Lithuanians choosing cheap Maldives holidays shocked: alcohol banned on island, criminals jailed

There is no gimmick in the title or introduction of this article. The fact that anyone who dreams of the Maldives or who is already prepared there should be aware that this wonderful island nation is not a friend of alcohol. One can see the bright side of this matter: sober leave, body cleansing, detox and the like. But not so many things interest many tourists. And the ban on drinking them even works the other way around, there’s no need for that. For many, this topic is even becoming central when it comes to holidays on the islands washed by the Indian Ocean. For some, it makes you laugh, for others, it makes you angry. There are also those who break the law and then find themselves in a dungeon. No matter how luxurious the Maldives looks in photographs, the local prison is certainly not one of the most pleasant places; those who do not recommend it.

The Maldives are Muslim and their religion clearly prohibits the use of “devilish drops”. Tourists who are not interested in this beforehand are often surprised that customs officials search suitcases and carry-on luggage at the airport for bottles of alcohol. If found, confiscated without exception. He takes the find, gives the tourist a special token, which when he returns home he can exchange it for his bottle. The “dry law” also applies to airport shops: you won’t find anything impressive upon arrival. There is lemonade, juice, water and no alcohol. This is to ensure that tourists respect local laws and vacation soberly. At least such an official version, but soon I will tell you the absurd side of this matter.

Strict laws and religious precepts for some reason do not apply on private tourist islands. If there is only one hotel or tourist water villas on the island, there are drunks there for some reason. Of course, they are strictly forbidden for the staff, not a drop to taste, but guests from all over the world are allowed here. They are beaten with cocktails, wine, champagne or something stronger is poured.

But certainly not all Lithuanians can afford a vacation on those expensive private islands. After all, you want to go to the Maldives, especially now that the quarantine is taking place in Lithuania, when everything is closed. After all, those white sand beaches, leaning palm trees, and the incomprehensibly beautiful ocean look so gorgeous. Those who save but still travel to the Maldives tend to prefer the simpler islands inhabited by the native Maldives. There was no tourism at all before, but for more than ten years it has been developed as well as possible, with the emergence of many inexpensive hotels and guesthouses. I even filmed a show about that “Orijus matka” (season 2, show 8), of course I recommend watching it.

So if a tourist chooses to save money and lands on the island of the locals, they will face a “dry law” there. Note: There should be no alcohol around you where Maldives live. There will be three mosques on the small island, roughly the size of the Acropolis in Vilnius, but there will be no beer bar. Instead, you can find many kiosks selling fresh exotic fruits, of which cocktails are sold there. Very tasty, maybe a little sweet, when ordering you should ask the waiter not to add sugar.

This is not the first time I have visited the island of Mafushi, one of the most popular among unwitting tourists. There you can see funny reactions when tourists find out that they are not going to have a drink. They go from one cafe to another, tour hotels and search, constantly increasing the amount of money offered. There is simply no benefit from that. However, for many locals, freedom is more important than money; because if only the Maldivian police found out that any of the locals had alcohol, it would be very bad. Close a prison located on the same island as Mafushi. If a tourist passed by the local island, the mosquito from a vodka bottle would sadly end as well. A fine would be imposed, deportees would be deported, and those who branched out would come into conflict with the police, whereupon they would also close down to sit for days.

The only legal way to get seasick in local bars is water pipes. In the evenings you can see groups of Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian and German tourists sitting down to smoke. It is true that if we look more closely at these companies, we will notice that one by one they pour something into their glasses with lemonade. He takes out a small bottle of water from under the table and keeps pouring it, taking it to friends. What is it? I asked for. Of course, alcohol, which tourists invent illegally.

So the ridiculous part of this article is about where those intoxicants are sold. Although it is not supposed to sell, apparently the Maldivian government understands that this is a big, very big business. Although the islands are beautiful, reminiscent of paradise, local politicians do not have their own inner beauty: they are constantly involved in various corruption scandals, all kinds of machinations and the like.

