The world's tiniest capital gears up for tourism
Club Mediterrance and Malaysian Airlines recently invited The Jakarta Post to take part in the Visit Maldives 1997 campaign. Stevie Emilia took pictures and wrote the following two articles about her trip.
MALE, Maldives (JP): During my visit to Club Mediterranee on Faru Island in the Republic of Maldives, a colleague urged me to visit Male, reportedly the smallest capital in the world.
Male is 2.5 kilometers long and one kilometer wide. It is located on an atoll, called Male or Kaafu, southwest of India and Sri Lanka. Walking around the island, which is nestled in the center of the archipelago's 1,192 islands, takes only 45 minutes.
In Male, people do not need vehicles to reach places. They never face traffic jams, nor do they struggle with pollution.
Male, like its 220 other inhabited atolls, only averages about five feet to six feet (1.5 meters to 1.8 meters) above sea level.
When visiting Male, women should remember that they are not allowed to wear short pants, mini-skirts or tight dresses that reveal body lines. One hundred percent of the country's 225,000 people are Sunni Moslems, of whom 55,000 live in Male.
It took 25 minutes to travel from Faru to Male by boat. My trip passed swiftly, with all the tourists looking around eagerly to catch a glimpse of Male from the sea.
Unlike a typical capital, Male is not crowded with cars or tall buildings. The highest building in the city is the four- story police headquarters.
When my boat reached the harbor at Marina Drive, my talkative guide, Rizwaan, was waiting. He was ready to show my group the splendor and natural beauty of the island's marine life and to guide us through the city's old and modern architectural areas.
He took us to a fish market close to the harbor. In front of the market some local fishermen were busy unloading their catches off their boats. Most of the fish were mackerels and bonito, a type of small tuna fish, which, according to the islanders, has the power to stimulate and strengthen when it is smoked and salted.
In addition to tourism, fishing is an important business in the Maldives.
Despite the modernization of fish processing, storing and preservation, many islanders still use small traditional boats called dhoni and batheli to fish in the deep sea. The boat is able to carry eight to 10 fishermen, including a boat leader (keolu). They catch fish with fishing lines and small nets. The government, however, is trying to modernize both the production systems and fishing facilities.
Not far from the market, Rizwaan led us, on foot, to the Islamic Center. We marveled at its elegant and modern architectural lines, and its golden cupola (made of anodized aluminum), which makes its mark on the skyline of Male along with the minarets of its Great Mosque, which is named after Sultan Thakurufaanu Al A'zam.
The three-story center, inaugurated in 1984, was built with financial assistance from Brunei, Malaysia and Pakistan.
Inside the Great Mosque people can admire the Prayer Hall, which is decorated with wood carvings and inscriptions in Arabic. The hall is big enough to hold almost 6,000 people. Those wanting to enter the mosque must be tidily dressed and take off their shoes.
A traditional market was our next stop. The market is not much different from traditional markets in Indonesia, save for the fact that no women attend customers.
"Here, men do most of the work, while women stay at home," a seller said.
In addition to dried fish, most of the goods sold here are coconuts and bananas.
The guide then led us through the Mulee-Aage presidential palace, which was guarded by police officers who smiled at the tourists trying to peek into the palace. The officers did not prevent any tourists from taking pictures outside the palace.
The palace was built by Sultan Mhamed Shamsudhdheen III in 1906 for his heir, Al-Ameer Hassan Izzudhdheen, with the help of architects from Sri Lanka. The influence is American and it was originally called Henveyru Ganduvaru. After being restored and reconstructed in 1936, the palace was renamed Mulee-Aage.
Maldives changed from being a sultanate to a republic on Jan. 1, 1953.
Close to the palace are dozens of souvenir shops, selling handicrafts, wood carvings and beach clothing, including Bali- made bikinis. Most of the stores accept U.S. dollars but the guide advised visitors to exchange their money with the local currency, ruffiya, to get fair prices. One dollar is equal to 11.70 ruffiya.
We also visited Medhu Ziyaarath, the mausoleum of Abul Barajaat Yoossuf Al Barbary, a Moroccan who brought Islam to Maldives in 1153. We then stopped by the Hukuru Miskiiy mosque, which was constructed with coral stones in the second half of the 17th century during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar.
Rizwaan explained that Maldives hopes to be crowded with foreign tourists next year during The 1997 Visit Maldives Year.
Numerous attractions are being prepared, including music and arts performances, a culinary exhibition, sports competitions, a wind surfing competition and a Miss Tourism International Beauty pageant.