Having sampled some island life and seen how the wind picks up during the day, as well as the heat, one can appreciate why the ferry leaves early. One, not us! For getting up at 5am on any morning is a struggle, to do so and leave such an idyllic location seem doubly torturous.
Breakfast washed down with chilled apple juice, we walked the 268m down the east side of the island, passing up the offer of a wheelbarrow to carry our bags, also passing numerous golf buggies packing up for the lazy tourists. It was difficult to stay awake as the waves rolled gently under the boat and the heat was still tolerable. We both must have read paragraphs in our respective books several times before eventually giving up. A short stop at Himmafushi, giving the tauts a chance to sell tacky souvenirs and tea and we were on the final stretch of open water back to Male’. 
We trudged up the city with our bags, deeming this exercise quite enough for today’s fitness regime and arrived at our accomodation… Where we were greeted by the perplexed receptionist from last time. He clearly didn’t understand us that we would be returning, nor that he had any communication from Nashid whom brought us to the hotel, or Ahmed whom we emailed (and paid). A bit of confusion and scribbling dates on paper with our invoice and we’re a bit more confident this won’t happen on the next visit.
Up one more flight of stairs from last visit, we had poorer wifi, but the room didn’t smell of cigarette smoke. Caught up on some washing with fresh water supplies and then Katherine enjoyed a long Skype chat with Clare. If Clare ends up getting a boxer puppy we can blame Kat’s bad influence from abroad. Tut tut!
We chilled out in the air conditioned room, occasionally turning it off when it got too cold and on again when it was too hot. This yo-yo a/c routine continued as we watched The Hobbit – Desolation of Smaug. Kat having finally read the book, I was not pestered with a hundred and one questions throughout the film. It was blissful watching it, maybe in part cause ‘someone’ fell asleep with only 10mins left of the movie.
I went out to find some grub. Having had breakfast at 05:45 and munching biscuits and M&M’s all day, we needed something substantial – my tummy was grumbling more than a dwarf. I was disappointed to find the restaurant I was aiming for to be closed for refurbishment and I hadn’t a clue where else to look for in that part of the city. So, I walked down the main road and stuck my head in a window to a narrow little take away restaurant to order burgers and wraps. A feast was to be had, so I had to return with Diet Coke, made in Thulushdoo (which we passed earlier that morning); it is the only Coca-Cola factory in the world where the drinks are made from de-salinated water. And a good thing that is too, for it was disgusting. But, Milo chocolate bars help make up for that misdemeanour.
Sunday 28th February 2016
Trans Travels 