Having lost an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings Time, Julie and I awoke at 8:30am, which was late for us considering we wanted to get some hiking done today…

Julie and I were itching to do a hike today, but yesterday’s rains had lasted all day long and was forecasted to continue into this morning. So given that, we had slept…

We didn’t expect to take more than an hour or so, and it was a total last-minute decision. But that was when some unexpected things happened, and well, it just seems that adventure…

I didn’t remember the pool being this dirty the last time we were here, but apparently Julie noticed this too as she pulled a face and gave me that look that something really stunk…

We had only gone roughly two miles along the rough road, but it seemed like we had gone further than that. Mom was sitting nervously in the back (I could tell by her silence) as her car was jostling.

Continuing along the familiar trail, we noted that the trail was much softer and muddier than last year. However, it was disconcerting not to see or hear any stream. So we asked…

As for the swarming gnats, these little buggers were even after my cocktail drink which was a yellowish reddish color, and I think one or two even managed to swim in my drink…

I guess our sentiment that this place was rather “Dead As” was challenged when we happened to witness some hideous shouting of two Maori gangs hurling insults and even bottles at each other…

…no one was exactly rushing to do it, so that prompted our MC to say, “I know it’s difficult to leave the dolphins and return to your seats, but one thing I do know is that all of you can hear me..”

Sometimes Mother Nature dictates what and when you can do any activities, and today was certainly not one of those days where you could do anything. We’ll just have to cross…

It’s strange how it always seems that something goes wrong in every one of our trips. And I guess this was the bit of adversity we were faced with this time…

It was funny that we had to leave the resort to get the real Maldivian experience… to do things that are more indicative of the local lifestyle than try to have a home away from home…

…sun went down, we started to notice crabs coming out of their holes. Just a few paces from our hotel, I felt something squishy on my left sandal. I feared the worst as apparently I did it again…

When I Lokesh noticed I was busy washing my boots at a water spigot near his car, he inquired what I was doing. “I’m washing sh*t off my boots,” I said, squeamishly as my fingers were in the grooves..

…furious after realizing there was no hot water (I took a cold shower), no hair dryer, no filtered water, toilet cover broken, no hand towels, and overall the room felt quite dirty and subpar…

At 6:30pm, the plane was in a holding pattern. The captain announced that there was a thunderstorm in Mumbai (probably influenced by the cyclone), visibility was a 3km, and the runway was wet. The…

Subhash seemed like he was in shock as he sat silent, and then got out of the car. From that point, he was swarmed by villagers (one of them hitting him repeatedly). And it was then that I started…

There were a lot of firsts about today’s hike to Eaton Canyon Falls. It was the first time I was leading a hike with co-workers to expose them to some of the local waterfalls…

But when his wife came over, she said, “You should’ve seen him. He was pouting all trip long because his tripod was too big to fit in a carry-on and I wouldn’t let him bring it…”

I couldn’t figure out what was causing the stomach discomfort, whether it was ingesting too much DEET, or from the filtered water, or what. In any case, my bowels were telling me it was time to go…