Expatriates working in Maldives and who want to send money home are facing problems. Most of the employees are paid in local currency i.e Maldivian Rufeeya which is used to buy US Dollars.

Current Problem…

Note: Read more from the original post – Sending Money Home – Toughest Task posted at Maldives.

Irufushi Resort which was developed by Sun Hotels and Resorts is now taken over by Hilton and has been renamed as Hilton Maldives. Hilton has another resort in Maldives known as the Conrad Maldives. I had been to Irufushi Resort during the pre opening time and had a chance to stay there for 3 days. The resort is excellent, white sand and beautiful beaches. This is a very big island with an area of 52 acres of land and is expected to be a popular destination for Honeymooners.

The pre opening team, receiving the guests at the Jetty

Interiors of a bungalow at the Hilton Maldives (Old Irufushi Resort)

Luxury bed at Hilton Maldives

The water bungalows at Hilton Maldives

The dinning Hall at Hilton Maldives

All the pictures above were taken when I traveled to Irufushi during the pre-opening time. Now I think there could be some changes. The tourism in Maldives is seen to be declining due to the World Economic slowdown. The tourist inflow declined by 14% in February 2009 compared to the tourist inflow. Some resorts have even started taking measures for facing this slowdown.

India club a registered organization in Maldives organized a blood donation camp in Male’ this Friday. I could not attend this even at I was traveling. The camp collected 37 liters of blood from different nationals including Indians, Maldivians, Srilankans, Bangladeshi, Pakistanis.

UNICEF Country Representative Mansoor Ali also participated in the program and emphasized that such events would also benefit the less fortunate children and stressed the need for more volunteers to come forward and he himself donated blood in the camp

Maldives is well know for its beautiful beaches , reefs, corals, and resorts. The beaches are usually very calm, perfect for water sports the sea is around Maldives are the best for scuba divining.

Water Villa at W Maldives

Beach at Kanuhura Resort Maldives

Beach at W Maldives – Me and Stephen

There is a restaurant called Fire (Jungle) in W Resorts Maldives. A lamb being grilled

Select the fish, tiger prawn, etc, tell them how you want it to be cooked, they will do it for you

I ordered, Tiger Prawn, Shrimp, baked with Garlic , spicy

Lamb being Grilled

Select the drink that you want, 15 Under Bar in W Maldives

Great Experience

Stephen , never drank in his life and he is not drunk, just having a look

If you are visiting Maldives, try this great experience.

I am at W Resort in Maldives, which is one of the top and expensive resort. You can find rooms costing more than $10,000 per night here. All sorts of luxury facilities available here. You will also find all top drinks available here, just name it, they will serve it for you.

Just waiting at the Maldivian Air Taxi waiting area to board the sea plane to W Resorts. I find that there are almost no tourist here. Usually it’s crowded during this season.

Is it that the tourism in Maldives has been effected by the global recession. The tourists coming to Maldives are from Europeun countries and almost all the resorts are over booked during this season.
Will keep you updated about this trip. I am posting this using my iPhone, application used is iBlogger

Today 9th March, the birth of prophet Mohamed is being celebrated today by Muslims world over this year. It is a special holiday for many in the Muslim faith. It is celebrated to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, who entered the world in 570. It is celebrated on the 12th day of Rabi al-Awwal, the fifth month of the Islamic Calendar.

More Info

There are about 80,000 foreign workers in Maldives and about 20,000 are illegal. The government of Maldives has issued a notification to surrender themselves to Department of Immigration and Emigration, so that they may be deported back to their country of origin free of charge. If somebody is caught after April 1st 2009, then they will be prosecuted according to the laws of Maldives. So its the best chance for such illegal workers to surrender at the earliest and get back to their home country at the earliest.

http://blip.tv/play/ga9d78hUAA

A video of our Picnic to Kuda Bandos