Safe travels, Mtn!

last year

If memory serves, you and the other mtns leave tomorrow for your grand adventure in the Maldives. Safe travels and pix, please! Can’t wait to hear all about it!

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mtnrdredux_gw

last year

last modified: last year

Hello peeps. I'm baaaaack.

Our trip was great. Sri Lanka was just beautiful. I have wanted to go there for years; it was part of a work itinerary at one point that got pulled due to Civil War (fraidycats! jk). We all loved it. It reminded us of India in may ways (which you can't say... it's like saying NZ reminds you of Australia or Canada reminds you of the US... big rivalry). It was a good complement to our India trip, which was mostly in the northern India. Sri Lanka is essentially southern India (albeit the strip of land that tethered them has been gone for about 500 years). The big thing we missed by not seeing Southern India was tea plantations and beaches. We made up for it with Sri Lanka. Not to mention wild elephants, colorful Saris, waterfalls and monkeys.

We stayed in four different hotels as we travelled SL, all part of the same company. They were wonderfully unique and historic and intimate (5-10 rooms max). The service and food were impeccable. My fave part was a 4hr train ride in 3rd class on New Year's Day where we shared our lunch basket treats with local kids. The train windows were unusually large and wide open as it wended though the lush hillside. We saw everything from tea pickers in the plantations, to neat little patchworks of family farms to colorful laundry, Buddhist shrines, adorable colonial British trainstops, bright flowers, birds, schoolkids in starched white, etc etc. (a thank you to Eld's daughter who recc a train ride in SL). Everyone waved.

The Maldives portion of our trip was entirely different. We were on a resort on a tiny island. Getting there required a 14 hr flight to Doha, Qatar, followed by a 5hr flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka, then a 1.5 hr flight to Male, capital of the Maldives. Then a 30 minute seaplane. The seaplane landed in the middle of the ocean next to a 8x10' floating wood platform with no sides. Our boat pulled up and took us another 15 minutes to our tiny island resort. The island could be circumnavigated in a 15 minute walk along the beach. I would guess it had maybe two dozen bungalows (and a spa! and several restaurants).

The reason we chose this particular Maldive location was for its house reef, which was indeed excellent. As any fellow snorkelers knows, most of the time you need to take a boat trip to get to a primo snorkeling spot. Having a vibrant house reef means you can just walk in the water from the beach and put your face down and snorkel. Our villa was right on the beach and in 2 minutes you were snorkelling over coral, following stingrays, sharks, turtles and any number of vibrant colorful fish. I think I saw everything I had ever seen in any prior snorkelling adventures, right there in front of me and pretty much without anyone else around. We have been snorkeling a lot of places, and I would say this was pretty much on par with my two prior faves, Lizard Island in Australia and Mabul, Borneo. One cool thing -- a lot of bioluminescence along the shore line waves at night. So pretty.

So, the whole family was signed up to complete our SCUBA certification through a series of four open water dives in the Maldives. We were supposed to do 3 dives from the shore and one on a boat. Instead, they made them all boat dives. I was uhh, not a spectacular student. I was fine until we started going down deeper and then i just, well, hated it. We had 2 instructors for the 5 of us and I was not letting go of mine! I just could not feel calm. It didn't help that my regulator malfunctioned. And, TBH, I looked around and thought ... this isn't that different from what i saw snorkeling! When we all got back on the boat, my DH was laughing about the fact that, at one point, he looked all around him and didn't see any of us and was briefly concerned. Then he looked up and there we were! If i looked around and saw noone, I'd lose it.

On their last dive they went down nearly 40ft. (let's just say, I did not do this). I think divers usually go to 60, but because it is so remote there you can only go to 40ft since it would be hard to get you healthcare (chamber) if you became ill.

I am always so glad to be back home (and have a bowl of cereal with cold milk) and then after a day I start planning the next one!

( a few pics when I get them organized)

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Comments (65)

Sueb20
last year
Bring us back souvenirs!!
texanjana
last year
Yeah, Qatar Airways is the bomb! Have a wonderful trip, can’t wait to see pics.
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porkandham
last year
It sounds like an amazing trip!
Jilly
last year
Welcome back! You’ve been missed!

