Julian Assange is a hero for a modern generation.
He has taken on the hypocrisy and lies of the World's most formidable superpower using nothing but the power of the internet and his own gall.
When we look at the latest batch of leaks is there really anything to be surprised about? Some faceless American diplomat thinks Putin and his cronies are gangster. Prince Andrew believes that the people who protest about Britain’s diabolical arms trade are low life lefties - so what? Ghadafi is a psycho; Brown is a loser, for christ sake it isn't rocket science.
But what wikileaks has done before this is important, if less well publicized. They have made government at least in part accountable for it’s actions. They highlighted the horrors that are being perpetrated by our governments in Iraq and Afghanistan and I for one think that the truth should be told. I am paying for these aresholes and I have a right to know what they are doing.
Most comical and scary is the reaction of the nut house that is the American right, Palin, Beck, Gingirch et al raving about how he is a war criminal. Huckerby actually wants Assange executed. This is fuckin scary! What ever happened to free speech and the first amendment? I guess it only applies if you are saying what the government wants you to say. These people who supposedly promote extreme freedom can somehow justify wanting to silence a journalist who disagrees with them and provides evidence that they are in fact a bunch of murdering, lieing, low life scum. And the democrats aren’t much better. Less than a year ago Obama and Hilary Clinton were both quoted as stressing how important the internet and free speech are and criticizing its censorship in places like China before trying to do exactly that when they are in the firing line. These people are a disgrace to humanity and to the USA.
And so the monster has woken up with a bad head and its lumbering after him. First it trode on those that supplied him services, Amazon, Paypal, the Swiss bank etc. buckled easily. Then it came up with some trumped up charges in Sweden. Can it really be so blatant and forth right? Evidently so. The situation is as compelling as watching a real life Jason Borne movie and you really don't know how it will unfold and what is coming next.
Julian Assange is the bravest person I have seen in a long time. I wish I had his courage and conviction. Sure he has his insurance policies with stuff spread around all over the World and sure it isn't just him , its thousands of faceless people operating hundreds of remote servers. But still his life is genuinely on the line here and he is facing the monster down. What a man!
This is new territory, the anarchy of the internet against the establishment. The World watches to see what happens next.
07 December 2010
06 December 2010
Bit of an update...
Been busy over the last couple of weeks so not much news flow.
Its been super cold in Bergen, the temperature hasn't been above freezing for about 3 weeks and more importantly it hasn't been raining. The UK is getting hammered with snow and is under a foot of snow, which means its ground to a halt.
The cold clear weather makes this place beautiful, the fjord in front of the lair is frozen as are all the lakes in the forest. Was out walking last weekend and it was really pretty. The waterfalls are already in condition and I went and did a head torch ascent of Starefossen (the waterfall above Bergen town) with Sandy and Harry. It was a bit thin and very brittle but otherwise in good condition. There is something special about climbing a waterfall at night whilst looking down on the city.
Katharine has been here the last couple of weekends. She is doing well and the whole pregnancy thing seems to be fine. I am fairly sure that it still hasn't all fully hit home yet. Her journey across last week was pretty epic, involving a cancelled plane from Aberdeen on the Friday (due to snow) and then a night in Amsterdam on Saturday due to KLM being shitte. At least she made it in the end but she missed Alexandra's PhD party on the Saturday which was a shame cos it was a fun night.
According to the papers there have been wood riots in Bergen, everywhere is sold out, most probably because it has been so cold. When ever a garage or garden centre gets a delivery people rush there are start fighting over it! I opted out of that and went wombeling. I got a trailer and managed to fill it from the dead stuff on the ground in the forest. Its a bit wet but you can dry it out and it burns fine. The fat cat seems happy at least.
Apart from that I have just been working - it's not exactly rock n roll
03 December 2010
Friday Joke - Different ways of seeing the World
Planning World War III
President Obama and Prime minister Cameron are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman, "Isn't that Obama and Cameron sitting over there?"
The bartender says, "Yep, that's them."
So the guy walks over and says, "Wow, this is a real honour! What are you guys doing in here?"
Obama says, "We're planning World War III."
The guy says, "Really? What's going to happen?"
Obama says, "Well, we're going to kill 10 million more Iraqs and one blonde with big tits."
