTE) 1988 leadlead byby 2 MaldivianMaldivian businessmenbusin 1998 El Niño,N Widespread destructivede coral bleachingeaching Failure of the first Republic, Sultanatetanatetee 1954 Resumed with Muhammad Fareedreed Didi taking the throne Tsunami Disasterer 2004 Culture Photography | Ahmed Shuau Photography | Ahmed Shuau THE MALDIVIAN PEOPLE ARE A FRIENDLY FOLK THAT HAS ANCESTRAL ROOTS OF SRI LANKAN, AFRICAN, INDIAN, ARAB AND PORTUGUESE ORIGIN. THE MALDIVIAN CULTURE IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY SRI LANKAN, INDIAN AND AFRICAN ELEMENTS. FOR EXAMPLE “BODU BERU” - A FORM OF MALDIVIAN FOLK MUSIC CONSISTING OF DRUMMING IS LINKED TO AFRICAN TRIBAL DRUMMING RITUALS. FOLK MUSIC, DANCE, ARTS AND CRAFTS THOUGH BEING SIMILAR TO THOSE OF OUR IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURS AND THE AFRICAN AND ARAB WORLD, HAS A UNIQUE MALDIVIAN TINGE AND TWIST TO IT.