Maldives Trip - Day 1: The Epic Journey Begins!
Hi friends! So I got back from my epic maldives 2 days ago. It was an epic 36 hour journey back with 2 hours sleep and some jet lag to get over which kind of took over my brain yesterday. I took a ton of video footage and a few photos of the trip so I will be sharing it all with you here over several posts. Let us begin!
![title-image.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXcc7Vi4nXVE3o6EZLG6B8bV2sjuZuWtyYhiwB32QDBoa/title-image.jpg)
gratuitously awesome title pic
The trip starts in London. I flew down from Scotland the day before and met up with some family and did a few last minute purchases there. We headed to Heathrow to board a flight bound for Dubai, where we had 90minutes before our flight directly to Malé.
Dad
We flew the A380 (the totally ginormous double decker airbus). You know, the one with a shower and a bar in first class. I didnt see any of that, we're common people in common class.. er.. Economy class. Which to be fair was still pretty damn swish!
![20170924-IMG_0545.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmQS9F2pBbXMJGRwSWQopWvhV6GyxC5szZHu8qEEWGpjXk/20170924-IMG_0545.jpg)
Another A380 from our window
The thing I noticed immediately was the size of the wings. It filled almost the entire window. It was insane. The scale of this thing is unlike anything I have flown in before. Definitely an experience worth trying. The inflight entertainment system as pretty epic too.. 1500 movies and tv shows to choose from! I remember the last time I flew international the airline gave you a small selection based on the route you were flying. Not here on Emirates, they give you everything!
![20170924-IMG_0541.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVMpMebYjKMjdC1khDpwS5CkGUke4Ve574ERwWYDiqfHj/20170924-IMG_0541.jpg)
So yeah, we take off and settle in for an 8 hour flight to Dubai as the lighting slowly changes in the window from day to night.
![20170924-IMG_0549.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmdn1ZB6Tnv76g7KViMDE7eFtE7LYitJpaLMxhuLgm3vM7/20170924-IMG_0549.jpg)
![20170924-IMG_0556.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPQkS9J7V9V1QDE1RypFpps1RikN1c2SmHVFR6wgy5BGj/20170924-IMG_0556.jpg)
We got to Dubai around 1am local time and headed straight to our next plane thinking 'oh we'll have time when we get there to chill, go to the bathroom and maybe grab a drink. NOPE. It took so long to get from one terminal to the next that we just barely made it on time for boarding!
The great thing about this flight was that it was so empty. Most of the rows were unoccupied so you were able to stretch out on a whole row and get some actual sleep. This was a 5 hour flight so I wasn't sure if it was worth getting any sleep so I watch guardians of the galaxy 2 while waiting for them to serve breakfast.
That is, until the view outside the window changed from blue sky/blue sea to AWESOME. As we approached the Maldives all the little islands and atolls started to appear below us. What a view! Observe:
![20170925-IMG_0560.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmfCHiy3aZZ52MEXDt3n9Q8e2kGGfeDgMrPSmRsjLStiLu/20170925-IMG_0560.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0561.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdALZMq7qpYkbwWpZGtaNaEsuqL1beYZy8ro7v4FDdTbm/20170925-IMG_0561.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0562.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmZC3TXScHbE4NBaNmyyboyHKm1MbZp2nTdkBMbceQkDin/20170925-IMG_0562.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0563.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmfKsf12VameWEBHTnNuyUGaoXmXULq3TFJYKaTCbj7QAt/20170925-IMG_0563.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0565.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmYxnMXgeFbMqQsDavVE7vEjz6GvFKJTVXSLkQesHUS4oh/20170925-IMG_0565.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0566.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXTMzuyZ6Puo6bGAgyXAKd2broj4VQfrnm6JooEbU3MvB/20170925-IMG_0566.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0569.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmfHob79zBREFd7rMoybgJDt1JxNCEENokWMiGrbRh2Wrk/20170925-IMG_0569.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0570.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcstzdsSTtofXhGCJLfd9XbPKcCn45Gn3NwQBCxUKtYT1/20170925-IMG_0570.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0573.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmUSRGQP8ZQ9xs3CaaHTBSqE62nEGKPkgWWg5kUTfGNxsH/20170925-IMG_0573.jpg)
The view was stunning and you could tell because every widow in the plane had a face squished against it to get a glimpse. Then of course we eventually got closer and closer to the ground until we landed. We got off the plane and oh my it was warm and humid! Such a change from home. It was glorious.
