I know, I know. I promised a full trip report. But somehow I can't seem to get past "We went on a lot of planes, did some stuff in Dubai, lolled around in the Maldives and came home. The end." Somehow, I think that's not what people are really looking for.
We started with a seven-hour flight to London, followed by a five-hour layover in the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow. It is brand-spanking new and pretty cool. We found a big couch and slept for a few hours while we waited for our flight to Dubai. Then we flew another seven hours to Dubai, arriving close to 11 p.m., which put us in our hotel room 22 hours after we left home. We slept and woke up early the next morning, all out of sorts because of the time difference (10 hours from Chicago).
We spent the morning doing a bus tour of Dubai, which was really cool. Saw a bunch of mosques and souks (markets) and learned a lot about the history of the country, one of the richest per capita in the world. After the bus tour, we grabbed some lunch then headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags and meet our driver for the desert safari. We drove out to the desert in a Land Rover with two other people (an Italian dude and a Polish chick) and met up with a larger posse of 4x4 vehicles. After snapping some pictures in the dunes, we took off in the trucks on the dunes.
To tell you I was carsick was an understatement. I was in a cold sweat, my nails digging into the palms of my hands while I kept my eyes focused squarely on the truck in front of us at all times. It was like being on a roller coaster, but not. It was truly the worst experience of my life. When we stopped halfway through, I looked at Josh and told him I would never, ever do anything like this again and the only reason I even agreed to it in the first place was because a friend recommended the tour to him and I didn't want to ruin his trip.
Then the Italian guy, who spoke barely any English, decided he wanted to sit in the front seat so he could take pictures. Backseat and carsickness do not mix and I had to restrain myself from screaming in his face that NO I WOULD NOT SIT IN THE BACK. Josh tried explaing I was sick, but the dude had no clue and jumped into the front seat. Alllllrighty then. I somehow managed to keep the contents of my stomach inside my body and we made it to the camp. But before we did anything else, we tried our hands at sandboarding (just like snowboarding, but 100 times slower) and riding camels before we had a traditional dinner and show.
We ate a bunch of great food -- the lamb was to die for -- and watched a belly dancer and then left. The driver had agreed to drop us at the airport, so we waited a few hours for our 12:35 a.m. flight to Qatar. Our flight to Doha was an hour and then we had a 35-minute layover before our four-hour flight to Male, the capital of the Maldives. We arrived at 9 a.m. local time and were met at the arrivals gate by Conrad hotel reps who whisked us away to their private lounge to wait for our seaplane flight to the hotel.
The lounge was air-conditioned (the airport was not, it was open-air) and they offered us pastries, fruit and juice as well as massages -- all complimentary. After we had relaxed a bit, they told us our flight was ready and they drove us over to the seaplane terminal on the other side of the airport. Our seaplane was ready and waiting, as was the pilot, who flew barefoot. No cockpit door either -- apparently there's no fear of terrorism in paradise.
The flight was amazing -- we flew low over the water and the many coral atolls and islands that make up the Maldives. I can't even do it justice, except to say the water was more turquoise than I had imagined and the beauty of seeing it from the air was stunning. After a 25-minute flight, the two islands that make up the Conrad came into view and we were landing with nary a bump. I wouldn't have even realized we were in the water if I hadn't seen the splashing outside the window.
Our island host, Jennifer, met us at the dock and escorted us to the reception area. She gave us the lowdown on the resort and then told us our room would be ready in about an hour, so we were welcome to relax at the pool while we waited. We grabbed a quick shower in the fitness center and had just sat down on some beach chairs when she summoned us to say the room was ready.
Our beach villa was ridiculous: private plunge pool under a thatched roof in the back, outdoor shower with rainfall showerhead amongst a bunch of lush green foliage next to the plunge pool, an outdoor bathroom overlooking a fountain and the huge bedroom with 20-foot ceilings and doors leading out to a private patio and the beach beyond. I was stunned by how big it was. It had definitely been remodeled recently with a flat-screen TV, iPod docking station and high-quality linens.
We spent the rest of the afternoon napping and hanging out at the beach before heading to the Wine Bar for a wine and chocolate tasting. We chatted with another couple from the UK and a girl visiting from Russia. The sommelier was really cool and we sat there and talked to him after the others had left for quite some time. He was a native of Maldives and has worked at the Conrad for three years and another resort before that. We got to talking about the tsunami and he told us there was no damage to that island because of the reef surrounding it, but that he was working at another hotel in the north at the time and a co-worker of his died afer saving a 3-year-old hotel guest. Very sad.
Because of the time change, we were exhausted, but up at the crack of dawn the next morning. In fact, we never slept later than 8 a.m. the entire time we were there, although there were a lot of naps logged.
