Polski
Maldives – Paradise on Earth. The direction of the richest and in love. Paradise beaches, sunshine, blue water, coral. Hotels designed to make every tourist forget the worries of everyday life. An archipelago that is a destination for couples wishing to marry and also a country of unprecedented social inequality. A place on the world map that is responsible for the breakups of those who thought they were destined for each other forever. As long as they believe in Fatum.
Table of Contents:
- Unforgettable views
- Maldives is not a friendly country for its people
- In the world’s top divorces
- Paradise wedding
- Paradise, which may turn out to be Hell. Love of vacations and freedom
- It’s not always as beautiful as we expected
- Do you have boundless faith in your love? The Maldives is the perfect place to fulfill it
Unforgettable views
The 105 islands that make up the Maldives archipelago, located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, surpass Italy and France as the favorite destinations of 800 wealthy vacationers surveyed by Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a London-based company whose portfolio includes 520 luxury hotels in 70 countries. We associate the Maldives (the country’s full name is the Republic of Maldives) with palm trees, white sand beaches, fancy drinks, scuba diving, and holiday romance. Just dive headfirst a few inches, while the water does not reach your waist, to see thousands of corals bathed in light, yellow, green, blue or purple, with many patterns, labyrinths in which you can only get lost. Around the reef, colors also compete in beauty, between the turquoise of the sea, the blue of the sky, the white of the beach and the green of the lush vegetation that submerges the thin strip of sand dipping into the ocean. Fulhadhoo Island in the Maldives looks like a paradise among paradises. A survey of the world’s wealthiest consumers shows that their preferred destination is the Maldives archipelago. No wonder, given what they can offer to those thirsty for Nature’s beauty.
Read also: Immortal boho style – Agnieszka Wozniak-Starak and Jennifer Lopez
Maldives is not a friendly country for its people
The Maldives has always been inhabited. Originally Buddhists, its residents converted to Islam, probably in the 12th century. Some 900,000 annual guests who rent rooms for a minimum of 200 euros hardly know it. Directed directly by travel agents from the airport in Male, the capital, to their “island hotel,” they meet only Maldivian waiters, maids or those who clean up the beach in the early morning.
The two populations live in separate worlds. Access to inhabited islands is strictly regulated, homestay accommodation is prohibited. Westerners can drink alcohol, locals cannot. Islam is the only accepted religion, others are banned. Visitors sunbathe in bikinis, but not the locals. They are whipped if they engage in extramarital sex, a method defended until recently by the government to the UN human rights chief. Tourists belong to the upper classes, natives are generally at the bottom of the social ladder. Unemployment and drugs are two of the archipelago’s main problems. When we imagine the Maldives, we immediately think of coconut trees, white sand beaches, cocktails and even scuba diving – for the most athletic among us. However, this tiny island state located in the middle of the Indian Ocean has another feature, quite remarkable: it holds the world record for the number ofdivorces per capita.
There are 3,400 divorcees on the islands (it is not known exactly how many – most statistics say 1,100-1300) that make up the Maldives, or 11 per 1,000 residents. For example, in the United States the figure is 4 per 1,000 and in France 2 per 1,000, respectively. According to UN statistics, a Maldivian woman in her 30s has already had three divorces. Residents have their own explanation for this – the divorce epidemic is nothing more than the result of the country being too small. However, this is not a sufficient explanation. Other factors that influence and have influenced this in the past should also be taken into account. As recently as 2001. Men in the Maldives had a privileged position when it came to divorce. It is worth noting that each of them can take four women as wives at the same time – provided they can afford to support them with dignity. He can also request a divorce the day after the marriage. Right after the wedding night… All he has to do is sign the appropriate document. Never mind that he consummated the relationship. In addition, if his spouse cheats on him with another, he can file for divorce by applying to the chief of the island where he lives. Until recently, a fisherman or sailor could get married on any of the islands in the archipelago – and four times. It’s no wonder, then, that he entered into marriage up to twenty times in his life. He had the right to beat his unfaithful wife with impunity and divorce her. Women had no such “privileges.” The divorce procedure in their case was much more complicated, time-consuming and humiliating. The husband’s approval was also necessary. In 2001. The procedure in this regard was changed and women were also granted the right to divorce. The rulers thus wanted to reduce the number of divorces through an equal law for both sexes.
In the world’s top divorces
The Maldives ranks among the top of the Guinness Book’s infamous divorce statistics in terms of divorce. This is a country where religion determines the rules of social life and whose commandments forbid the sexual act before marriage. A Muslim country where Shariah is in force and possession (and bringing into the country!) of Bibles is forbidden. The only alternative for young people who want to enjoy this side of life is to get married. Just to go to bed together. For them, the ability to legally have sex is conditional on marriage. After an intoxicating night comes sobriety and reflection, which in many cases ends in divorce. It is therefore not surprising that given the circumstances of marriage, the Maldives is just after Belarus and the United States in terms of divorce. Young Maldivians often say there is no future for them in the islands. Only tourists have a choice. Come, stay and go. Natives do not have this option. What would happen to divorcees if they could not become one and were forced to stay on the islands in their company? Boredom, indifference, hostility? What would such situations lead to?
Editorial recommends: Kasia Gallanio – the tragic end of an Arab fairy tale.
Paradise wedding
There is no room for cultural and social discovery in the Maldives. Residents are not allowed to interact with visitors, and hotels are located on dedicated islands with no historical past, artificially arranged for mass tourism. There’s nothing wrong with lounging on the beach in itself, after all, that’s what we go there for. Tourists do not come there to delve into the country’s socio-political situation. Their sole purpose is to relax. And this is hardly surprising. If we wanted to make the destination of our vacation dependent on the prevailing regime there, the choice of places would be severely limited. Tourism is not politics.
