To travel is to live. Its a quote I often tell myself while packing, while sitting on the plane or while enjoying that beautiful breeze while standing at the beach. Travelling makes me feel enriched, happy, in love and alive. As you know my latest big adventure was the trip to Maldives, beautiful country in the Indian Ocean, and I wanted to tell you all about my stay in this post.
When I got this idea in my head that I wanted to visit Maldives for the first time ever, I started googling hotels. You know that exciting feeling you get when you browse through galleries of numerous different places. Sometimes it takes me hours, but this time I was pretty lucky I found what I was looking for straight away. Conrad Hotel Rangali Island stood out immediately in comparison to all the other places, this luxury hotel which is also home to whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, turtles and a coral reef. After seeing and reading about different resorts I knew this was the one I wanted to visit, specially after reading about their underwater restaurant, which you could see in one of my previous posts .
Putovati znaci ziveti. To je recenica koju cesto ponavljam u sebi dok se pakujem, kada sedim u avionu, kada uzivam u blagom vetru pored mora. Kada putujem osecam se srecno, zivo, zaljubljeno i duhovno obogaceno. Kao sto znate moja poslednja avantura bila je na Maldivima, prelepoj zemlji koja se sastoji iz mnogo ostrva u Indijskom okeanu. U ovom postu zelela sam da vam ispricam sve detalje tog iskustva.
Kada mi se ideja pojavila u glavi i kada sam pozelela da po prvi put posetim Maldive, krenula sam u malo istrazivanje. Nisam znala kako tamo stici ni u koji hotel bih isla, pa sam pretrazivala na google-u. Ponekad ovo traje satima, ali sam ovaj put vrlo brzo odlucila. Conrad Hotel Rangali Island mi je odmah izgledao par kopalja isped svih drugih, ovaj luksuzan hotel je dom divnom morskom zivotinjskom svetu, kornjacama, razama, kit ajkulama i mnogim drugim. Nakon sto sam videla slike i iscitala o razlicitim odmaralistima znala sam da je ovo hotel koji zelim da posetim, pogotovo kada sam procitala o restoranu ispod mora, koji ste videli u jednom od proslih postova.
The journey there was long but worth it. Flight to Dubai, then flight to Male, the capital city of Maldives, after which the hotel arranged a sea plane for all of its guests, and a trip with mesmerising view to the Rangali Island. It was my first time on the sea plane too, and I wasn’t sure what to expect and not only I felt great on it, but seeing all the beauty of Indian Ocean from the sky was really special.
Put je bio dugacak ali vredan ovog iskustva. Let za Dubai, pa let za Male, glavni grad Maldiva, nakon cega je hotel organizovao hidro avion za sve svoje goste, let sa neverovatnim pogledom do Rangali ostrva. Ovo je bio moj prvi put da se vozim hidro avionom i zaista je iskustvo bilo mnogo bolje nego sam ocekivala. Ne samo da sam se osecala prijatno u letu, ali sam mogla da vidim i razna blaga Indijskog okeana od gore, a to je nesto posebno.
After the warm welcome we were told that hotel is spread over two islands which are connected via bridge. There are 12 restaurants and bars and many activities you can take while staying there. In order to get from one island to another, you can take a boat (traditional Maldivian style), you can get a golf cart or even walk or swim depending on your mood. There were two main pool areas in the hotel, one in the quiet zone, which is one of the first ever infinity pools in Maldives. Gorgeous, romantic pool which was for adults only, i.e. perfect for couples or people who just want to relax with no kids around. The other pool area was as gorgeous, with a huge pool, perfect for sunbathing, or just enjoying as a big family if you prefer. I loved experiencing both, as the vibe is so different. As everything in the hotel is so spread over a big space hotel felt really private, and pool area was not busy at all even though hotel was 90% full.
Nakon divne dobrodoslice objasnili su nam da se hotel rasprostire na dva ostrva koja su povezana mostom. Hotel ima 12 razlicitih restorana i mnogo aktivnosti kojim se mozete baviti za vreme boravka. Kako biste presli sa jednog ostrva na drugo mozete se voziti tipicnim Maldivskim brodicem, mozete ici golf kart-om, pesaciti ili cak otplivati. Hotel ima dva bazena, jedan u tihoj zoni, koji je jedan od prvih inifinity bazena na Maldivima. Prelepo mesto, romanticno, samo za odrsale, dakle savrseno za parove ili ljude koji zele da se odmore od decije graje na par dana. Drugi bazen je takodje predivan, malo veci od prvog, gde mozete da se suncate ili uzivate kao velika porodica ili grupa prijatelja. Zaista sam uzivala u ova, jer je atmosfera drugacija. Posto je sve u hotelu dosta rastrkano, osecaj je zaista intiman i privatan, jer iako je hotel bio 90% pun, cinilo se kao da nema u njemu mnogo ljudi.
