Oh my, the Maldives!!!

Living so close to so many coveted destinations was tough...mostly because it was so hard to decide where to go first!  After deciding we must head to India, we decided the next logical place to go was just a bit farther south for some R & R in the Maldives.   We considered Goa, Sri Lanka and a few other places in India, mostly because they were closer but after consulting many friends, and based (mostly Eric's) our real need to CHILL, we chose the most luxurious and relaxing place on earth...the Maldives.  After flying from Jaipur to Delhi and arriving at our hotel at nearly 10 pm, only to leave at 4am for our 6am flight to Bangalore, then to Male (Maldives main airport) and then on the 1 hour 15 minute sea plane air plane, we arrived in Maldives at 11am absolutely exhausted and so, so, so happy with our decision to spend our holiday on this archipelago of over 1,190 islands (only 200 are inhabited).  I can only imagine if we had to fly there from the US!

If you ever, ever, ever have the opportunity to visit the Maldives, do it!  You will not regret visiting this heaven on earth!

So here we are, on the 1st of 4 flights in 12 hours...tired much?!

 This is where it started to get exciting....almost in Male!

 We arrived in Male, now on the bus to get to the "departures lounge" provided by our hotel...thankfully!

 The city of Male where we luckily did not have to spend any time

 First seaplane sighting

Eric takes a snooze in a very comfy chair

The lounge like this while waiting for our sea plane.  Many other hotels had their guests waiting in the airport...so happy ours did not!

 Light snacks

 Refreshed and ready to fly again!

 Our ride

 Notice the flip flops

 Nah!  Barefoot is better!

 And we're off!

Sights from the plane...breathtaking, seriously!!!  NONE of these photos are altered at all...all true color, true depiction of this amazing destination. 

 After over an hour in flight, we arrived on our island.

 We were greeted by our island host and a cool towel...exactly what I needed.   He gave us a tour of the island (sorry not photos here) and then showed us to our Beach Villa.  We decided to try out the beach villa for the first 3 nights and then the water villa the 2nd part of the trip.   We heard such great reviews of both, such difficult decisions :)

 Very secluded...view of the beach from our porch

 Outdoor bathroom complete with jacuzzi, gazebo, indoor shower and outdoor (literally under the stars) shower...absolute heaven!

 Video of our room

After we got situated, it was off to one of the pools for a little swim and happy hour

 Our first sunset...breathtaking!

 Private dinner on the beach!? Don't mind if I do :)

We slept very well that first night, relaxing in our beach villa, dreaming of the turquoise blue water and the snorkeling and scuba diving we'd be doing the next day!