The Maldives is a dream honeymoon destination among Europeans. Great weather conditions, warm ocean waters, romantic sunsets. After all, this is often where movie gangsters would start a new life after pulling off a successful bank robbery. There is supposedly a part of truth in every rumor. The situation of indigenous peoples – who cares. As Woody Allen said: “My wife and I wondered what would be better for us. A week’s vacation in the Maldives or a divorce. We quickly determined that it only takes a week to stay in the islands, and the divorce is for the rest of our lives.”
Paradise, which may turn out to be Hell. Love of vacations and freedom
Become Robinson Cruzoe for a while. Many have dreamed of it. The Maldives is the perfect place to fulfill those childhood desires. Keep in mind, however, that based on responses from more than three thousand divorcees or separated couples surveyed, the Maldives is among the places that do not bring happiness. 20 percent. Surveyed couples who spent their honeymoon in this paradise destination were divorced upon their return. Fatum? According to psychologists, there is a real tendency to break up in the summer. Journalist David Mc Candless conducted an investigation that confirms this opinion. He measured the number of occurrences of the words “rupture” and “breakup” on social media. The result? It increased during the summer. The numbers are exponential and don’t cheat: 3 out of 5 pairs separate in the summer. Psychiatrist James P. Cattell just before the vacations noticed some restlessness, irritability and even nostalgia, which may be affecting the couple. We know that summer depression is a reality, but in this case it is the desire for freedom that pushes us to end our relationship.
Summer is a time when you feel freer. There is less responsibility on our shoulders this time of year. So we want to put all the negativity behind us, especially if we don’t get along well with our spouse. We also often evaluate us the relationship from a new perspective flowing from a sense of freedom, a break from what was before. New insights with a sense of complete freedom. Summer is the perfect season for separation in the sense that we don’t stay confined to the house. We look at the world from a different perspective and sometimes reevaluate our life decisions. Another phenomenon psychologists point out is that we meet more people in the summer. We are more eager to meet new people. The sun, the beach, the sea, the palm trees, the drinks, the night parties in the hotel liberate us from restrictions. If there were already tensions in the couple, we are then stepping on thin ice, which in the tropics melts quickly…. Anything can happen on a dream vacation, the Maldives is not the rule, but….
It’s not always as beautiful as we expected
According to some reports, paradise islands should be avoided by newlyweds as long as they care about maintaining their relationship. Why? According to Compare.bet, which surveyed 3,100 divorcees from around the world, the islands are among the places visited by lovers that resulted in the breakup of their relationship. The Maldives, as with the first place in terms of the number of divorces in the world, also ranked first in this category as well. As a honeymoon destination that ended in the couple’s separation – 610 out of 610 visiting couples! It is definitely wiser to visit the Maldives alone. Admittedly, tourists won’t go wild in the local discos or nightclubs, either (bans related to religion). Instead, they will benefit from the all-encompassing presence of the Ocean. Those who have been there say that no words can convey the beauty of the place. It is the place in the world with the whitest sand and the most turquoise shade of water. Tourists there can live on one of several hundred small islands in a fairy-tale house on stilts. It’s a place where you forget about your smartphone and the passing of time. The Maldives is one of 11 countries in the world that has never experienced sub-zero temperatures.
Do you have boundless faith in your love? The Maldives is the perfect place to fulfill it
The Maldives is one of the favorite destinations for lovers, but especially couples who want to spend their honeymoon in a dream setting. With turquoise seas and gorgeous white sandy beaches as far as the eye can see, it is a heavenly setting waiting for them to celebrate love. Hidden in the middle of tropical vegetation or rising on stilts above the waves, the rooms are as large as suites and feature a king-size bed, a giant bathtub, a terrace and a private lagoon pool, large sofas for napping or cozying up under the open sky … Everything you need for an unforgettable honeymoon. Here the lovers are the kings. Travel aboard a “dhoni” or beautiful sailboat to a deserted island for an unforgettable sunset view. Three-hour Indian massages, followed by a rose petal bath with candles and a bottle of champagne. Drunk with happiness and bubbly couples heading to their “house of love” in the evening. After a typical day of lovers in the Maldives or a morning of snorkeling, an addictive activity becomes the spa; couples stay there for hours, watching tropical fish swim under the glass floor, and enjoy various massages throughout the afternoon. Since the first two resorts opened in 1972, the Maldives has begun to welcome tourists from around the world.
Today, one hundred islands, transformed into resorts, host more than a million vacationers. The first holiday village facilities gave way to luxury hotel complexes. The opening to tourism in 1998 of other, more remote atolls provided access to authentic and almost pristine islands. In 2004, the state, which owns all the islands, auctioned off eleven concessions for tourism development on the most remote atolls. A dream archipelago for those seeking romance. With some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and breathtaking crystal clear waters, it’s easy to see why this is a dream destination for so many. What could be more romantic than a wedding ceremony in paradise? This is a unique experience for those planning a wedding ceremony. What could be more romantic than a wedding in an underwater lagoon, surrounded by gentle waves and dolphins in a relaxingatmosphere? The natural beauty of the Maldives is sure to leave a lasting impression in your honeymoon memories. Every year, several thousand couples come to anchor their love in the Maldives. Those who do not believe in the fate associated with this place, but in the power of their love. Much more than an idyllic beach paradise for honeymooners and couples, the Maldives is a tropical playground ready to be explored by couples and solo adventurers and explorers. Without any experience, traveling alone gives you the chance to fully immerse yourself in this tropical paradise.
