-Travel- Maldives Guide

For a long time, the Republic of Maldives was one of the best-kept secrets in the world; a beautiful string of low-lying coral islands in the Indian Ocean, a paradise for watersports enthusiasts and sunseekers alike. Now the islands are developing quickly to become an increasingly popular long-haul destination.


The country's 26 natural atolls offer nautical delights from night-fishing trips, windsurfing and scuba-diving. Many islands embrace enormous lagoons, where bright blue-green water laps gently.

Yet, even in paradise, trouble can bubble beneath the surface. It is precisely because the Maldives are so low-lying (80% of the territory is less than 1m/3.3ft above sea level), so transparent and perfect for snorkelling, that their very existence is especially threatened by global warming. They are also particularly vulnerable to natural catastrophe, as shown in the devastating tsunami on 26 December 2004: of the Maldives' 199 inhabited islands, 20 were completely destroyed.

These factors need to be seriously discussed by the international community in future years. Otherwise, paradise really might be lost.

Key Facts

Location

A group of islands in the Indian Ocean, 500km (300 miles) southwest of the southern tip of India.

Time

GMT + 5.

Area

298 sq km (115 sq miles).

Population

370,000 (CIA estimate 2007).

Population Density

1,242 per sq km.

Capital

Malé. Population: 83,000 (UN estimate 2003).

Geography

The Republic of Maldives consists of about 1,190 low-lying coral islands, of which only 200 are inhabited. Most of the inhabited islands are covered by lush tropical vegetation and palm trees, while the numerous uninhabited islands, some of which are mere sand spits or coral tips, are covered in shrubs. Each island is surrounded by a reef enclosing a shallow lagoon. Hundreds of these islands together with other coral growth form an atoll, surrounding a lagoon. All the islands are low-lying, none more than 2m (7ft) above sea level.

Government

Republic since 1965. Gained independence from the UK in 1965.

Head of State

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom since 1978.

Recent History

President Gayoom is Asia's longest-serving leader, re-elected for a record sixth five-year term in 2003, having first taken office in 1978. The Maldives has been relatively stable under his rule, despite attempted coups in the 1980s. Human rights groups accused Gayoom of running an autocratic state and anti-government violence flared in the streets.

The Maldives was hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami. Homes and resorts were destroyed, and a major rebuilding programme was consequently put into place.

The country aims to hold its first multiparty elections by the end of 2008.

Language

The national language is Dhivehi. English is widely used as a business language in government offices and the commercial sector. Other languages are widely used within tourist areas.

Religion

The indigenous population is almost entirely Sunni Muslim.

Electricity

230 volts AC, 50Hz. Round-pin plugs are used, although square-pin plugs are now becoming more common.

Social Conventions

The majority of the indigenous population does not mix with the tourist visitors, with the exception of those involved with tourism in the resorts and Malé. Dress is informal, but locals who are Muslim will be offended by nudity or scanty clothing in public places, and the government rigidly enforces these standards. Bikinis and other scanty beachwear are not acceptable in Malé or on any other inhabited island; they should be restricted to resort islands only. When entering a mosque, the legs and the body, but not the neck and the face, should be covered. Handshaking is the most common form of greeting. The indigenous population not involved in the tourist trade lives in isolated island communities maintaining almost total privacy. A large number of locals smoke, but smoking and eating during Ramadan is discouraged.

Climate

The Maldives have a hot tropical climate. There are two monsoons, the southwest from May to October and the northeast from November to April. Generally the southwest brings more wind and rain in June and July. The temperature rarely falls below 25°C (77°F).

Required Clothing

Lightweight cottons and linens throughout the year. Light waterproofs are advised during the rainy season.

Going Out

Food and Drink

Malé, the capital, has a few simple restaurants which serve local and international food. On the other islands, there are a few restaurants in addition to those run by the resorts. Cuisine is international, with all food other than seafood imported. There are no bars, except in the resorts, where there is a good range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available, reflecting the demands of the visitors.

Things to know: All bars are situated in tourist resorts (no alcohol is available on Malé). Locals do not drink at all. During the month of Ramadan, visitors are not allowed to drink alcohol in public except in the tourist resorts.

National specialities:
• Seafood such as tuna, grouper, octopus, jobfish and swordfish is widely available.
• Kavaabu (deep-fried snacks made from rice, tuna, coconut, lentils and spices).
• Curries, such as chicken or beef, are widely available. Curry leaves are added to a lot of Maldivian dishes.