The guy exclaimed, "A blonde with big tits?"
"Why are you going to kill a blonde with big tits?"
Obama turns to Cameron and says, "See, I told you. No one gives a shit about another 10 million Iraqs!"
_______________
A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr. Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery. Schwartz had the largest private part he had ever seen! 'I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz,' the mortician commented, 'I can't allow you to be cremated with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity.' So, he removed it, stuffed it into his briefcase, and took it home. 'I have something to show you won't believe,' he said to his wife, opening his briefcase. 'O gosh!' the wife exclaimed, 'Schwartz is dead!'
_______________
A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer. 'Certainly, Sir, that'll be one cent.' 'One Cent?' the man exclaimed. He glanced at the menu and asked: 'How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?' 'A nickel,' the barman replied. 'A nickel?' exclaimed the man. 'Where's the guy who owns this place?' The bartender replied: 'Upstairs, with my wife.' The man asked: 'What's he doing upstairs with your wife?' The bartender replied: 'The same thing I'm doing to his business down here.'
________________
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly: 'I have something I must confess.' 'There's no need to, 'his wife replied. 'No,' he insisted, 'I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!' 'I know,' she replied. 'Now just rest and let the poison work.
________________
'Two guys were discussing popular family trends on sex, marriage, and family values.
Bill said, 'I didn't sleep with my wife before we got married, did you?'
Larry replied, 'I'm not sure, what was her maiden name?'
___________________________________________
'Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,' the divorce Court Judge said, 'And I've decided to give your wife $775 a week,'
'That's very fair, your honor,' the husband said. 'And every now and then I'll try to send her a few bucks myself.'
___________________________________________
Two Reasons Why It's So Hard To Solve A Redneck Murder:
1. The DNA all matches.
2. There are no dental records.
_______________________________
Two Mexican detectives were investigating the murder of Juan Gonzalez.
'How was he killed?' asked one detective.
'With a golf gun,' the other detective replied.
'A golf gun! What is a golf gun?'
'I don't know. But it sure made a hole in Juan.'
President Obama and Prime minister Cameron are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman, "Isn't that Obama and Cameron sitting over there?"
The bartender says, "Yep, that's them."
So the guy walks over and says, "Wow, this is a real honour! What are you guys doing in here?"
Obama says, "We're planning World War III."
The guy says, "Really? What's going to happen?"
Obama says, "Well, we're going to kill 10 million more Iraqs and one blonde with big tits."
The guy exclaimed, "A blonde with big tits?"
"Why are you going to kill a blonde with big tits?"
Obama turns to Cameron and says, "See, I told you. No one gives a shit about another 10 million Iraqs!"
_______________
A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr. Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery. Schwartz had the largest private part he had ever seen! 'I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz,' the mortician commented, 'I can't allow you to be cremated with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity.' So, he removed it, stuffed it into his briefcase, and took it home. 'I have something to show you won't believe,' he said to his wife, opening his briefcase. 'O gosh!' the wife exclaimed, 'Schwartz is dead!'
_______________
A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer. 'Certainly, Sir, that'll be one cent.' 'One Cent?' the man exclaimed. He glanced at the menu and asked: 'How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?' 'A nickel,' the barman replied. 'A nickel?' exclaimed the man. 'Where's the guy who owns this place?' The bartender replied: 'Upstairs, with my wife.' The man asked: 'What's he doing upstairs with your wife?' The bartender replied: 'The same thing I'm doing to his business down here.'
________________
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly: 'I have something I must confess.' 'There's no need to, 'his wife replied. 'No,' he insisted, 'I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!' 'I know,' she replied. 'Now just rest and let the poison work.
________________
'Two guys were discussing popular family trends on sex, marriage, and family values.
Bill said, 'I didn't sleep with my wife before we got married, did you?'
Larry replied, 'I'm not sure, what was her maiden name?'
___________________________________________
'Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,' the divorce Court Judge said, 'And I've decided to give your wife $775 a week,'
'That's very fair, your honor,' the husband said. 'And every now and then I'll try to send her a few bucks myself.'
___________________________________________
Two Reasons Why It's So Hard To Solve A Redneck Murder:
1. The DNA all matches.
2. There are no dental records.
_______________________________
Two Mexican detectives were investigating the murder of Juan Gonzalez.