Sounds like such an awesome trip, the snorkeling especially. Can’t wait to see pics.

Loved hearing of your adventures!
bpath
last year
What a wonderful trip! (I took a college course in SCUBA and while I got certified, I did not enjoy it. I am a bit claustrophobic and that’s how I felt that far underwater. Snorkeling is just fine by me!)
deegw
last year
last modified: last year
It sounds terrific. I am so impressed that your whole family seems to have the same tolerance for the inconveniences of travel. I adore my young adult girls but 2+ weeks in planes, trains, boats and automobiles would be rough. Hangries, cramps, meltdowns, bad hair days ... My kids have been out of the house for a while and for some reason seem to regress when they spend more than 5 days with us.
eld6161
last year
I love your descriptions of your travels! Welcome home!
User
last year
Sounds amazing! Can't wait to see pictures!
Irish2
last year
Welcome back! I feel like I just returned from a virtual vacation compliments of Mtn. Looking forward to seeing your puctures as well.
DawnInCal
last year
Welcome back! Sounds like a great trip!
legomom23
last year
That sounds amazing, but my anxiety rocketed just reading about it. I would love to experience travel like that, but I get too scared to even plan it😀
OutsidePlaying
last year
What an amazing trip. I always love reading your mini-travelogues. And cannot wait to see some pics! Welcome back and enjoy the cereal! I do the same thing. Too afraid to get on the scales as a rule.
jojoco
Original Author
last year
Welcome back! I'm proud of you for at least trying scuba diving. I'm pretty sure that snorkeling (on the surface) is about as daring as I want to go.

We want pictures!
maddielee
last year
Welcome home and Happy New Year!
Annie Deighnaugh
last year
last modified: last year
Wow sounds fab! I can't remember who/where but someone recently said that Maldives was by far their favorite place to visit and would go back...thought of you and yours.
DLM2000-GW
last year
You did more with scuba than I would have! Sounds like a trip of a lifetime.
Arapaho-Rd
last year
You're back! Can you tell you've been missed :) What a trip and it sounds fabulous!
dedtired
last year
Sounds fantastic. Great that you all can tolerate such long travel times. love your descriptions, i can just see it.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
last modified: last year
Dee, Let me rush to disabuse you of the notion that our trips are pure familial bliss. At least once on every trip I find myself swearing to leave one or a subset or all of them home next time! And my kids are close enough to their teen years that they still remember how to do the "sullen teen" like a pro, as needed.

Ded, Well, I make long-haul awfully tolerable. The flights were in Qatar suites, which are like individual cubicles with a recliner in them that lies flat, plus mattress and quilt, pillows, socks, mask. In flight, food on demand from a menu, free wifi, etc. DH and I even had a suite where our seats converted into a double bed! (personally I think they are asking for trouble on this feature). The lounge where we had our layover in Doha is absolutely enormous, with private showers, fine dining, and even living rooms you can book for naps. If not for such amenities, I would have needed to break up the trip. I can't go without sleep anymore.

The service was quite impressive. About 2-3hours before landing, a steward came over to us and asked if he could wake up one of our DD, noting to us that she had been on the flight for 12 hours at that point and had only a champagne cocktail. He felt she needed breakfast. He had not seen her pig out at the sushi bar before we boarded. I thought it was funny he had kept tabs!
Jilly
last year
Have you been in your powder room since you’ve been home?
Funkyart
last year
Sounds like a wonderful trip! How amazing to have such wonderful snorkling right at your doorstep!

And welcome home! You've been missed!
Feathers11
last year
What great experiences all around! I've been to India, but missed the southern portion of the country, too. It's been on my list to return, to maybe I'll just head the Sri Lanka instead.

Being able to walk out from a beach and snorkel is almost a luxury experience anymore. I've done that and boat excursions, and the former far outweighs. Thanks for sharing your scuba experience--you've successfully convinced me that I can pass on that one!
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
last modified: last year
Feathers, I would highly recommend Sri Lanka. Plus it's fun to say. We did not drive ourselves, we used the hotel company for all of the transfers and that worked well. It's called Teardrop Hotels and they were great.

