My day in Villingili...

Villingili is an island just northwest of Male' and about a ten minute ride by ferry. I've been planning to visit this place a few times but some thing or the other hampered those plans,and I finally got my chance last Friday, when Shareef, a collegue from work told me that he was going there on Saturday and if I'm interested, I can join him. So, despite the fact that I was planning to complete a certain amount of studying, my curiosity and the urge to get out of Male' got the better of me. I was curious to see the Villingili beach which is the reason why a lot of Male' dwellers go there (suprisingly there is no beach in Male' and they have built an artificial beach to compensate for that!) and the fact that there are no vehicles allowed in the island meant that it will be much more quieter and free of all the hustle bustle of Male'. So around 7.30 in the morning on Friday Shareef came to pick me up and we rode ourselves in his bike (which is the principal mode of transport in Male' and the most convenient) to the MTCC jetty where we bought two tickets-3 Rufiyya each-and boarded the awaiting ferry. The ferry ride it self was quite exhilarating and taking a peek over the side board I was able to experience a tiny bit of the exotic wonders of the underwaters of Maldives. I was even fortunate enough to pass by a school of Dolphins really close which was one of the highlights of the ferry ride. Upon arriving at Villingili I wasn't dissapointed! Not the least! I was treated to a fantastic sight of a beautiful beach with milky white sand and wonderful turquoise sea with not even a ripple in the water and a land where the quietness was only broken by the sound of the beautiful Indian ocean. The first moment I saw the sea and the beach I just wanted to take off all my clothes and just go jump in it, but I had to resist. Another amazing feature on the beach were this nice little hanging chairs which are more like swings hanging from the branches of large trees near the beach and sitting or rather lying down in one of these, facing the ocean with the breeze in your face was truly heavenly! I spent close to one and a half hours swimming and just relaxing in the water while my friend went to meet another friend of his promising he will come back soon.
A while after I finished my dip in the water Shareef arrived with one of his diver friends who owns a small time aquariam exporting exotic Maldivian live fish. We went to see the aquariam and I promise you I have never seen such beautful fish in my whole life! It was truly a treat to watch these handsome and very colourful fellows swimming around in the ponds and glass chambers. I must have spent about forty five minutes there, but I never realised it. There were a few Sri Lankan guys as well who are working as labourers and I made sure that I had a chat with them.

By this time the effects of my breakfast has long vanished and I was so hungry that I could eat a horse(no, really)! That's when Shareef brought me the delightful news that his girl friend lives close by and she has cooked a sumptious Maldivian lunch for the two of us! Wow!

It was a truly delightful lunch, although dominated by at least tree types of fish, fried, cooked and made into a salad, a vegetable curry cooked in thick coconut cream, a beef curry(?) a gherkin salad with white rice accompanied by a natural mango juice! I don't know how much I ate but I know it was a lot because it was so difficult for me to get up from the chair after that meal.

After the meal we relaxed for a while in the swinging chairs by the beach and after a very satisfying slumber in it, I bid good bye to Shareef and his girlfriend because I had to get back to Male' before 3.00 in the afternoon.

The day was good and it was worth the waste of time although I hope that I will not get carried away come next Friday!