'How was he killed?' asked one detective.
'With a golf gun,' the other detective replied.
'A golf gun! What is a golf gun?'
'I don't know. But it sure made a hole in Juan.'
26 November 2010
Friday Joke
The History of telecommunications...
After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, British scientists found traces of copper wire dating and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the Brit's, in the weeks that followed, an American archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story published in the New York Times: "American archaeologists, finding traces of 200-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the British".
One week later, the Cape Times, in South Africa, reported the following:"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Thabazimbi, SouthAfrica, Lucky Simelane, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing at all. Lucky has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Africa had already gone wireless."
_______________________________
Glasgow Boys join Ferrari.
Reuters has reported that "The Ferrari F1 team fired their entire pit crew yesterday." This announcement followed Ferrari's decision to take advantage of the British government's 'Work for Benefits' scheme and employ some Glasgow youngsters.
The decision to hire them was brought about by a recent documentary on how unemployed youths from Castlemilk were able to remove a set of wheels in less than 6 seconds without proper tools, whereas Ferrari's existing crew could only do it in 8 seconds with millions of pounds worth of high tech equipment. It was thought to be an excellent, bold move by the Ferrari management team as most races are won and lost in the pits, giving Ferrari an advantage over every other team.
However, Ferrari got more than they bargained for! At the crew's first practice session, not only was the Glasgow pit crew able to change all four wheels in under 6 seconds but, within 12 seconds, they had re-sprayed, re-badged and sold the car to the McLaren team for 8 cases of Stella, a bag of weed and some photos of Lewis Hamilton's bird in the shower.
After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, British scientists found traces of copper wire dating and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the Brit's, in the weeks that followed, an American archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story published in the New York Times: "American archaeologists, finding traces of 200-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the British".
One week later, the Cape Times, in South Africa, reported the following:"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Thabazimbi, SouthAfrica, Lucky Simelane, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing at all. Lucky has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Africa had already gone wireless."
_______________________________
Glasgow Boys join Ferrari.
Reuters has reported that "The Ferrari F1 team fired their entire pit crew yesterday." This announcement followed Ferrari's decision to take advantage of the British government's 'Work for Benefits' scheme and employ some Glasgow youngsters.
The decision to hire them was brought about by a recent documentary on how unemployed youths from Castlemilk were able to remove a set of wheels in less than 6 seconds without proper tools, whereas Ferrari's existing crew could only do it in 8 seconds with millions of pounds worth of high tech equipment. It was thought to be an excellent, bold move by the Ferrari management team as most races are won and lost in the pits, giving Ferrari an advantage over every other team.
However, Ferrari got more than they bargained for! At the crew's first practice session, not only was the Glasgow pit crew able to change all four wheels in under 6 seconds but, within 12 seconds, they had re-sprayed, re-badged and sold the car to the McLaren team for 8 cases of Stella, a bag of weed and some photos of Lewis Hamilton's bird in the shower.
23 November 2010
Wednesday Movie - Danny MacAskill
19 November 2010
Fun with puns
Puns for Educated Minds
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He had too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine .
21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
25. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He had too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine .
21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
25. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
17 November 2010
The Maldives...
We have had a lot of great trips to a lot of great places: surfing, diving and exploring rain forest in Costa Rica, canyoning, biking and rafting in Utah, big mountain skiing in Canada, surfing and diving in the Caribbean and numerous others. We know that once our little girl enters the World things will change, at least for a while. So we opted to have one last trip. With Katharine being 6 months pregnant it was not going to be a wild one but that was no reason for it not to be special.
After looking at lots of options we settled on the Maldives. I have always wanted to go there and it suited our needs perfectly. Sun, sand and lots of options for being lazy. I have been feeling pretty tired and run down recently, work has been fairly stressful so I needed some R & R as much as Katharine. I had also heard that there was good diving and maybe a bit of surfing, so I wouldn’t get too bored.
We flew with BA and managed to get some good seats on the way out. The joys of travelling with a pregnant woman! It’s a long over night flight and when we arrived in Male it was hot and sweaty. I always imagined the Maldives to be up market and luxury so I was a bit surprised by the airport in Male which is pretty shitty and run down. Nothing bad, just not the opulence I had expected.
