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Remember a couple of months ago, when I wrote that my girlfriend and I were heading off to Sri Lanka and Burma?
Well, as often happens with the best laid plans, a major travel hiccup arose in the form of low water levels on the Irrwadaddy River that runs through Burma.
As a goodly portion of our itinerary had been cruising through the country by boat, we were, needless to say, thrown for a loop.
Notice of the cancelation came close to the last minute so I won’t mention the company we were ‘sailing’ with. Supposedly, this was only the second time they’d been forced to cancel a trip, so we’ll just say Mother Nature has her reasons, and leave it at that. They did offer us the option of using the boat as a ‘floating hotel’ but that didn’t really appeal to us. After a day or two of frantic emailing and batting back & forth every possible option, we decided it just wasn’t our year to explore Burma.
Instead, we began to see the silver lining in the cancellation, an opportunity to spend a few more days in Sri Lanka, which we were loving and then visit the Maldive Islands instead.
Not exactly a booby prize. As we had been tearing through Sri Lanka at a break-neck speed up to that point, we reveled in the slowing of our pace and I must say, it was bliss.
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Flying over and landing in the Maldives is a surreal experience.
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This is how one arrives in The Maldives
The pilot was barefoot.
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Look at the colour of water as you head closer to land- the photos do not even begin to capture how stunning it is.
‘It can’t be real, it can’t be real’ is the constant refrain in your head
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a multitude of blue hues everywhere you cast your eye
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The restaurant and lounge “Blu”
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One of my favourite things about the resort was that you get your own bike (complete with your initials in wooden “Scrabble” tiles on the basket, to tool around the island on.
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From villa to spa, from spa to beach side, from morning to night… it’s a glorious mode of transportation
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Rising with the sun for a little solitude and meditating on the beach before yoga.
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I had company.
Luckily, my contemplative friend was also in a meditative frame of mind.
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Yoga every morning in a pavilion perched over azure seas is one namastelicious way to start the day.
and the spa- that’s another post.
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World class snorkeling is definitely one of the many spectacular attractions of The Maldives
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There are multiple restaurant options; 4 to be exact, plus 3 lounges,
including the Shisha Bar below
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This photo is from the Four Seasons website as for some reason, my photos from the Shisha bar didn’t turn out.
Could it have something to do with the hookah pipe that night?
Every girl has got to be a hookah smokin’ caterpillar once in her life. 
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The food was wonderful.
Slim Paley photo
Here, a fabulously fresh carpaccio of raw fish
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Comfortable places to enjoy a cocktail or simply relax and read abound
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Slim Paley photo
We carried on our Sri Lankan daily ritual of ‘ Fresh from the tree’ King Coconut water with every meal.
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and don’t even get me started on the sunsets…
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Slim Paley photo
The allee of palms leading up to the central pavilion of Landaa Giraavaru
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The Maldives are located in the Indian Ocean and are comprised of 26 atolls made up of 1,192 islands.
With the highest point of land being only 8′ft above sea level, some scientists believe the Maldives could potentially be submerged by rising ocean levels in 20-50 years.
From NY it’s a 13 hour flight to Qatar then a 5 hour flight to Maldives International airport, which is it’s own island, and a sea plane from there to whichever resort you may be staying.
The weather is hot, the hotel staff charming and I felt very safe on the island.
For more information about The Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru resort click here
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