Back to Baros: What happened when we returned to our island paradise
Back to Baros: What happened when we returned to our island paradise
should you ever try to reproduce a perfect journey from the past, or should you remember it?
When my editor sent me to the Maldives at the Asian Woman Magazine on a trip, I could hardly believe it. A week on the luxurious private island of Baros with flights, accommodation and all paid excursions seemed through and through fantastic. I was also told that I should take my boyfriend on these wannabe honeymoon.
that was in 2012 and while Peter and I were together in Italy, Iceland and Cambodia, it was nowhere so idyllic. With heavenly expectations we flew to Malé, the capital of the Maldives, and took a private speedboat to the island of Baros.
PR-Bild The idyllic island of Baros Maldives
The trip was predictably perfect. We ate on a private sandbar, sailed with dolphins, drank champagne on a Dhoni ship and tried a nine-course menu. In short, we could hardly believe our luck.
What we didn't know at the time was that Baros Maldives would set an incredibly high water brand with which we would compare our future trips. In the following ten years we traveled around 50 countries together, including breathtaking beach destinations such as St. Kitts and Nevis, Bora Bora, Fiji, Mauritius and the Cook Islands. While some of these places were close, nobody competed with Baros.
PR-Bild Baros Maldives has set an incredibly high water brand
Peter and I always spoke of the return theoretically. We have newly arranged days and activities to hypothetically create the perfect week: dinner on the beach instead of in the lighthouse, diving instead of snorkeling, maybe a second massage. In view of the associated costs, we never thought that we would actually do it.
After two years of the lockdown, however, we wanted to live again. I had been on a treadmill for years, had published my novels "Take It Back", then "Truth Be Told", then "Next of Kin" and wrote "The People Next Door". I hadn't rewarded myself for this work. I also got 40 - and so we decided: let's spend the money and return to Baros Maldives.
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Atlas & Boots
We decided to return to Baros
I was immediately advised against it. Our neighbors told us that the perfect journey could not be recreated; That it was better as a perfect memory, but I knew that I would regret never returned and decided to take the risk.
Peter and I booked a week at Baros and made the 12-hour flight from London. On arrival we were accompanied six hours before the official check-in to our beautiful beach villa. It was like getting an additional day free of charge and we were very satisfied.
Unfortunately, our joy was not permanent. When I went out on our shady veranda, my heart sank. When we stayed in the Baros for the first time, our room looked at a section of the beach, which, apart from one or two couples on an evening walk, was mostly our own. This time we stood in front of a jetty that was occupied by a stranger who performed in his swimming trunks. He had hung his boxer shorts on the parasol that fluctuated in the wind. He stood in the middle of my field of vision, rubbed his beer belly and then scratched his butt.
I gave him my best death view, but he said happily Hello, then pulled his speedos out of an invisible column and dropped on a couch. This was not the romantic private paradise that I expected.
I, the Briton I am, asked if you might be so friendly, maybe, maybe to move us to another room. We were told that the only other available beach villa was right next to the bar. With live music on five out of seven evenings, it would neither be quiet nor calm.
I asked if you might be put in another room category (codespeak for please upgrade), but I was immediately told that this would cost extra. It was a bit of a bad awakening. I had assumed that in view of the associated astronomical costs, they would find a way to solve the problem. This trip was the highlight of four years of hard work, but the view was anything but luxurious. I realized that our neighbors might have been right.
I pressed the problem, but was rejected again. After my third polite attempt, I unfortunately have to say that I started Karen fully. I asked to speak to the manager, but I was told that he was not available. Peter tried to calm me down, but I really wanted to change. For good or bad, I got an insight into why rich people are justified so often. Back in our room I sent the manager a picture of our unwanted guest who scratched his butt again.
Within an hour we were upgraded to a water villa. It makes me sad to say that, but sometimes you just have to be an asshole.
Atlas & Boots
We were upgraded to a water Villa
From then on, things improved immediately. While there were little popular populations that did not exist 10 years ago - high -rise buildings on the horizon, concrete defenses to support the beach - there were also significant improvements. For example, the food was absolutely exquisite. We were also in a water villa with direct access to the Indian Ocean. This was the experience we had hoped to repeat.
As a further risk, we decided to repeat the sandbar dinner, a luxurious experience in which we sailed into a tiny sandbar and were catered for and catered for by a private chef. Our first experience in 2012 was completely flawless. This time we had a weaker sunset and stronger wind. The latter meant that instead of a gentle yellow flame we fed in bright artificial light. Trivial, yes, but that is exactly the risk of repeating a perfect journey. Every little deficiency can affect your week.
I fought the wind and looked for a hair band or even a face mask in my pocket with which I could tie my hair together. After all, I tamed it with a pen. After champagne and Kanapees, we made ourselves comfortable to eat. The chef Dinusha has conjured up an absolute feast. When we moved through the first course, dozens of crabs joined us who scurried around the edge of light. While Peter found it charming, I was unsettled by it. Nevertheless, we had an all -round magical evening. I was afraid that the experience of memory would not do justice - especially since we paid for it this time - but that did it absolutely.
Atlas & Boots
Our sandbar dinner
The rest of the week was a dreamy fog of swimming, snorkeling, drinking and eating. So - was it worth it afterwards or were our neighbors right?
Despite the starting difficulties, despite the strong winds, the crabs and the small differences, I have to say, yes, that was it. This was a place that I had dreamed of for more than 10 years. If I had never visited it again, I know that I would have regretted it.
There is a lot to say about living with a perfect memory; Taking it out every now and then to admire it in the light and then remove it for safe storage. The attempt to rebuild it can go wrong - as we were almost the case - but in the end it was worth the risk. Now we can remember two perfect memories.
Mission statement: Atlas & Boots
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