Cultural, insightful, thought-provoking. Not words you\u2019d usually associate with a holiday to The Maldives. Yet this is the real Maldives – an archipelago of over a thousand islands, 200 inhabited, with a history of trade and migration, colonisation and independence, traditions and conversions, stretching back over millennia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the luxurious overwater villas, the local Muslim islands only started to welcome outsiders in 2010. Tourism is still fresh, and these day-to-day Maldivian islands remain relatively undiscovered. This Q&A uncovers the more authentic side to this paradisical archipelago, revealing the best of the unknown Maldives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cultural, insightful, thought-provoking. Not words you\u2019d usually associate with a holiday to The Maldives. Yet this is the real Maldives – an archipelago of over a thousand islands, 200 inhabited, with a history of trade and migration, colonisation and independence, traditions and conversions, stretching back over millennia. Beyond the luxurious overwater villas, the local Muslim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5348,"template":"","format":"standard","tags":[],"blog_category":[170,162,166,163,159,164],"class_list":["post-5435","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_category-asia-en-us","blog_category-experiential-holiday-knowledge-en-us","blog_category-experiential-holidays-en-us","blog_category-off-the-beaten-path-en-us","blog_category-responsible-travel-en-us","blog_category-sabbaticals-en-us"],"yoast_head":"\n