Hainan -Sanya

Tuesday - (3/2/15)

So my trip started off with Kelly saving my bacon (from the UK) - the wonders of technology, and friends! Being slightly unorganised is definitely the downside when I booked my holiday the day before I left - clearly I will never learn! I should have known when my bag got stuck on the door handle, when I left my building, that something was going to go wrong!

Anyway, after my organisational hiccup was solved, I boarded a surprisingly busy (given I had booked 24 hours before) evening flight from Guangzhou to Haikou, in the north of Hainan. Upon arrival I was shepherded into an awaiting taxi which, not surprisingly already had 3 other passengers ready and raring to go. The boot was so full of bags that the taxi driver had to tie all the bags into the boot because the lid wouldn't close - she did this very expertly, it obviously wasn't the first time she's had to do this!

The taxi ride to my hostel in Haikou, which is the capital of Hainan province, turned into a nice little late night tour as I was the last of the passengers to be dropped off at my destination.

Wednesday - day 2 (4/2/15)

After one night in Haikou, I set off to the south of the island to a city called Sanya. Hainan is a big island, so it took me about 2 hours on the bullet train to get there. The journey offered lots of green scenery streaming past the windows - seemingly mostly composed by palm trees and crops, as well some mountains. The tantalising glimpses of the bright blue sea were very welcome sights, I don't get to see green fields and the sea in Foshan - something I definitely miss.

So on stepping out of the train station it was much hotter than I expected! Even though the temperature here is only a degree or two greater than Guangzhou the fact that the sun is out and there is blue sky clearly makes all the difference.

By the time I'd navigated myself to the hostel it was about 3pm, a little bit later than I'd planned - turns put that didn't matter because the hostel was only 300m from the beach! I played it safe on the first day - not knowing what a day on the beach in China is like. Turns out I was very overdressed for me stroll along the sand and I was definitely letting the side down in terms of tanning capabilities; there were plenty of groups of men standing around in thongs topping up their already very dark tans - not something that I expected to see when the general consensus seems to be that pale is best.

The hostel that I stayed at was very nice and because I'm travelling by myself, the owner offered to introduce me to some of the other guests who had formed little groups - turns out I already knew one of them, Emma. British council teachers seem to pop up everywhere which is good for me; those 2 weeks in Beijing have proved useful in a number of ways, making new friends was definitely one of the best.

Thursday - Day 3 (5/2/15)

Thursday was an early start by Sanya standards - the hostel owners were surprised to see us in the foyer at 8.30am. Three of us headed to another town, called Baoting, to climb Qi Xian Shan (7 fairies mountain). It's a good job we did leave early because we hadn't realised this place was over 2 hours away... 

The mountain is well known in the area  because of the rock formations which anoint the very top of the mountain. 

We were lucky that it was slightly cooler and cloudy that day otherwise the very steep accent would have been even harder. Hill walking in China involves A LOT of stair climbing! When we reached the top of the stairs there was one final accent before we got to the top, but this one was a little bit different and definitely the best part. It involved scrabbling up the side of one of the rock formations that were on the top of the mountain purely with the aid of some chains to hold onto. Despite expectations coming back down wasn't nearly as terrifying as any of us expected. It took us two hours to climb all the way to the top and then another hour to get back down to the bottom of the mountain, on very shaky legs. The predominantly flat landscape of Foshan is clearly taking its toll - my legs ached for days after that walk.

Our journey back was a little convoluted but it meant I've finally been on a taxi motorbike - not nearly as hair-raising as I'd expected! By the time we'd taken the bus back to Sanya and got back to the hostel they'd begun to think the fairies had eaten us...

Friday - Day 4 (6/2/2015)

So today I did something I never expected to do in China: surfing! The few hours I spent on a very beautiful beach, with good sized waves for complete beginners, has definitely not made me a pro but has made me very keen to have another go. I learnt very quickly to stop reprimanding myself when I fell off, usually face first, because it meant I got a mouthful of sea water each time - seawater doesn't taste any better on this side of the world! Even though the four of us who went hadn't had any lessons, only a quick how to the previous evening from the hostel owner, we didn't do too badly. I definitely need to practice my balance, I kept sliding right of the side of the board every time I tried to stand up! I'll start practicing now for next time...

Saturday - Day 5 (7/2/2015)

Saturday morning was spent pottering about the neighboring streets in Sanya as I hadn't really had the chance to explore before. My wander revealed a shopping mall shaped like a pineapple positioned right next to a military base whose entrance was marked by some blue coloured models of rockets - not a pairing you see everyday. 

I also drank my first fresh coconut, a must on a tropical island, especially when there are piles for sale on every corner! It was nice nothing like the bought coconut milk I've tried and it had quite a mild coconut flavour, not what I expected.

In the afternoon, a group of us when to watch the Volvo Ocean Race which just so happened to be in Sanya at the same time as me (a happy coincidence). There were 6 boats in the race around Sanya bay. We saw the start but missed the end because we were sheltering from the midday sun in the shaded bar area and we didn't expect the 10 mile race to finish so quickly! I was quite gutted we missed the end but we saw all the boats come back into the harbour - the Chinese backed team won for the first time, which obviously made the predominantly Chinese crowd very happy!

After a sunny walk back to the hostel it was dinner time. We headed for the street food barbecues which were tucked down a grotty looking side street but had a great selection of food. My food selection included some vegetables, octopus, chicken and bugs - grasshoppers and something unidentified, to be exact. I hadn't eaten bugs yet but I'm always open to new culinary experiences. Turns out the bugs are good, I definitely preferred the unidentified ones and I ended up eating the whole stick - it think the spicy seasoning and bbq flavour helped improve the experience!

Sunday - Day 6 (8/2/2015)

As it was my final day in Sanya a day at the beach was definitely in order, it was my last opportunity to not look pale for a while! We ended up at at a quieter beach to the one next to the hostel, purely because it belonged to the Intercontinental Hotel - somewhere that definitely gave me accommodation envy!

G x