March 10, 2025

The Maldives is another one of those destinations that we had to research before we embarked on our trip. About all I knew is that it’s in the middle of nowhere and has a bunch of islands where celebrities come to escape to exclusive resorts and stay in overwater bungalows. It turns out that is all true but there is so much more to learn. It’s a strict Muslim country with 99% of the population following Islam. In addition, Malé the capital, is a 3.5 square mile island with an elevation of 4 feet above sea level, with 225,000 people jammed on it. It’s one of the most remote, flattest and densely populated places on earth.

When I looked at the offerings for shore excursions, they were astronomically expensive and were primarily aimed towards snorkeling and seashore activities. Since our beach days are behind us, it didn’t make much sense to spend a crazy amount of money, so we decided to spend the day just checking out the city. That is, if we could find a place to stand. HAHA – It must be “rear ends and elbows” there as Tod would say.

We were happy that the lady from the hospital responded to Tod’s email but as we figured, she couldn’t offer any solutions other than selling him a new pair. Disappointed, but not completely out of options, we boarded a “tender boat” (a motorized lifeboat they use to ferry people to and from the town since the ship is anchored in the harbor) with high hopes of getting some help.

Before we disembarked, we were schooled a bit on the local culture. No alcohol on the island and since it was Ramadan, don’t expect to find anything to eat because everyone was fasting. The correct greeting was “Ramadan Mubarak” and between that and keeping a low profile, meaning don’t be typical loud Americans, we should be fine.

Getting to town only took about 15 minutes on the boat and we immediately plopped down in the shade on a crumbling wall (funny, there seem to be a lot of those) and I pulled up Google maps and entered “hearing aid repair near me”. Eureka, I got a hit! Soon we were navigating the “streets” of Malé to find the indicated address.

Believe me, walking through this city is not for the faint of heart. Between the 2-foot-wide sidewalks (and those were the wide ones), missing street bricks, traffic driving on the left, delivery trucks, cars, other pedestrians and about a bajillion scooters we picked our way to the center of town. There were so many obstacles I could constantly hear my Mom with her squeaky voice in my ear saying, “Keep your wits about you!”. No vehicles ever stop at the crosswalks, they just veer around you. If you stop, stunned in the middle of the street because a scooter is coming straight toward you, you’re toast. If you keep walking, they will just swerve around you. I guess we learned a thing or two in Sri Lanka.

After a hair raising 20 minutes of picking our way, we found ourselves at our destination. A pleasant gentleman on the street directed us up one flight to the clinic. Slowly and cautiously opening the door and absolutely unsure what we would find, we were met with an incredibly frigid (or maybe it just felt that way after our hot and perilous journey) blast of air-conditioning. Entering the small reception area and waiting room, Tod approached the ladies behind the desk, dressed in chadors* with a friendly “Ramadan Mubarak!” at which they smiled weakly and responded in kind. He then went on to explain his situation to the one that obviously spoke better English. She took his devices and asked us to take a seat in a long line of chairs where a woman and her son were also waiting and she took the hearing aids to the back.

Tod without his hearing aids on started chattering loudly “isn’t this awesome?” and I instinctively made the “zip your lips” gesture to him remembering the advice to keep a low profile. Why do Americans seem so loud anyway? They don’t ever seem that way at home, but I digress. He nodded that he understood, and we sat in silence for about 10 minutes until the clinic door opened and in walked a man and his wife, dressed in a full niqab**. I instinctively gave her a smile but not sure of the response because all we could see were her eyes and she was wearing glasses to boot. The man spoke incredibly softly to the receptionist, they remained for a few minutes and left. Not too much later, the English-speaking receptionist returned and said that they had tried several things but unfortunately, they weren’t familiar with the brand, and they just couldn’t get them to work. Thanking her profusely, we offered to pay, but she said, “no charge” and off we were back to the heat and the chaos of Malé.

One good thing I can say about the town is that it is virtually impossible to get lost because it’s so tiny. Per usual, I wanted to find some postcards before we headed back to the ship and some food. We saw that the next street over would give us a direct shot back to the dock. We assumed, correctly, that we would find at least one souvenir stand nearer the dock area.

A friendly man on the street ushered us into a small shop with none of the annoyance and hard sell that you can find in other countries. Feeling like pros at this we said, “Ramadan Mubarak!” to the staff who met us with big grins and the same words as a response. Although on first glance I could see no postcards, so I thought, here we go again and I meekly asked if they had any. Oddly enough, the lady went to a pile of paper and pulled out 2 Maldives postcards. I smiled broadly and said, “That’s great! Do you sell stamps too?”. A man sitting at a desk who appeared to be the owner gave me a look of consternation and said he was very sorry but there were no longer stamps in the Maldives and soon mail would be eliminated altogether. WHAT?? Everything now is electric he replied. Tod hissed under his breath, but how will they get their Amazon? I elbowed him in the ribs and headed off to find a few souvenirs and a top that caught my eye. As I was paying, she handed me the postcards and said, “these are complimentary!”. HAHA – she was undoubtably glad to get rid of those relics from the past.

We safely fought all the obstacles back to the dock and before we knew it we were back in familiar territory on the ship. The few hours we were in Malé could easily be described as an “out of body” experience. It’s definitely something we will laugh about for many years.

On to the Arabian Sea as we sail to our next stop, Victoria, capital of the Seychelles.

*chador = a long, flowing cloak typically worn by Muslim women covering the body and the hair but leaving the face exposed.

** niqab = is a long garment worn by some Muslim women to cover their entire body and face, excluding their eyes.