The Maldives is a chain of 26 coral atolls, 375 miles south west of Sri Lanka, extending across the equator in a north-south strip 468 miles long and 73miles wide. The 1190 low-lying coral islands are so small that dry land makes up less than 5% of the country’s total territory. Indeed the number of islands varies from guide book to guide book – it all depends upon one’s definition of an island. Most locals consider a piece of dry land qualifies if it has vegetation established on it – a sandbank is therefore excluded!
Ninety nine per cent of the country’s territory is made up by sea and only 200 of the islands are inhabited, of which 90 are tourist islands. The islands are rarely more than a metre above sea level and whilst rising sea levels caused by global warming is considered a major threat by many, there are others who argue that coral regenerates and likes to grow just below the surface of the sea, and islands may grow as sea levels rise. However, of greater concern is the risk of storms caused by changing weather patters, which threaten the islands fragile beaches and coral reefs. The islands are not normally affected by storms being in a region that does not normally experience hurricanes. (See When to go, below)
The islands may be idyllic, but the real action is in the sea: there are reefs and lagoons aplenty populated by the most stunning array of brilliantly-coloured fish, with each atoll surrounded by a coral reef, and a reef and a crystal clear lagoon surrounding each island.
Strict local regulation of fishing and commercial exploitation has kept the marine environment in a near-pristine state, but in 1998 the reefs began feeling the effects of El Ninõ. A rise in sea temperature, lasting two weeks, stripped the reefs of a symbiotic algae that caused ‘bleaching’ of the coral polyps. While bleaching can be devastating, most of the Maldive coral reefs emerged unscathed, and it appears the process has not harmed any other marine life. Marine biologists and reef-watchers believe the process to be cyclical and are watching the growth of the new coral with avid interest. In short, the reefs are still a scuba diving and snorkelling wonder world, although they have temporarily lost some of their technicolour splendour.
Though many of the bigger islands look like the picture-perfect, palm-fringed tropical fantasy, most have poor, sandy soil which supports only a limited range of plants – bamboo, pandanus, banana, mangroves, breadfruit trees, banyans, tropical vines and numerous coconut palms. The larger, wetter islands have small areas of rainforest. The main crops are limited to sweet potatoes, yams, taro, millet and watermelon, though a few more fertile islands have citrus fruits and pineapples.
Natural fauna is sparse – giant fruit bats, colourful lizards and the occasional rat. Domestic animals include cats, a few chickens, goats and some rabbits. The most exciting wildlife is under the water. Anyone with a mask and snorkel will see butterfly fish, angel fish, parrot fish, rock cod, unicorn fish, trumpet fish, bluestripe snapper, Moorish idols, oriental sweetlips and more. Larger life forms, eagerly sought by scuba divers, include sharks, stingrays, manta rays, turtles and dolphins.
Tourism
Tourism has been established in the Maldives since 1972, when George Corbin, an Italian entrepreneur, brought 12 guests – mostly travel writers – to what he was convinced was the perfect holiday destination. They found a nation unchanged for decades, 93,000 residents without a single policeman or phone and one car. Within a year a handful of self-contained resorts had opened. By the end of the decade, President Gayoom had passed tourism laws which have safeguarded the islands and ensured the Maldives a cut on any tourism income ever since.
To this date, Italians have dominated the tourism market, preferring Club style resorts where they have exclusivity. The British market has grown rapidly over the last five years and is now the seond largest source of tourists. Being accessible from Europe and Asia, tourist resorts can be very cosmopolitan, with visitors from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Holland, Spain, Germany, France and Russia and many others besides!
With visitor figure reaching 360,000 in 1998 (the local population stands at around 290,000), the 1979 law showed amazing foresight, restricting building to the height of the surrounding trees, stating that trees cannot be cut down without prior permission from the Ministry and that resorts must not take water from ‘inhabited’ islands. In 1982, the new department for tourism (later to become the Ministry) decreed that all the resorts occupy their own self-contained worlds, made of natural materials and free from traffic and crime, catering to modern-day Crusoes with abundant creature comforts.
It was a privilege to be present when the King of Norway cut the ribbon for the opening of the world’s longest road tunnel between Lærdal and Aurland on November 27, 2000. Several thousand persons attended this historic event in beautiful fall weather.