National drinks:
• The Maldive Lady (a powerful and delicious cocktail, the composition of which varies from bar to bar and island to island).

Tipping: This is officially discouraged.

Nightlife

There is little or no organised nightlife, although most resorts have informal discos around the barlive bands playing either traditional or Western music. Beach parties and barbecues are also popular. On some evenings, many resorts have cultural shows and some show films.

Many different types of traditional national dancing and singing may be enjoyed across the islands. areas, sometimes featuring

Shopping

Lacquered wooden boxes are the most distinctive Maldivian handicrafts, and are almost exclusively produced in Thulhaadhoo in Baa Atoll. The craft involves the process of shaping and hollowing out pieces of wood from endemic trees to form intricately crafted boxes, containers and ornamental objects. Beautiful reed mats are woven throughout the country, the most famous of which are those that are woven by the women of Gadhdhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll. Ranging from placemats to full-size single mattress mats, they are hand-decorated with intricate abstract designs.

In Malé, most souvenir shops line the northern end of Chaandanee Magu, earlier known as the Singapore Bazaar for its many imports from Singapore. The local market offers stalls with a variety of local produce, mainly from the atolls, such as different kinds of local vegetables, fruits and yams, packets of sweetmeat, nuts and breadfruit chips, bottles of homemade sweets and pickles, and bunches of bananas hanging on coir ropes from ceiling beams. Vacuum-packed smoked fish and chipped dried fish are available in many supermarkets and make a different souvenir.

Note: There are strict prohibitions against the export of coral and turtle- or tortoiseshell.

Shopping hours: Sat-Thurs 0830-2300, Fri 1330-2300. Shops officially shut for 15 minutes five times a day in deference to Muslim prayer times; however, this rule is not always strictly adhered to in the tourist areas away from the capital.

Top Things To See

• Admire the superb collection of artefacts, including Sultanese thrones and palanquins, in Malé's National Museum, located in Sultan's Park.

• Opt for some aerial sightseeing and photo flights for an astonishing glimpse of the islands and a blue panorama.

• Pop your head into the beautiful 17th-century Hukuru (Friday Mosque) in Malé. The Islamic Centre, topped with a magnificent golden dome, is worth a visit. There are over 20 mosques scattered around the capital.

• See the Maldives Victory Wreck (which sank in 1981), lying on the western side of Hulule. This is a dive for experienced divers.

• Spot fish (notably grey reef shark), giant snappers and tropical reef fish at Mushimasmingili Thila (Shark Thila), located in the northern section of the Ari Atoll.

Top Things To Do

• Shop for local arts and crafts; Baa Atoll is one of the few places where traditional techniques are still practised. Malé, the capital, also has several markets of fresh and wholesome food produce for those wanting to sample local fare.

• Dive or snorkel to appreciate the exceptional and easily accessible underwater life; some of the best sites in the world are found in the Maldives. All of the resorts have professional, fully-equipped dive schools offering a range of courses. Most of the resorts also offer reef sightseeing trips on glass-bottomed boats.

• Go on a fishing trip on modern speedboats equipped for big game fishing. Go at night to catch groupers, snappers, squirrelfish or barracuda. Round off the trip with a barbecue with the day's catch.

• Visit the island of Makunudhoo, renowned for the quality of its food. It is protected on all sides by a beautiful lagoon with coconut groves leading down to the beach. The catch? It is one of the most expensive island resorts in the Maldives.

• Get away from it all and spend a day and a night alone on an uninhabited island. You can usually do so as part of an island-hopping tour. Another option is to visit a fishing village with a trip to an uninhabited island (where often a beach barbecue is served).

• Hire a traditional boat (dhoni) or speedboat to island hop.

• Windsurf at Banana Reef, where strong currents also make for an exceptionally abundant marine life, with reef sharks, bannerfish and oriental sweetlips all present.

Accommodation

Hotels

There are several hotels and guesthouses in Malé, although most visitors stay on resort islands. There are no guest houses or self-catering facilities on any of the resort islands.

Resorts

There are numerous resorts, which vary from extravagantly luxurious to fairly simple. Accommodation almost invariably consists of thatch-roofed coral cabanas with en suite facilities. Most of the resorts have air-conditioned rooms with mini-bar, although some of the resorts still have fan-cooled rooms. Many resort groups have recently installed desalination plants to provide clean tap water.

The resorts are fully integral communities with sport and leisure facilities including scuba-diving and snorkelling, restaurants and bars and, in some cases, a shop and/or disco. There is a shop on every resort island. Different islands tend to attract different nationalities.

