LUXURY
After fourteen days at sea, Laith and I were ready for bit of five star R+R.
We called the local resort and arranged to be picked up and transported into
the world that most tourists to The Maldives experience. Manafaru, here we
come...
It was such a nice day out, I treated myself to a repeat performance
yesterday... a couple of dives, cheese burger by the pool, a cool beer as
the sun thinks about setting, and then the return journey in five star
luxury....
The transfer is by a hotrod of a speed boat (ironically, made by Gulfcraft
in UAE) powered by 375 HP (I asked) and two huge water jets (a propulsion
system, I am proud to say, developed in New Zealand). The three strong crew
of the boat were immaculately turned out- Laith and I couldn't help but
think that they were probably more accustomed to a higher standard of
tourist than us- as scruffy as we were (errr... and still are....)
Years ago, a somewhat posh friend was telling me of the time he visited
Machu Pichu. As much as he was unaccustomed to roughing it on the Inca
Trail, upon returning to civilisation, promptly checked into the local
Hilton and ordered room service cheeseburgers. I could never understand the
logic of this extravagant gesture. Until now. It's not that we didn't eat
well en route or since arriving, it's not that we slummed it too much, it's
just that sometimes you want things to happen when they should, how they
should.
And the cheese burgers and beer weren't too bad either.
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