I received a lot of questions regarding the season. Some of you were worried that its not a good time of the year to go to Maldives, and actually I think its never bad time to go to Maldives. Temperature is always warm, its just that its a little bit windier in the summer, but I personally prefer that, and that there is a chance of monsoon, or the summer rain. It rained some of the nights while we stayed there, but it did not affect our holiday in any way. I still managed to tan, swim and enjoy the sunshine through out the day.
Mnogi su me pitali da li je sada sezona da se ide na Maldive. Neki od vas su brinuli da nije pravo vreme u godini, ali istina je da na Maldive nikada nije lose otici. Temperatura je stabilna tokom cele godine, jedino sto je leti malo vetrovitije i ucestale su monsunske kise. Ja licno mnogo volim kada je blagi vetar prisutan, jer se osecam prijatnije. Kisa je padala po noci i meni nikako nije smetala niti je uticala na moj odmor. I dalje sam uzivala na suncu i suncala se, plivala kao sto bih bilo gde drugo u Evropi.
We stayed half of the vacation in the Deluxe Beach Villa and half in the Deluxe Water Villa. If you ask me to chose which one I prefer- I really cant. It depends on your preference, but I would say that both are like these beautiful apartments just few steps away from the sea, with incredible views, light and nature around. One thing very important to me when travelling is to have enough ligt in the room. Not just for photos, but also for my mood, I am addicted to morning light and love bright spacious rooms when travelling. This accommodation ticked all the boxes for me.
Pola odmora smo odseli u Deluxe Vili na plazi a pola u Deluxe Vili na vodi. Ako me pitate koja mi je draza, zaista ne mogu da se odlucim. Zavisi sta vise volite, ali bih rekla da su oba smestaja predivna, par koraka od mora, sa neverovatnim pogledom, svetlom i prirodom. Jedna stvar koja mi je jako bitna kada putujem je da imam smestaj sa mnogo prirodnog svetla. Ne samo zbog fotografija, ali i zbog raspolozenja, navucena sam na jutarnje svetlo, i volim velike prozore i sobe sa mnogo prostora. Smestaj u ovom hotelu je bio zaista neverovatan.
Just writing about it makes me really want to be back. Let me start from the Deluxe Beach Villa, really big house, located just few steps from the beach with a private pool, was all I needed. But there was more. Gorgeous outdoor bathroom, with a big bathtub (yes, really big), outdoor lounges, beautiful living and even working area, in case you needed to finish of some work. I loved writing my blog posts and publishing them from the patio outside, while eating some delicious fruits.
Samo pisanje o tome me cini nostalgicnom. Pocecu sa Vilom na plazi, zaista velika kuca, samo par koraka od mora, privatni bazen i sve sto mozete pozeleti. Ali tu ima jos toga. Neverovatno kupatilo koje je u prirodi, velika kada (da, bas jako velika), lezaljke, pa cak i radni deo, koji je meni odlicno dosao. Ipak najvise sam uzivala pisuci postove napolju, u basti, dok sam jela egzoticno voce.
My perception of Maldives was that people only go there for their honey moon, but there were many families, friends, or couples who just went there to relax, snorkel, enjoy the scenery or try some of the amazing things you can do while staying on Rangali Island.
Moja percepcija Maldiva je bila da tamo idu ljudi radi medenog meseca, ipak bilo je tamo i mnogo porodica, parova, starijih i mladjih, prijatelja, ljudi koji su dosli da se opuste, da rone, da uzivaju u pogledu, atmosferi, ili u aktivnostima koje su dostupne u Conrad Hotel Rangali Island-u.
So you are probably wondering what are the activities that you can do there. I brought 4 books thinking that I will probably be so bored just sunbathing and walking at the beach, but actually didn’t even manage to read a single page. What can you do while staying there? To read about all different activities, click HERE. But I will fill you in on what I loved.
Verovatno se pitate koje su to aktivnosti. Ja sam ponela 4 knjige misleci da cu se smoriti od silnog suncanja i odmaranja, setnji plazom i slicno, ali zapravo nisam procitala nijednu stranicu. Sta mozete raditi dok ste na ovom ostrvu? Procitajte sve OVDE. Ipak reci cu vam u cemu sam ja uzivala.