Map

'Lebanon' A beautiful Mediterranean vacation spot

The name Lebanon derives from the Arabic word "leben," which means milk. This used to be a region filled with farms that housed generous milk cows.

This is how the country came to be known as "Lebanon," which actually means "land of milk." These days there are not so many milk-producing farms here, but it is certainly still a gorgeous nation sitting on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Despite the many years that have passed since the end of its civil war, Lebanon still has not managed to shake off all the traces of its past conflicts. You cannot pass the many buildings that are still pockmarked with bullet holes without wondering what kind of hatred drove the people who shared this land with for so many years to turn against each other. This was a civil war that was waged between the Christians, Druze, Sunnis and Shiites living in Lebanon. During the heaviest period of fighting, in the 1980s, Beirut experienced dramatic destruction. Every corner of the city was in ruins. You understand, though, that life goes on -- even in these corners of destruction -- especially as you walk around and see clotheslines strung up between the partially ruined buildings still standing from that period.

When you see the present state of the Lebanese streets, you can't help but remember that for hundreds of years various ethnic groups lived in peace here during the time of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans ruled Lebanon by way of a special governor sent to the region from the center of the state, and great freedom was allowed the various ethnic groups living in Lebanon to live and act according to their individual beliefs and traditions. Immediately after the Ottomans pulled out of the region, the Middle East turned into a blood bath. The basis of the peace that had previously reigned in the region was the skill, tolerance and justice of the Ottoman rule. And so when this came to an end, everything was disrupted.

Since its civil war ended in 1991 Lebanon has been busy trying to mend its wounds. Ruined buildings are being restored, streets and boulevards have been taken under control again and the cities are, for the most part, being put back into their original order. (Yes, but I guess it's much better overall from what I hear from all my friends, too who go back every summer)

Today, along the coastal road of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, there is a strip of luxurious hotels. When you look at the shop signs along this coastal road, you can see that the French were in Lebanon for a long time. It's almost as though there is more French on these signs than Arabic, and there are French words sprinkled throughout the Arabic you hear being spoken on the streets. A great number of Lebanese people speak French. Sixty percent of Lebanon's population is Muslim, and the country is home to nearly 20 different ethnic groups.

Beirut is a coastal city that appears to have embraced all of the magnificence of the Mediterranean. In the Arab world Lebanon is a favorite spot for vacations. Even during the winter months it is filled with tourists.

One of the first things you might notice while walking around Beirut's streets is the level of traffic in this city. Don't bother asking how it is that a nation this small could have this much traffic; spending at least a few hours in traffic each day is a part of life in Beirut. Take the time to notice some of the characteristics of this traffic, though. For example, look at the old Mercedes that are used by Lebanese taxi drivers.

Make sure you take the time to visit one of the many restaurants serving traditional Lebanese food in Beirut. There is, for example, the well-known Nehr'il Funun restaurant, where customers can eat dinner as Lebanese singers take to the stage and sing songs in Arabic. Most of the customers here are Arabs, though you might see a few European tourists, too. Don't forget to eat dishes such as tabbouleh, mensef (steaming rice piled with lamb-on-the-bone and covered in a creamy, spiced yoghurt sauce), lahme ba'jin (meat-covered thin pizza) and hummus. You might notice that the word "lahme ba'jin" is quite close to what we say in Turkey: "lahmacun." This is no coincidence since the word derives from Arabic and only turned into "lahmacun" over time.

One site that you definitely don't want to miss in Lebanon is the Jeita Caves, which are visited by an estimated 250,000 tourists every year. To put this into perspective, the total number of tourists who come to Lebanon yearly is around 600,000. The lighting used in these caves is "cold lighting," which is less likely to harm the stalagmites and stalactites here. This series of caves is located in a river valley and is actually composed of two separate caves on top of one another. You won't be able to get enough of just looking at these beautiful natural stones whose shapes have been formed by running water over thousands of years. The Jeita Caves were not open to visitors during the Lebanese civil war. But then in 1995 they opened up again to curious tourists and local visitors.

The symbolic cedar tree

The cedar tree, which adorns the Lebanese flag, is not actually that easy to see in this nation. This is because cedar trees can generally only be found at sites that are well above the sea level, on snowy mountain tops, for example. You might wonder why on earth there would even be snow here, in the Middle East, but remember that in Lebanon there are mountain tops that rise up to 3,088 meters into the air.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of the cedar tree is its life span. Cedar trees can live for thousands of years. Some cedar trees have been found to be 4,000-5,000 years old. In the Old Testament, the majesty of the cedar tree is described this way: "In its branches were nests made by all the birds in the sky, and all nations lived in its shade."