A quick, 40 minute boat ride from the airport to our island and things were looking up. The Maldives is a collection of desert islands. These islands are formed from the build up of carbonate sands on top of coral reefs. They are fringed by a lagoon which is in turn protected by the outer reef. That’s the science bit, a better way to describe them is to think about the cartoon Robinson Crusoe island with a single palm tree. They are not much more than that. It took 20 minutes to walk slowly around Kandooma, the centre was a dense jungle and the edge was fringed with sandy beaches and turquoise seas. The accommodation was in small single cabins and there was a central area by the harbour with a couple of restaurants and bars. It was all very luxurious and the staff were super friendly.
The room/hut was in the jungle, two minutes from the sea. It was surrounded by palm trees which were filled with huge fruit bats and all sorts of noisy birds. The shower had no roof and it was amazing to be able to stand in your hut, taking a douce, looking at the jungle and getting rained on. Nice touch.
We checked in and checked out the island. A quick tour and I found the dive centre. They immediately got me in the lagoon on a muppet test and when I had passed that promptly persuaded me that Nitrox (diving with enriched air) was the way forward and got me signed up on a course. I thought this was supposed to be a holiday?
Over the next week I dived pretty much everyday. The diving was excellent. Saw lots of sharks, rays (eagle, sting and manta) and some excellent reef life. We did a night dive and dived a purpose sunk wreck. The diving was in fact much better than I had been led to expect, I would say World class. The people in the dive center were super nice and very professional, I even passed my nitrox course without too much effort.
Each day there was the same bunch of people diving, plus or minus a few. There was a nice bunch of brits who were pretty funny, a german dive photographer who spoke to no-one and ignored his buddy (me) in the water. There was a lovely Spaniard from Mallorca and a Russian called Sergi who adopted a “free fall” sky diving position when descending. He had a lot of kit including the biggest dive computer I have ever seen and two knives. Given that he was also totally ripped – I think he was some sort of special forces dude. He said very little.
Away from the diving we went snorkeling with hordes of Japanese. It was a zoo. We later saw them having snorkeling lesson in the 1 m deep pool by the restaurant. Twenty of them in life vests swimming in circles being instructed on how to breath through a plastic tube. You might think such training is unnecessary but the next day I say one of them trying to eat wetabix with chopsticks!
We spent a lot of time sleeping, I hadn’t realized how tired or wired I was. It was great to just relax and read. I read the excellent and chilling “Handmaiden’s tale” while Katharine got through about three books. We also spent a lot of time eating. The food was excellent, there was one restaurant in particular, right on the beach that was amazing. You could watch the crabs digging holes , fighting for their bit of beach while a heron fished from a rock, all while eating dinner. And after eating we would adjourn to the roof top which was covered with large cushions. There we lay out, drank beer (or cranberry juice for the pregnant half of the duo) and watched the stars trying to spot constellations. It was fantastically relaxing.
I also had a try at wake boarding. It normally takes me a while to pick stuff up so I was pretty happy to get up on the board on the 4th or 5th attempt. Even the instructor seemed surprised. He said it was unusual for “someone of my size” to get up so easily. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment on my dexterity or an insult about my size. I’ll take the former…
And then our week came to an end and we checked out, paid our bills and caught the boat back to the airport. The boats departure was delayed while they searched the bags of an arab girl and confiscated all the bits that she has stolen from the room. Classy!
The Maldives is amazing as a place to relax, but its not cheap. Kandooma is run by the holiday inn, although it is way more up market than any holiday inn I ever stayed in before. As far as the Maldives go its good value and the luxury is fantastic. The facilities are excellent, the setting is fantastic and the staff are friendly and attentive. There are virtually no Americans there and their hideous tipping culture where you always think people are just working you for a better tip is totally absent. Everything is just booked to your room and you pay when you leave. It is an excellent place to go on holiday, especially if you need to unwind. I even started to develop an interest in Carbonate sedimentology.
After looking at lots of options we settled on the Maldives. I have always wanted to go there and it suited our needs perfectly. Sun, sand and lots of options for being lazy. I have been feeling pretty tired and run down recently, work has been fairly stressful so I needed some R & R as much as Katharine. I had also heard that there was good diving and maybe a bit of surfing, so I wouldn’t get too bored.
