This blog is slightly different than usual. Of course we are still ‘normal’ traveling around the world; the sun rises in the east; it sets in the west and there are still about twenty kilos hanging from our now trained backs. Yet something changes when we board the plane from Bangkok to the sun-drenched paradise in the Indian Ocean. The trip to the Maldives feels like a holiday on holiday. From the Netherlands it takes about twelve hours, but it is often difficult to fly directly. I used to think that you had to be able to sing like Beyon-Z, act like Brangelina or play football like Messinaldo to visit the Maldives. Or at least sell three kidneys to raise the money. But no; the pristine coral islands, pristine white beaches, ridiculously blue bays and swaying palm trees are also available to hagglers, stingy Dutch and calculator travelers. Today: no resort islands, but all about backpacking in the Maldives! Also check out the video via this link!

It looks like Lego City: the capital Malé

Below I will give a brief explanation of our budget, but first of all everything about this great adventure. In pitch darkness our small Air Asia plane lands at the Maldives airport in the capital Malé. Next to the fully built-up island is an artificial island in the practical form of an airstrip, called Hulhumale. We spend the first night on this island, so that we can make the crossing to further islands the next day, fresh and fruity.
Our boat does not leave for Maafushi Island until three in the afternoon. That’s why we use half a day to explore the capital. That sounds short, but in an hour we can walk pretty much the entire island. This gives us a good idea of the fully built-out ‘Lego City’.

To save space, the streets are as narrow as possible, while demolition and construction are taking place everywhere at the same time. Sometimes it is not even clear which of the two; As a construction worker you are demolishing a brand new building! There isn’t much else to see and that’s a good thing; If you’re not paying attention, you’ll fall under one of the thousand scooters racing around. Walking on the sidewalk is also not an option. That’s where the scooters are that aren’t trying to run over people. In short, a special place to see. But due to the lack of a lunch café, the supermarket, where we buy a loaf of bread and a jar of chocolate spread for one euro, is the absolute highlight.

Maafushi: the backpackers paradise of the Maldives

When choosing islands, it is important to know that the Maldives as a country is strictly Islamic. Outside of the very expensive resorts, it is almost impossible to hang out on the beach in a bikini. Now I didn’t necessarily plan to do that myself. Although I would definitely go for a thong version and that would be fine; for my friend Suus it is quite a deal breaker. Only since 2008 has the law allowed guesthouses to be opened on local islands in combination with a stretch of beach for tourists. As a result, there are now a few local islands where tourism is starting to emerge, of which Maafushi is the best known. We sail to this ‘backpackers paradise’ in an hour and a half and pay about two dollars per person for the local boat. Private transport takes half an hour, but then you immediately pay ten times as much. And good to know: Maafushi has a beach called Bikini Beach!

Back to basics

We stay at Maafushi for three nights and we sleep at Maafushi Holiday Lodge for twenty euros per night. I don’t know what they do it for, but fresh fruit shakes, coffee/tea and an extensive breakfast buffet are included; In fact, the roti pancakes with coconut and tuna are becoming my newest addiction!

Maafushi Island is small; When I stumble over the threshold of our room, I’m already sniffing between the palm trees of the bikini beach. We experience typical island life, with a healthy combination of local culture and a bit of tourism. Apart from the cost of the hotel, life costs us virtually nothing. A few euros here and there for food and drinks: a plate of rice, noodles or kottu, that’s it!
The most important thing of all is of course the beach and that beautiful sea. Although this is not even the most remote natural spot in the Maldives; the water is bluer than a Smurf in an Italian football outfit and you can easily sprinkle the sand over your oliebollen. It is as white and soft as icing sugar. After an hour on this beach, my camera battery died. I don’t really need to say more.

The remote bounty island of Feridhoo

No matter how much fun we have at Maafushi; this was just the beginning. The purpose of our trip to the Maldives is to find a pure little island in the middle of nowhere. Really see if it is possible to go backpacking through the Maldives. We are looking for a beach where you could film a season of Expedition Robinson. Where we can encounter Tom Hanks with a three-foot beard from the film Cast Away; the desert island idea from my favorite children-for-children song. We will make that ultimate dream come true!

After some searching on the internet we arrive at the island of Feridhoo. There are only two small guesthouses in a small local village, while three quarters of the island consists of uninhabited jungle. Purely because there is enough beach and hardly anyone lives there, it is also possible to use the beach here as a tourist.
We sail from Maafushi via the capital to a local island called Villingili; Due to the lack of space in Male, it quickly becomes cheaper to sleep outside the city. Ferries between these islands cost thirty euro cents. The local boat we need to go to Feridhoo only goes three times a week, so it takes some planning, but the next day we sail to one of the most remote islands in about eight hours. And the open sea is not gentle, so keep this in mind. The entire trip costs us three euros, so that also makes our backpacker’s heart beat faster.

And there is…nothing at all!

There is actually nothing on the island of Feridhoo; exactly what we wanted. We look around and think: where have we ended up? If you’ve been traveling through Asia for six months, you’ve pretty much forgotten what silence sounds like! Deafening silence is what we find at Feridhoo. The island is bright green and there are only a few dirt roads that you can hardly call streets.

Our hotel cleverly responds to the absence of any form of tourism and offers very expensive meals. But then they don’t know these die-hard backpackers yet; We comb the village, follow our quintessential Dutch instincts and find just one small, grim café, where perhaps two and a half people are slumped over watching Indian Bollywood films. We walk inside and plop down on a couch that my grandmother would have gotten rid of in 1937 because it was old-fashioned. That first time we are received with surprise and the owner doesn’t really know what to do with us; When we then visit him twice a day for tuna fried rice, the table is already pretty much set for the arrival of his special guests. By the way, the food is delicious and we pay a few euros.

Wilson, wilson!

We spent our days exactly the way we wanted: sunbathing on a Cast Away beach. If I listen carefully, I can hear Tom Hanks shouting in the distance: Wilson! Wilson! We also play our own version of Expedition Robinson, including the absence of food. While we sing at the top of our lungs: ‘..drink milk from the coconut with our buttocks bare. You will grow up automatically!’. We walk around the entire island on a completely deserted beach, more beautiful than we could ever have imagined, without encountering a living soul. We walk through the jungle and swim with snorkels through amazing coral. Almost immediately I see turtles, moray eels, barracudas and thousands of colored fish. Paradise is available for twenty euros a day, who would have thought. Backpacking in the Maldives is really possible!

What does it cost?

Like I said, the most amazing thing about our trip was probably the price tag. That’s why I’ve made a small overview of the average costs during nine days in the Maldives. The amounts are per day per person:

Overnight stay: 13.44 euros
Breakfast: free/included
Lunch: 1.65 euros
Dinner: 3.15 euros
Local boats: 1.37 euros
Other/groceries: 0.85 euros
Beach, sea, snorkeling: free

Total: €20.46

Depending on where you board the plane, the trip to the Maldives does not have to cost much. In addition to the daily budget, we spent €112 on a ticket from Bangkok. After this adventure we left for Sri Lanka for €78. Finally, I can say that much more is possible with a slightly larger budget. But, good to know: for twenty euros a day you can run around in your bikini; collecting coconuts on the most remote bounty beaches and splashing around in the most blinding blue waters. After our backpacking adventure on these beautiful islands, we will travel to Sri Lanka and would like to receive a ticket when you move en masse to the Maldives.

For an equally cheap tour through Sri Lanka, read the tips in my next blog here: Backpacking in Sri Lanka, the top 10!