Most of the days consisted of hanging out at the beach or the pool, reading and relaxing, or snorkeling. We ate breakfast at Vilu (the restaurant/bar on the other island where the overwater bungalows were located) all but one day. Vilu was the better of the two options as it was made-to-order food (the other option, Atoll, was buffet) and you could even have complimentary champagne every morning. Josh had steak and eggs a few times, while I enjoyed their eggs benedict. We usually ate a late enough breakfast that we skipped lunch, but then hit the Happy Hour from 5-6 p.m. Free drinks? Yes, please!
In keeping with the relaxation theme of the trip, I made three trips to the spa. It was amazing and I was glad I was able to spread out a few treatments. The second day on the island, we received a discount on an hourlong couples package consisting of a foot treatment, Thai massage, body scrub and scalp massage, so we both took advantage of that. Josh isn't crazy about spas, but I think he enjoyed it after I made him go. I also went back for a 60-minute Swedish massage later in the week and it came with a free mini-facial which I did the next day. The Swedish massage was easily the best I have ever had in my life, and I was sad I couldn't get another one before leaving.
We tried each of the restaurants and found the food to be good and not as outrageously priced as we though it would be. Dinner ran us about $100 per night for the two of us, including drinks. Most nights I was so exhausted I could barely make it through the entrees, but it was amazing to sit outside, overlooking the ocean for all of our meals. We also ordered room service one night and ate on our deck at sunset. Unbelievable.
The snorkeling was unbelievable. The guy working at the dive center told us to head to the other side of the island, look for the sign for Room 225 on the beach and then head out to the pink buoy for the best snorkeling. It didn't disappoint. Because I am a big baby and don't really know how to swim, I wore a life jacket and felt quiet comfortable. We saw reef sharks and Nemo fish and about 30 different varities of colorful fish and coral.
We were able to see all those same things when we went to Ithaa, the world's only undersea restaurant. At 4 meters under the ocean, it affords a view of the fish and coral that is amazing. One of the staff members told us that when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were honeymooning there, they wanted to book a private dinner at the restaurant, but because it was fully booked, they offered to let them have it to themselves at 11 p.m. That wasn't good enough for Mr. Movie Star and he stomped off the island and didn't come back. So now I've eaten somewhere TomKat hasn't.
Halfway through the trip, we were upgraded to an overwater villa and we were really excited about that. The staff moved all of our stuff for us and when we walked into the bungalow, I almost fell over. The floor-to-ceiling windows covered two walls and looked right out over the ocean. The bathroom was the size of our living room at home. But the ridiculousness went to a whole other level when you saw the private jacuzzi sunk into the deck and the stairs leading down to the ocean. We swam and snorkeled right off our steps and hung out in the hot tub at night, looking at the stars and listening to music. Definitely the most amazing hotel experience I have ever had.
There was wireless available in all the rooms, so Josh was never disconnected from his precious Internet for a moment, which also made it easy to use Skype to talk to the kids every day. That made it a lot easier for me to be away for 10 days. I definitely missed them, but never so much that I felt like I wanted to come home. But at the end of the trip, I was definitely anxious to see them again.
Our last night there, we took a sunset cocktail cruise on a huge sailboat. It was just us and one other couple. The champagne was free-flowing and the canapes were quite tasty. We saw dolphins and a great sunset -- the perfect ending to our trip.
We left very early the last morning, as our flight to Dubai, via Doha, was at 9:30 a.m. We were sad to put shoes back on -- you literally don't wear shoes anywhere at the resort, even the restaurants have sand floors -- and leave the good life behind. When you get used to someone offering to wipe your sunglasses and bringing you fruit at the pool, it's hard to go back to the reality of winter coats and wiping two butts every day. But back to reality we went.
On the way home, we again stopped in Dubai for a night. This time, we spent the evening at the Burj Al Arab, the world's only seven-star hotel. Oh my holy hell, was it cool. The opulance and grandeur were amazing and the drink prices reflected that. We walked out of the Sky View Bar $150 lighter, but with an amazing experience under our belts.
We left Dubai early in the morning and after a three-hour layover in London, returned home 24 hours later. I was tired, but so excited to see the kids, I almost ran the last four blocks home. I walked in the house and Jack stared at me in disbelief, and then with a huge smile ran and jumped on me, hugging me tightly. Emmie was a little more reserved, but seemed equally pleased to have us home. Jack didn't let me out of his sight for the next two hours before bed, and spent the next few days hugging me. Of course, then he was back to being 3 in no time at all.
So there you have it. I know I left a ton of details out, but this is about as good as it gets after being home alone with the kids for three straight days while Josh works in Bloomington.
Because we haven't traveled enough, we decided we needed a vacation
with the kids, so we're departing for Florida tomorrow afternoon. We have a date with Mickey then a few days at the beach, including a Spring Training game featuring the Cardinals.
So more light posting this week and then back on track, finally.
Labels: It's all about me, Vacation