Cedars are also known for their wonderful aroma and for the strength of their wood. In fact, this strength has made them a favored tree for shipbuilding and roof-building through the ages. The ancient Egyptians used cedar resin in their mummification rituals and cedar sap for when they wanted to create a waterproof surface. Sadly though, the massive forests of cedars that used to grace Lebanese soil no longer exist. The British cut down large numbers of these valuable trees during World War II for the construction of the Tripoli highway. As a result of years of being cut down, cedar trees finally fell under the protection of UNESCO's World Heritage, which is attempting to protect them for future generations. In fact, the Lebanese government has even set aside a special fund from its budget to protect these trees. There are currently five separate institutions whose duty is simply to protect cedars in Lebanon.

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[Travel tips]

Visas: Lebanon requires visas from Turkish citizens. The price for visas is $35. US and EU citizens can get their visas at the airport.

How to get there: You can fly to Beirut directly from İstanbul on Turkish Airlines. The ticket price is currently 229 euros plus taxes and fees. Flights leave every night at 11:40 p.m. You can also fly to Beirut from İstanbul on Royal Jordanian, with flights leaving every day at 2:25 p.m., for 258 euros plus taxes and fees.

Where to stay: There is a wide range of wonderful hotels along the coast in Beirut.

Cuisine: You will have no problem finding delicious food that appeals to your taste buds in Lebanon. The one factor that might be a little difficult is the abundant use of spices and distinctive sauces.

Pay attention to these factors: There is still an ambiguous security situation in the nation and, technically, Lebanon is a risky country to visit. You should go only after paying close attention to the most recent news and developments in the country. You don't want to find yourself in the middle of potentially deadly clashes. There are also reports of many unexploded bombs and mines still hidden in Lebanese soil. Most of the unexploded mines and bombs are located in the southern regions of Lebanon.

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[QUICK FACTS]

Capital: Beirut

Official languages: French, English

Government: Republic

Prime Minister: Fouad Siniora (interim)

Area: 10,452 square kilometers

Population: 4,196,453 *

Gross domestic product (PPP): $41.96 billion**

Main religions: Islam (53.6 percent), Christian (42.3 percent), other (4.1 percent)

* February 2008 estimate ** 2007 estimate

-travel Dubai- Cultures learn to get along in Dubai

Claiming to have the world's tallest building, biggest airport and most expensive hotel, Dubai is a city of superlatives. Cultures learn to get along in the Arab melting pot.

Dubai is the city of 150 nations.

Some says there are so many interesting people in Dubai.

Some says you can feel so free, as a person, as an individual.

However, some says Dubai is pompousness and manufactured perfection. They also say there is nothing real about the city and you could hardly breathe any more.

People who live in Dubai have an "E-card," which allows you to bypass the passport control at the airport, where you simply place your index finger on a sensor, a door opens and you walk through.

When you pick up a visitor from the airport, you can go online, type in his flight number and your mobile phone number -- and receive a text message every half hour updating you on the flight's arrival status.

Water and electricity bills, dentist appointments, road toll -- everything reaches you via your mobile phone.

When there is an accident, the police record mobile phone numbers before they write down the vehicles' license plates. The mobile phone serves as a universal identity card in Dubai.

If you go to a clinic or hospital, an Indian receptionist can welcome you. You can be surprised to be greeted by Filipino nurses an a Syrian doctor can treat you.

When you leave the clinic, do not ask for the bill. For the Emirate of Dubai is paying for your treatment.

Dubai is not a city where you feel observed or monitored, and it has none of the annoying routines of places like Turkish cities, with their metal detectors at entrances to public buildings and armed patrols in shopping malls.

On the other hand, anyone wishing to read a tabloid online is greeted with this message: "The content of this Web site is incompatible with the political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates."

Paradoxically, print copies of any tabloid are for sale in Dubai supermarkets.

Nowhere else in the region are there so many young, ambitious and well-educated North Africans, Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis and Saudis who have turned their backs on their repressive countries.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, eating, drinking and smoking in public are strictly forbidden, and non-Muslims are politely reprimanded.

On the other hand, the supermarkets sell pork, and anyone interested in wine or whisky can drink to his heart's content in the international hotels.

Dubai is a global village, but even more than that, it is an Arab village.