A 32 year stopover in the Maldives
09 Dec 2009, 7:58 PM
Aishath Shazra
His locks of white hair and casual dressing – shorts, sandals, shirt – make 68 year-old Philippe Laurella, a distinct figure on the streets of Male.
His many years in the Maldives, have earned him a spot in folklore, and most Maldivians know him as the white guy who married a Maldivian and settled here.
“When I first came to Maldives there was a certain charm to Maldives,” says Philippe.
In May 1978, the country was as different as it could be from his native France. There was no electricity, no telephone, no television, but Philippe says “life was nice, contact with Maldivians was good, and back then they didn’t have the same preoccupations as now.”
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