The Lærdal Tunnel was built during a five-year period from 1995-2000 at a cost of approximately 125 million U.S. dollars. It is an important link in the ferry-free road connection between the Bergen area and Eastern Norway, including Oslo, and is especially significant for winter traffic, when the high mountain passes are closed, or subject to closing, because of snow. The mountains above the tunnel reach elevations up to 1809 meters (5935 feet), and the breathtaking high-mountain road between Aurland and Lærdal, the so-called Snow Road, is open only for a few months during the summer. This tunnel is not only the world’s longest, 24.5 km ( 15.2 miles), but also the world’s most uniquely constructed tunnel with exceptional security features. (The world’s second longest, the St. Gottard Tunnel in Switzerland, is only 16.92 km, or 10 miles). An access tunnel of 2.1 km (1.3 miles) was built from a side valley, Tynjadalen (Tønjum Valley), 6 km (3.72 miles) from the Lærdal side. This enabled the crews to drill from four sites, which shortened the construction time. This access tunnel also serves as an extraction tunnel for the ventilation system, and made it possible to deposit the excavated rock on the Lærdal side in an environmentally secure area.
High air quality in the tunnel is achieved in two ways, by ventilation and purification. Large fans draw air in from both entrances, and polluted air is expelled through the ventilation tunnel to Tynjadalen. The Lærdal Tunnel is the first in the world to be equipped with an air treatment plant, located in a 100-meter (328 feet) cavern 9.5 km (5.9 miles) from Aurland, that removes both dust and nitrogen dioxide from the tunnel air. Two large fans draw air through the treatment plant, where dust and soot are removed by an electrostatic filter. Then the air is drawn through a large carbon filter which removes the nitrogen dioxide.
To support and strengthen the ceiling and the walls of the tunnel, 200,000 steel bolts of up to 5 meters (16 feet) in length have been used, and 35,000 square meters (42,000 square yards) of concrete has been poured!
The new tunnel is of great importance to Aurland, not only for its connection eastward, but also for greatly improved contact to its own district, especially Lærdal, Årdal, Sogndal, Luster, Leikanger and Balestrand, as well as Sunnfjord and Nordfjord. Inner Sogn, previously isolated by high mountains, has suddenly become the navel (navle: central point) of Norway, to quote the newspaper Bergens Tidende.
In order to break the monotony of a 20-minute drive, the tunnel has been divided up into four sections by creating three large caverns, or mountain halls, 6 km (3.7 miles) from each end and one in the middle. Special attention has been paid to the lighting. Whereas white light is used in the tunnel itself, the mountain halls are equipped with blue and yellow light. This gives one the illusion of driving into daylight every 6 km (3.7 miles), and the golden light along the floor gives the illusion of sunrise! To keep the drivers from being inattentive or falling asleep, and thus causing head-on collisions, each lane is supplied with a loud rumble strip toward the center!
Thousands of tourists drive through the tunnel for the unique experience. A romantic ambiance has even been suggested when a couple decided to get married in one of the mountain halls ! A group of women from Årdal, Lærdal and Aurland, calling themselves jenteslepp “gals’ night out”, have had an organizational meeting in the tunnel!
The following are some of the exceptional security measures taken in case of accidents and/or fire:
- Emergency phones marked SOS have been placed every 250 meters (820 feet)
- Fire extinguishers have been placed every 125 meters (410 feet), which is closer than in other tunnels
- Stop lights and signs reading: snu og køyr ut, “turn and drive out”, go on when one of the emergency phones is used
- 15 turning areas have been constructed for buses and semi-trailers
- In addition to the three mountain halls, emergency niches have been built every 500 meters (1640 feet)
- Emergency phone channels for police, fire departments and hospitals
- Data connections to night-watch and security centers in Lærdal and Bergen
- Special wiring for the use of radio and mobile phones
- Photo inspection and counting of all vehicles entering and exiting the tunnel
A total of 2.5 million cubic meters (3.27 million cubic yards) of rock has been removed from the entire tunnel. On the Aurland side, the excavated rock has been used for various municipal purposes, to build part of the new highway between Flåm and Aurland , and for a unique pedestrian and bicycle path along the Aurland Fjord from Flåm to Otternes. In order to gain the necessary width for the path, large quantities of rocks were dumped in the fjord. With landscaping, blacktopping, and wooden railings, this is probably the most exquisite and expensive path in the world!
Canvas is a futuristic concept laptop that is supposed to provide a better quality for the designer and also its said that it will raise the productive rate of the artist. It will feature a very thin touchscreen and the other components will look just about the same but they will be better adjusted.
The creative brain of designer Kyle Cherry has had a go at reinventing the laptop, with the specific needs of “creative” users in mind. Keeping the design clean and simple so artistic efforts are unhindered, auxiliary controls sit outside of the keyboard area and include a four-way navigation joystick. He envisages it being a touchscreen device with a configurable screen, skinny and attractive enough to make even a MacBook Air look twice. Of course, it’s just a flight-of-fancy design, but after a glance at the gallery you too will be wishing it was a real machine.