You guys know I have been practicing yoga for a while, and there will be a separate post about that, as I loved yoga lessons at Conrad Hotel. I am not gonna go into it now, but expect it in one of the next posts. My favourite was the spa treatment. There are two different spas in the hotel, The Spa Retreat and the Over Water Spa. I visited the first one. As you can imagine you can have all sorts of treatments there, and you will see what it looks like in my video,but I think couples massage is the most popular treatment. My back was pretty tense from all the sitting and working at the computer and massage felt really well. Besides the massage I tried something I never ever tried before, and its the ear acupuncture which left me feeling reborn. I had a long chat with Naturopathy consultant and it was really interesting experience I strongly recommend. Besides all the relaxing body and soul treatments, spa and yoga, we also went on a Luxury Lucky Dolphin cruise, which was a ride on a big boat in search for dolphins. Snorkelling was also in the schedule for me, as I wanted to see manta rays, swim with baby sharks and turtles, but as the current was too strong that day, I decided not to go.
Znate da vezbam jogu vec neko vreme i o tome sledi post u narednih par dana, jer su mi casovi u Conrad Hotelu zaista odlicno legli. Moja omiljena zanimacija je bila u spa centru. Postoje dva spa centra u hotelu, The Spa Retreat i Spa iznad vode. Ja sam posetila prvi. Kao sto mozete zamisliti kolicina tretmana koje imate na raspolaganju je neverovatna. Kako sve to izgleda videcete i u videu. Masaze za parove su jako popularne, a osim masaze ja sam isla i na akupunkturu usne skoljke, koja me je neverovatno opustila i uz pomoc koje sam osetila neku neverovatnu energiju u svom telu. Takojde sam imala razgovor sa konsultantom naturopatije i ovo je za mene bilo zanimljivo iskustvo. Osim svih opustajucih tretmana i joge, isla sam i na krstarenjem okeanom u potrazi za delfinima. Ronjenje mi je takodje bilo na rasporedu, jer sam zelela da vidim male ajkule, raze, kornjace, ali je more bilo nemirno i struja jaka pa se ipak nisam upustila u tu avanturu.
I realised I never told you about the water villa. That was a truly unique experience. Your house is located in the middle of the ocean, with a beautiful balcony and a huge jacuzzi (which you could see in my previous post) and sun lounges. A very spacious bathroom, lounging area and ever so comfortable bed. I loved every second of staying in the water villa. The view on the sky at night was something I have never seen before, so many stars, beautiful constellations and just sound of the ocean. Romantic, beautiful and made me feel extremely grateful. You can see in the photos that this was a truly luxurious stay.
Nisam vam jos nista rekla o vili na vodi. Ovo je zaista bilo unikatno iskustvo. Kuca koja je locirana u sred okeana sa predivnim balkonom sa djakuzijem (koji ste mogli videti u prethodnom postu) i lezaljkama. Veliko kupatilo, deo za opustanje i udoban krevet. Ja sam uzivala u svakom trenutku.Pogled na nebo uvece je bio nesto sto nikada nisam videla do sada. Toliko zvezda i sazvezdja odjednom, sve ova priroda i zvuk okeana. Bilo je romanticno, prelepo i na tome sam jako zahvalna. Mozete videti na slikama da je ovo bilo zaista premium iskustvo.
Maldivians are really happy and welcoming by nature, so hospitality was top class. They would never walk past you in resort without saying hello. It was funny because it felt so comfortable and homely that I even started saying hello to complete strangers in the resort because it just felt like everyone was so friendly and nice. Walking barefoot is something I loved the most, it was difficult getting used to shoes, or heels, but I am not sad I am back to reality at all. Its time to do some work and I know for fact I will be back to this island, to swim with fish, enjoy in beautiful food, fruit cocktails, smoothies, coconuts, I will feel again the white sand between my toes and just relax in the hammocks. I do miss it but probably not for long as I really found my perfect Maldivian resort which is the closest to heaven on earth. Hope you like this post and hope you found it useful.
Maldivci su jako srecan i prijatan narod, tako da je ugostiteljstvo zaista bilo top. Nikada ne bi prosli pored vas da se ne pozdrave. Ovo je bilo zaista smesno jer sam ja na kraju pocela da se pozdravljam sa svima u smestaju, ukljucujuci i druge goste koje zapravo nisam poznavala. To je rezultat cinjenice da su svi zaista prijateljski nastrojeni. Rekla sam vam vec da mi nije tesko palo ni da hodam bosa nedelju dana, sta vise uzivala sam u tome. Nisam tuzna da se vratim poslu, jer znam da cu definitivno opet posetiti ovo prelepo mesto, da opet plivam sa ribama, uzivam u odlicnoj hrani,picu, vocnim koktelima, kokosu, da osetim beli pesak medju prstima i da se suncam na ljuljaskama. Mnogo mi nedostaje sve sa ovog ostrva, ali sam srecna sto sam ovako nesto iskusila jer je zaista nesto najblize raju sto mogu da zamislim.
