Mihaaru Travelogue: Island Time

So, as part of our partnership with Mihaaru, Dan will be producing travelogue articles every Saturday, keeping people up to speed with the Two Thousand Isles trip and reflecting on five years of…well, reflecting on the Maldives as an outsider on the (outside) of the inside.

After a quick trip to do final prep in Addu turned into an intensive lesson in the mysterious movement of island time, there was little else to do but make this the topic of the first post.

“In contrast to the capital, the imam’s thousand-year routine seems to play a more vital role in lending definition to the otherwise-disorienting glare of each day. Other than the sun’s six o’clock blushes, only the clockwork calls to prayer – still uninterrupted here by the thrum of vehicles or the squawk of advertising – have provided a consistent framework for all.

Away from the dusty streets, the only thing nearing the reliability of the call to prayer, which lets itself in with the briefest Arabic nicety (just like all the neighbours), is the call to food. Bis gandhu appears as if by magic the moment you wake, and starts the regular rhythm of riha, rihaakaru, garudiya and ‘bai, bai, aasele, kaa etthah…come eat!!’”

Click here to read the rest: http://en.mihaaru.com/two-thousand-isles-island-time/