The next morning at Velassaru proved that the sunshine was indeed here to stay (it’d rained on and off for the first couple of days when we arrived to the Maldives – mostly in the evenings and usually for like 30 mins to an hour but still… 🙂 ).
Thankfully this morning, my only plans after breakfast were to go for a massage in the spa and chill in the pool afterwards.
The massages here were absolutely incredible. I know you’re not really supposed to fall asleep while having a massage but I was so relaxed, I was out like a light about halfway through and only woke up like 10 minutes towards the end.
Massage done with, we retreated to the pool with cold refreshments and basically just made (slash attempted to make) ‘chilling’ into something of an art-form. 🙂
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, right?
Eventually, I decided to sneak in some snorkeling time before lunch (snorkeling post-lunch just isn’t the best idea).
Lunch was down by the jetty area and this time, I went for coconut shrimp to start (Lloyd got the same), before moving onto lamb shank (if there’s lamb on the menu, I’m ordering it).
Lloyd went for what was fast becoming a favourite of his – a Maldivian chicken curry and to finish it all off, we had churros (Spanish doughnut-esque treats) with 3 sauces chocolate, caramel and a creamy one (I can’t remember what exactly it was called – didn’t need to though it was all about the caramel for me).
After lunch, it was all about some more relaxing (seems almost mandatory in an island as amazing as this)…
…before eventually shuffling down to the chill bar to watch that famous Maldivian sunset, cocktails in hand.
I first found out about Velassaru through Small Luxury Hotels of the World and after travelling as much as we have (#HumbleBrag 🙂 ), I can’t tell you how much I appreciate websites like that. It saves all the trawling through several hotels as they have hand-picked some of the best hotels across the world and so you can pretty much take the fact that the hotels here will be amazing and focus on other factors (like preferred locations, your budget…etc). Makes everything so much easier when it comes to looking for a great place to stay on your travels and anything that’s easier is something I wholeheartedly welcome into my travel planning. 🙂
Now where was I? Oh yeah, after sunset, it was time to get ready for dinner and although there were like 8 different choices on the island for dinner (or just grabbing a light bite to eat), we eschewed all others choices for something rather special – a 5 course wine pairing menu at the Etesian restaurant.
This wine pairing dinner happens like once a month and someone from the vineyards in France flies out to the Maldives to host the event and tell you all about the wine! It was incredible and ridiculously indulgent – suffice it to say, we loved every minute of it! Like literally, the only moments when I was stuffing my face was when I stopped to take these photos!
For dinner we had… lobster salad – paired with a Cote du Rhône.
Followed by duck liver terrine with fig compote and toasted caradamom brioche – paired with a Condrieu delight.
We cleansed our palates with a salted citrus sorbet…
…before carrying on with grilled beef tournedos – paired with a Côte-Rôtie.
We then had the herb crusted lamb loin – paired with a 2006 Hermitage red.
We finished off with a sherry and artisanal cheese board!
Talk about an amazing dining experience, right? Oh, and the wines were absolutely incredible!
Since we started blogging on here (and for a while before that), I’ve been indulging in quite a few wines across the world (another #HumbleBrad…haha! I apologise… not really 😉 ) and while I’m not sophisticated enough to detect every subtle taste or flavour in wines, I can at least confidently say I know enough to know when wine is amazing and when it just ain’t. This one was the former – absolutely fantastic across the board (then again, I doubt someone would go through all the effort of flying out an expert, instead of just using the in-house sommelier, just to serve you ‘average’ wine, right). But I digress…
The next morning, flew by exactly the same way the previous ones had and I have no complaints about that – waking up slowly to the sound of waves lapping softly on the beach, eating breakfast at the most leisurely pace ever and generally just soaking up as much of the stunning beauty of the atmosphere as possible.
Today, we would be heading off to another island but this wouldn’t be till much later.
The best part about being in Velassaru despite how remote and cut-off it feels from the rest of the Maldives… and indeed the rest of the world, is that it’s actually not too far from Male so you are a lot more in control of your itinerary than you would when you depend on a sea plane. If there’s bad weather, the seaplanes won’t take off so this is never a concern in Velassaru when it comes to catching your flight back home.
After breakfast, it was pretty much beach-time, swiftly followed by pool time, until lunch.
Now, you might recognize some of the choices from the previous day – sans my choice to give into my curry envy and get the same thing… oh, and Lloyd’s chocolatey dessert.
Eventually, it was time to say farewell to the amazing island of Velassaru!
It’s such a beautiful part of the Maldives and without a doubt an amazing place to have called home for the last few days.
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