March 14, 2014:  Our flight from Istanbul to Male was on an upgrade Airbus A330, with full lay-flat seats in biz class, which was great for our 2nd night in a row on a plane!  The chef took my hat to wear and said “Hey. Photo.” Hah!  On arrival we were whisked over to a Conrad van and then shuttled to the other side of the airport, where the seaplanes depart and arrive.  We were taken to the Conrad lounge, complete with free massages, food and more.  Nice!  About 30 minutes later it was off to our seaplane… the seaplane was heading to pick up the Royal Family after us! (?!!?!?!) Wow.   Is this real life?  And then…. out of the window… I could see it.  The 2 islands I’ve been looking at on Google Maps for the past 11 months.  And at that moment, all of the travel, the delays, the travelhacking… it was all worth it.  We have arrived in paradise, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  Bliss.