The cruise brochure described Malé as “Small, quaint, and densely settled, Malé (Pronounced ‘Marlay’) is not spectacular (Very true!) but quite unique as a capital city. Its clean and tidy (Not!!) with mosques, markets, a maze of small streets’ the latter full of mopeds which made it almost impossible to walk on foot!
The Maldives are made up of a series of Atolls which are clusters of tiny coral islands covering an area of about 115 sq. km and an estimated total population of 314,000 of which 120,000 live in Malé. The island of Malé is 1.2 miles long by 0.62 miles wide and is jam packed with buildings, roads and a few well-used open spaces.
I had hoped to take a tour entitled ‘The Maldavian Way of Life’ but the port agent thought this would not meet expectations and so it was cancelled. Since I had no desire to sit on a beach, snorkel or go big game fishing I had to settle for a Walking Tour of Malé although it did prove to be interesting.
We began in Jumhooree Maidan (Republic Square) constructed in 1988 and a popular place for social gatherings and political protests. The Maldives have not escaped the Arab Spring and moves towards a stronger Islamist State. The current President is very unpopular and is currently in hiding in the Indian Embassy. We had been warned that on previous evenings there had been protests in this square and all guests were requested to return on board by 6.00pm although the ship stayed overnight and did not depart for Cochin until 5.00am the following morning. We didn’t witness any trouble but security was very tight especially round the Indian Embassy.
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