Destination: Maldives  The Maldives is one of the few
destinations in the world that presents more than what it
promises. Your first view of the country as your plane
approaches the runway is magical. From the air it is a dreamlike
picture of a thousand gems scattered on a bed of blue velvet,
fading into the distance as the sea merges with the sky. The
shallow turquoise lagoons surrounding the glistening beaches of
so many randomly dotted islands portray a scene unique only to
the Maldives.  Made up of 26 natural atolls, stretching from
north to south and straddling the equator, the atolls in the
central portion form a double chain.  In all, there are about
1200 islands, innumerable sandbanks and countless reefs dotted
inside the atolls.  Until tourism began in the early 70s, the
country was accessible only to adventurous seafarers. Although
it is the isolation of the islanders from rest of the world that
has left an intriguing history which is still being unravelled,
lying at the crossroads of east-west mari