$30 in a restaurant...

 

The dodgy pier at the abandoned resort at Dholhiyadhoo

Sometimes we play a game at dinner where we say how much we think our entree would cost if we bought it in a restaurant in the States (have I mentioned that we don't have a TV?). Yesterday, Matt made a lobster risotto and we threw out some numbers, then settled on 'Market Price' because of the lobster. It was good but could have benefited from some white wine.

Death of a Sailboat (don't worry--not ours)

Sachiyo looking like she's seen better days.
But this was the best we ever saw her.

This is a post we wrote awhile back but never published. We're still enjoying the Maldives. Yesterday Matt and the boys swam with dolphins (well, 'with' might be overstating things since the dolphins were just going about their business, but they didn't swim away).

 

We spent over four months with a view of this steel sailboat from our spot on the opposite wall in Galle Harbor. Apparently, she sailed from India to Sri Lanka years ago (the stories range from 5 to 10 years). 

She didn't have an inboard engine, but tried to leave Sri Lanka with a small outboard.  After the engine died and the boat was damaged in a storm, it was towed back to the port and tied up. The owner went away and the years went by.

Galle, Sri Lanka to Uligan, Maldives

Look! A sail!

We made it to the Maldives, a year behind schedule. As we were checking out of Sri Lanka, our agent gave us our port clearance document and said, 'You're going to the Maldives so it's very important that you have this because they're all Muslim there.' We're still scratching our heads over that one (for the record, just about every place you go wants a clearance document from your last port).