![20170925-IMG_0577.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaxxwsVPzjgB4jYbdcnAmuyBjHqtre37dSm32xAY69fwq/20170925-IMG_0577.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0578.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQme6pmJfcdaZ81c1kw5T3AtwSTagYzgneBfKyWVV9dCiPe/20170925-IMG_0578.jpg)
![20170925-IMG_0580.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdZU63btEoAkQT8vWPvV4hsvjFRYr31qCaUEGHKhH8oNZ/20170925-IMG_0580.jpg)
A word of warning, don't bring Alcohol with you as its banned in the maldives (until you get to the resorts.. or your boat -they have a special license). If you do they confiscate it and you can collect it when you get back to the airport to leave.. so no major harm done really, but its a waste of time bringing it.
So when we got off the plane and into the arrivals hall (not air conditioned by the way) we had to wait and look for the rep that would take us to our boat. He eventually appeared and gathered us along with the others joining us on the boat. We got herded out of the airport and across the street to the boat jetty. That's right, the airport is its own tiny island. Here's a picture I took (of a postcard of the airport), the terminal building is to the left of the runway. Then the jetty's where are all the boats arrive to either take you to the main city of Male or to you resorts or boats.
![20171002-IMG_0755.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmXQS64bpjYzkXzYc2SWxujSHZTfnnoN8NqCJY7CZFLxvy/20171002-IMG_0755.jpg)
So anyway, we head over to the jetty and shortly there after a boat arrives to take us away.
ALL ABOARD!
![20170925-IMG_0581.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmb11Y6623uSemF5DAGk8CXrmidTVSVD1yyQyytKgnLb2w/20170925-IMG_0581.jpg)
So now we are aboard this little boat and almost at our final destination. What a trek! In the pic above you can see the city of Male on the right, and the airport is on the left.
![20170925-IMG_0586.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXRmyiPjuV24PgMAuGD5YSn7aGyUzDcna1A4FyPeyrdTe/20170925-IMG_0586.jpg)
Finally we get to our new home for the next week. The Emperor Orion! Emperor is the name of the company, Orion is the name of the boat. Its a glorious boat, and I will show you a bit what it looks like and what the remainder of our day was like in the next post.
P.S. Its good to be back and back on Steemit. I missed you guys, but to be fair.. considering where I was.. I didn't miss you that much ;) However I am glad I can share this experience with you!
!steemitworldmap 4.183206 lat 73.518632 long Maldives Trip - Day 1: The Epic Journey Begins D3SCR
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Heya, I'm just swinging by to let you know you've made it on to our Daily Travel Digest Post! Congrats!
Wonderful! Thanks so much :)
You're so welcome, keep it up!
Welcome back! I would love to go there. Are you doing more posts about it? Cos I'd love to see more of your photos?
Also, if you're interested, you can edit this post to have it show up on steemit worldmaps.
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So you would add a line (no bold text, no apostrophes) that says:
!steemitworldmap XXX lat XXX long title of your post d3scr
Cool tip, thanks! I am indeed making more posts about it :)
"a few photos"... whoahahaha... I'm jealous!!!!!
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Welcome back the trip there seemed real epic and fun and I am sure it only gets better once you start sharing with us your time there
Thanks! I hope you will enjoy reading my posts about this as I did living it! :) It was an amazing trip, my only regret is that it ended ;)
Well if that’s the only regret must have been amazing
Looking forward to seeing and reading about it
I hope my story telling will do it justice :)
I have no doubt it will
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whoa! welcome back. I love the aerial view. bet you had so much fun! Cheers!
Thanks! I sure did :) it was an amazing experience!
I am happy to have you back and i totally get it for not missing steem for some time :) You need to have a rest from it too so that you can appreciate it's full awesomeness again anew.
The story captivates from the first lines, and you have great writing skills. Coupled with your photography makes very cool blog post to read.
That plane is a ... huge plane lol How do they even fly those and it is wonderful how they are able to land it. I think the plane that took you on that tiny island/landing pad was smaller? And do not you worry, with the sucess of steem you will be able to fly first class all the time in the future lol heading to the next part :)
haha! Thanks :) Yeah it was insane how big those planes are.. It was slightly worrying at take off as the wings bend and bounce quite a lot but they are very strong and robust.
The plane that landed us at the maldives was much smaller, a 777. The runway in the maldives is a standard runway size, but there are not taxi ways, so the plane has to taxi down the runway and turn around before it can take off, and of course that stops any other planes from queueing up or landing .. they don't have that many flights incoming so its not a big problem.
First class is the dream! ;)
You will see dream come true :) And bending wings? Do not care about it, They will never fall away as i was reading somewhere that with all the fuel they consist 80 or more percent of the total weight of the plain. ant that are not attached to a fuselage like we imagine, but are rather built both wings actually being one wing and fuselage sitting on top of it :)