After an 8 minute boat ride from the airport we were at our Male hotel in the heart of the city. Actually the island city is  115.8 square miles with 103.7 thousand people on it so everywhere can probably be referred to as the heart.  The town was jumping at 10p when we arrived. Shops and restaurants still opened and many people on the streets. We found out that there were big screens set up near the waterfront showing the World Cup. So off we went on a 15 minute walk to join the locals who were ALL male. As the only tourists we just blended into the crowd and settled in to watch the Spain vs Chile game.

This may have been the first dry sporting event I have been to, it’s a Muslim country so no alcohol. What really surprised me was some of

the tourists on the plane arriving in short shorts & belly shirts. I was stunned by this ignorance and lack of respect. I’m not saying one has to cover their head but they could have put on pants and a short sleeve shirt! Not wanting to attract attention I wore long sleeve shirts and pants while in the city. But now we are off to an outer atoll to spend the week surfing and diving!