We flew with BA and managed to get some good seats on the way out. The joys of travelling with a pregnant woman! It’s a long over night flight and when we arrived in Male it was hot and sweaty. I always imagined the Maldives to be up market and luxury so I was a bit surprised by the airport in Male which is pretty shitty and run down. Nothing bad, just not the opulence I had expected.
A quick, 40 minute boat ride from the airport to our island and things were looking up. The Maldives is a collection of desert islands. These islands are formed from the build up of carbonate sands on top of coral reefs. They are fringed by a lagoon which is in turn protected by the outer reef. That’s the science bit, a better way to describe them is to think about the cartoon Robinson Crusoe island with a single palm tree. They are not much more than that. It took 20 minutes to walk slowly around Kandooma, the centre was a dense jungle and the edge was fringed with sandy beaches and turquoise seas. The accommodation was in small single cabins and there was a central area by the harbour with a couple of restaurants and bars. It was all very luxurious and the staff were super friendly.
The room/hut was in the jungle, two minutes from the sea. It was surrounded by palm trees which were filled with huge fruit bats and all sorts of noisy birds. The shower had no roof and it was amazing to be able to stand in your hut, taking a douce, looking at the jungle and getting rained on. Nice touch.
We checked in and checked out the island. A quick tour and I found the dive centre. They immediately got me in the lagoon on a muppet test and when I had passed that promptly persuaded me that Nitrox (diving with enriched air) was the way forward and got me signed up on a course. I thought this was supposed to be a holiday?
Over the next week I dived pretty much everyday. The diving was excellent. Saw lots of sharks, rays (eagle, sting and manta) and some excellent reef life. We did a night dive and dived a purpose sunk wreck. The diving was in fact much better than I had been led to expect, I would say World class. The people in the dive center were super nice and very professional, I even passed my nitrox course without too much effort.
Each day there was the same bunch of people diving, plus or minus a few. There was a nice bunch of brits who were pretty funny, a german dive photographer who spoke to no-one and ignored his buddy (me) in the water. There was a lovely Spaniard from Mallorca and a Russian called Sergi who adopted a “free fall” sky diving position when descending. He had a lot of kit including the biggest dive computer I have ever seen and two knives. Given that he was also totally ripped – I think he was some sort of special forces dude. He said very little.
Away from the diving we went snorkeling with hordes of Japanese. It was a zoo. We later saw them having snorkeling lesson in the 1 m deep pool by the restaurant. Twenty of them in life vests swimming in circles being instructed on how to breath through a plastic tube. You might think such training is unnecessary but the next day I say one of them trying to eat wetabix with chopsticks!
We spent a lot of time sleeping, I hadn’t realized how tired or wired I was. It was great to just relax and read. I read the excellent and chilling “Handmaiden’s tale” while Katharine got through about three books. We also spent a lot of time eating. The food was excellent, there was one restaurant in particular, right on the beach that was amazing. You could watch the crabs digging holes , fighting for their bit of beach while a heron fished from a rock, all while eating dinner. And after eating we would adjourn to the roof top which was covered with large cushions. There we lay out, drank beer (or cranberry juice for the pregnant half of the duo) and watched the stars trying to spot constellations. It was fantastically relaxing.
I also had a try at wake boarding. It normally takes me a while to pick stuff up so I was pretty happy to get up on the board on the 4th or 5th attempt. Even the instructor seemed surprised. He said it was unusual for “someone of my size” to get up so easily. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment on my dexterity or an insult about my size. I’ll take the former…
And then our week came to an end and we checked out, paid our bills and caught the boat back to the airport. The boats departure was delayed while they searched the bags of an arab girl and confiscated all the bits that she has stolen from the room. Classy!
The Maldives is amazing as a place to relax, but its not cheap. Kandooma is run by the holiday inn, although it is way more up market than any holiday inn I ever stayed in before. As far as the Maldives go its good value and the luxury is fantastic. The facilities are excellent, the setting is fantastic and the staff are friendly and attentive. There are virtually no Americans there and their hideous tipping culture where you always think people are just working you for a better tip is totally absent. Everything is just booked to your room and you pay when you leave. It is an excellent place to go on holiday, especially if you need to unwind. I even started to develop an interest in Carbonate sedimentology.
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