Yeah, I can get my heart rate up just thinking about SCUBA
nicole___
last year
I'm sitting in the middle of a snow storm in Colorado. SCUBA sounds pretty good to me....floating along in the current in Cozumel. ❤️

Did you all get certified?
sc_irish
last year
Your trip sounds wonderful! ~ ~ Ummm.....are you going to answer the question Jinx asked? (Jinx: You DID replace the sink with something, right? Hope that plumber I sent worked out!)
Jilly
last year
sc_irish, I replaced wth this one I found at our local Tractor Supply … I’m hoping she won’t notice for a while. 😁

The plumber was great, thank you!
texanjana
last year
Welcome home, Mtn. What a fabulous trip! I can't wait to see some pics. I tried SCUBA years ago too and decided to stick to snorkeling. I don't have claustrophobia or anything, but for some reason I just could not do it. I missed you here.
dedtired
last year
BTW, Mtn , how is your sister doing after her knee surgery?
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
Ded, thanks for asking. She has recovered with flying colors, will do the other knee in the spring. Must be my skills honed as a Candystriper?

Nicole,

My youngest got certified, a total fish, and DS and DH also. I only did 2 of the 4 dives. I stopped because a) I hated it and b)I was sucking up instructor's time from the rest of the family. If I want, I can continue on our March trip. Right now I think not, but DH will want to dive on our March trip to Cayman, Cuba and Roatan.... so maybe.

My oldest daughter suffered a strange and unexplained malady. She was a star in the first three dives, then complained of foot pain and missed the 4th dive on our last day. The pain got so bad she could not put on a sock, much less a flipper.

Fast forward to our arrival home and a Dr. visit. The Dr. had 2 possibilities re DD's foot. One, an infection. It was swollen and it was warm, but it was not as red as she'd have expected with infection. And there was no sign of any sort of injury nor did DD recall one. But, we were all barefoot all the time on the island. No one wore any shoes for 5 days.

Two, and this is bizarre ... gout!? I had actually come across that possibility myself when googling, because the pain was right at the joint of the big toe, got worse on the long flight as she slept and was sensitive to even a sheet.

But, as I told her, gout is the disease of a big fat 1920s robber baron in my book! Not a college coed. Very rare for a fit young woman. True, all of the resorts plied us with food, more of it and richer than at home. True, she doesn't usually drink but we had all taken to having a cocktail at the happy hours. True, she loves red meat but she ate sushi and ceviche most of the time (and not usually from shellfish).

The Dr sent her off with both a steroid if it were gout and antibiotic if it were an infection. Meanwhile blood tests ruled out gout and the swelling subsided and she was almost 100% when she left yesterday... with a group of girlfriends to one friend's house in Puerto Rico. She will try to do dive 4 there!

More than you wanted to know but so odd!
Allison0704
last year
That is odd. Glad she improved before her next trip.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
yeah, Allison, tough life!
Annie Deighnaugh
last year
Wow you description of flying conditions sounds incredible...a far cry from Peoples Express!!
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
last modified: last year
Annie, We were just talking about Peoples express yesterday, when someone sent me a meme that said "show me how old you are by naming an airline you flew on." HA!

Qatar Airways has won all sorts of awards. With Petrodollars to spend, they go all out!
nicole___
last year
last modified: last year
mtn....sorry about your daughters foot. Ouch! That's not fun....but glad she gets to go to Puerto Rico! Nice! Just so you know....on live aboards, yachts we charter to dive on....there are usually only 2 or 3 women....the rest are men. Scuba diving is kind-of bold. Daring. Like riding a motorcylce.....lots of women do....lots of women don't. I do. (when I was younger we had dirt bikes)
Sueb20
last year
Mtn, my friend’s daughter had gout when she was 22 and with the exact same symptoms as your DD.

