Many things that have appeared on the tables at Vommuli have traveled half of the globe. [Photo by Zhao Xu and Feng Tianyi/China Daily]

Reality and illusion

"Most things that have appeared on your table have traveled half the globe," said Salame, the master chef, one of whose specialties seems to be candor. "Maldives is a beautiful illusion," he says.

One day as we rode a guest buggy to the wine bar for the evening ahead we were given a glimpse of an evening ritual－applying anti-bug spray. As we fled the clouds of spray I realized that without considerable human intervention all the uncompromised comfort we had enjoyed over the past several days would be impossible on this tropical island.

A natural paradise, by definition, is for all creatures and therefore is certainly not tailor-made for man. People come to the Maldives to be close to the most stunning－and human friendly－part of nature, blithely taking illusion for reality.