One of the same gentlemen in charge of the country decided that alcohol could still be allowed, but by no means in the islands, but in the Indian Ocean that washes them, because no one lives there, only fish. The system is as follows: several ships dock near the islands where the “dry law” applies. They get an alcohol license from the government and trade liquor here. Only those vessels cannot stay ashore, there must be a distance of at least one kilometer. What does this bring? It will be more difficult to get on those boats. It is much more difficult to have small boats circulating there every night for 5 minutes on a regular basis. Free floats back and forth for those who want to drink. They can always meet tourists from our country. Mrs. Vida, Mr. Antanas, Mrs. Jacob, Mrs. Augustė – guess to congratulate everyone.

What is a Maldivian “booze ship” like? To put it mildly, not the way you imagine bars in exotic vacation destinations. There is a sad image there, similar to a very poor alubar in Lithuania. About the same thing that flourished in metropolitan dorm areas in the 1980s. I don’t know what you called those places in your circle, but we said “smell” or just “cannon.”

I will try to describe my first and so far only time in that place. We disembarked from the small boat that took us. We go up on deck, and some gentlemen sleep there cooked. It is not even nine o’clock at night, but the gentlemen are already “disappeared” completely. You sing to their ears, you jump, men in exactly the same way. Snoring with a whistle. There is nothing to see anymore, no music playing, no disco lights. It looks more like a “booze ship” than a place where a cruel crime took place. What’s more, the ship that took us is sailing back to land to pick up other tourists. Turning around and coming back is no longer an option, well, at least for the next ten to fifteen minutes before the ship returns.

Lendu further into the ship, there is finally a bar to see. More precisely, it should be said “barrel”. How modest … Behind him is a worker from Bangladesh, polishing his glasses with a towel. A couple is sitting behind a table. The man drinks beer, the girl is already “amen”, bending over to sleep. A half-naked man is sitting behind another table, writing something in a notebook, standing next to bottles of oil and vinegar. “You drink weird drinks,” I joked. The knight was not at all offended, he understood my laugh. It turns out that he is the Italian George, the owner of a “booze ship” that came from Florence. The oil and vinegar have stayed since you recently ate a salad. These ingredients were turned into sauce. There is no food menu on board, only George lives in one of the cabins, that ship is his home, so it does not behave like in a bar, but like in the kitchen of his house.

In fact, the bar itself does not look like a regular bar because it does not contain bottles of alcohol. The bartender brings the merchandise from somewhere, let’s call that place a warehouse. Customers do not receive any menu, they need to say what they want and the bartender will respond if there is still that drink in their warehouse. It turns out that the demand for goods is huge and the supply is not great. George was comforted by not being able to restock.

Interestingly, all spirits on board cost $ 100. This is the starting price for a 0.7-liter bottle. Whether you order whiskey, vodka, brandy or rum. But George, as a true Italian prone to flirting with customers, can offer a discount. Some sell a bottle for $ 90, others for $ 80. Some Lithuanians have told me that very pretty women sometimes drop the price as low as $ 60.

When you finally agree on the price, choose a drink, the bartender asks the customer if he will drink on the spot or take it away. Although officially, according to the aforementioned Maldivian laws, it cannot be “carried”. But both the waiter and Mr. George attract attention. They broke those laws sometimes, naughty. However, the glass bottle with the alcohol manufacturer’s label does not allow to collect, plastic bottles of water are ready, into which the alcohol is poured. That’s what those men I mentioned already poured into their glasses, smoking hookahs on the island. The contents of a bottle from George’s night ship.

While the bartender is serving a bottle to “go”, George advises customers not to brag too much about that alcohol on the island, not to show it to anyone, it is very important that they do not cause problems when they are intoxicated. Because if there are problems, if a neighbor feels that tourists are getting “devil’s drops” from somewhere, a scandal could arise. And scandal in such a business is wrong: they will tell an Italian ship to sail somewhere far away, maybe even to Italy.