The only other people I know with gout were 65 and 87!
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
last modified: last year
Nicole, I am so not a dirt bike person; nearly lost my leg in a moped accident. I force myself to be brave and do things I am not really drawn to so as to be a good role model. ( see: me skiiing)

I gave myself permission to bow out if it didn't like it. So far I only like SCUBA in a pool. HA!

SueB, I really still think that it was gout. She waited and then never took the antibiotics but she did take the steroids for like 1.5 days. Good to know it really can happen to a young woman! My kids were ribbing her no end...Gout? Sure it isn't scurvy? The vapors?
barncatz
last year
last modified: last year
Our family's fallback diagnosis is always "Ebola".
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
lol barncatz
deegw
last year
last modified: last year
Gout runs in our family, my nephew was in his mid-twenties when he had his first bout. With gout. (I couldn't resist.)

It does seem to happen after too much celebrating - restaurant food and extra cocktails. Dried cherries are supposed to be a good preventative. I've never had it but the men in our family who get it say it's very painful.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dried+cherries+gout&oq=dried+cherries+gout&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512j0i22i30l5j0i15i22i30j0i390l2.3605j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
Interesting. No one if my family has ever had it. The Dr. did say that one attack would not necessarily mean she is "gout prone."

It's a very controlled environment at these remote resorts so I pretty much know what she was eating and drinking and it seems very odd to me that it was enough to get gout. But perhaps it is all relative. She complained that we were eating 3 meals a day (plus high tea a few times and cocktail hour--- it can get a little ridiculous). As a student, she admits she eats only 1-2 meals a day.
Funkyart
last year
Gout runs in my family also -- but only the men. While rich foods/drink could bring it on, they couild also have bouts without.

My sister has a terrible time with allergies and her feet .. seems to be the adhesive used in shoes. I also have an allergy to latex and adhesives, but my feet have never swelled up/turned red and hot like hers do.
maddielee
last year
Poor DD, sounds awful. I’m glad the worse has passed for her.

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. Doesn’t gout show up in a blood test?

Were spider bite, red ant, big fly, bee, tarantula or jelly fish sting ruled out?

During my life I’ve had at least one of each. All presented with pain, swelling, warmth and redness. The big fly (green, maybe black) is the worse. The area aroung the bite stayed sore and swollen for over a week. Doctor said that some people have worse allergic reactions then others.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
last modified: last year
Yes, they did a blood test and said no gout. However, I read this: Blood tests to measure levels of uric acid can support a diagnosis of gout, but cannot confirm it. This is because it is possible for people with gout to have normal levels of uric acid, especially during an attack.

It may well have been a bite or sting, but if it was that she never noticed it and there was nothing visible. I think it was gout because it was the top of her foot, right over the joint of the big toe, and nowhere else. That is where it usually presents. It is so oddly specific.

Also really the amount of food pushed on us was crazy. Like cruises almost.
Arapaho-Rd
last year
Could it be "fin foot"? Check this out Diver's Alert Network
eld6161
last year
Mtn, so glad she has improved.

We have a strange occurrence with youngest. She discovered two wounds on her leg. Looked very strange. I thought a bug bite, but it was two, next to each other.

Doctor sent it out for a biopsy. Luckily not cancer, but we have no idea what it was.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
Were spider bite, red ant, big fly, bee, tarantula or jelly fish sting ruled out?

During my life I’ve had at least one of each.

Ouch, Maddie!

Interesting, Arapaho ... maybe?

Eld, that is scary. Glad to hear the worst is ruled out. Is it better yet?
maddielee
last year
“. I thought a bug bite, but it was two, next to each other” - spider bites are often 2 holes.

This pic is the most not scary when googling photos.
teeda
last year
last modified: last year
Just reading your follow up. I will be saving this to my "future trips" file. I'm particularly interested in Sri Lanka because DH's brother did a DNA test and the strongest link was to Sri Lanka, despite the fact that all documented history on DH's side has been Ireland/England/Dutch/Germany.
eld6161
last year
last modified: last year
Mtn, yes she is fine. But we didn't know what it was.

Maddie, the wounds were much larger. They didn’t itch.

Safe travels, Mtn!

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