Hainan, a Week in Paradise

WOW...What a week!
Last week the school had it's annual spring break.
Another week free of teaching.
I had talked with Denise, the gal that I hung out with in Yang Shuo. She was talking about going horseback riding near Lhasa. That sounded like a great adventure. After I spent some time on-line doing some research on the various companies that provided this type of adventure, I found that most people didn't recommend it. The food they prepared was basically tomatoes with sugar and bread. And they said that there wasn't that much time spent actually riding. And the guides usually got very drunk at night.

Then I had an offer to go visit a friend that is working in Beijing. To be honest, I would rather visit the countryside than another huge Chinese city.
Most cities pretty much look alike...same buildings, shops and too many people.
As I was mentioning this fact to a friend, they reminded me that most American cities look alike.
After I thought about it, I agreed. Same stores i.e. McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Starbucks...you get the picture.

Then my friend Claudia, from Austria, mentioned going to Thailand.
She found a cheap flight on-line..."SOUNDS GREAT", I'm thinking!
But by the time we got around to booking the flight, the price had almost doubled and it wasn't really an option any more. But we were now in the mindset of sandy beaches, seafood and drinks with little umbrellas.

I heard about an island just south of China called Hainan.
After checking it out online and checking out the flight costs, it looked like an good alternative.
So we booked the flight and met up at the bus station in Hougzhuo last Sunday.
Then after an hour taxi ride to the airport, our plane left at 6pm.
After our 3 hour flight, we finally arrived in Sanya.
The most southern part of the island.
It was 9pm by then, and after haggling a cheap taxi ride,we made it to the Blue Sky Hostel.
I figured we could stay there one night and rent a motorcycle the next day and ride around looking for some place on the beach to stay.
As it turned out, anyplace ON the beach was just too expensive.


As luck would have it, the weather was a bit cloudy...but no rain.



After riding up and down the coast a while we decided to stop for lunch.
They have these places along the beach with huge tanks of fish. You just pick out your fish and they weight it and cook it up.
At this place they seemed too anxious to have us there. There are no prices on anything and we had the feeling they were making the prices especially high for the rich foreigners.
So after weighing the fish and telling us the price...we said that was too much. As we climbed back on the motorcycle they kept shouting out lower prices...too late. Should have given the low prices first. By the time we were riding away the price was about half as much. I didn't really want to eat at a place where they just tried to put the screw on us!

We ended up having lunch elsewhere and then stopped buy this local market while it began to sprinkle.
They have tons of pineapple here on the island. You can buy a whole pineapple for about 50 cents . They peel them and serve them on a stick. We ate at least one a day...each!!

They also have these sidecar taxis everywhere.


I wonder what this guy will do when he grows up?


A pineapple a day keeps the doctor away.


That evening at the hostel we met this guy Paul, from Canada.
He is teaching English here on the island.
He invited us to go with him and a couple of gals from England to a place that has Brazilian barbecue. God knows I can't say no to Brazilian barbecue!!
Afterwards we went next door to a Mediterranean restaurant that had hookah pipes

It was a great way to relax after dinner.


The next day...back to the beach. We weren't there for 5 minutes and it began to rain. So I popped open my umbrella and we took a nap. Okay, our legs got wet but hey, we were at the beach any way.

After an hour or so we decided to get some lunch. We walked down the beach to one of the places with the fish tanks. This place had the prices on the tanks. I picked out a nice red snapper. They had everything you could imagine there. Eel, crabs, puffer fish, shark, oysters...you name it.


This was the best fish I've had since I've been in China.


This was also the first time Claudia had real sea food. Austria isn't very close to the sea, so they don't eat a lot of seafood.


We sat there watching the Chinese tourists ride the banana boat and playing like kids.


On the way back to the hostel we saw this giant slingshot. They strap you in, and it shoots you strait up into the air. I would have done it but I didn't want to lose my snapper.



The next day we were pretty much sun burnt so we decided to rent the motorcycle again and take a ride inland and visit Paul. He is teaching about an hour and a half away from Sanya.
The day started out clear but got more cloudy as it went on.


Okay...sun burnt and now wind burnt.


Beautiful landscape! Even with the clouds.


Little villages along the way.


As usual here in China, if you can put a motor on it, you can drive it.


Kids would see us coming and start yelling "HELLO" and waving to us.
This guy must have seen the camera...he has the "peace sign" going.


And what is a trip through the Chinese countryside without seeing water buffalo everywhere?


Hainan is the best smelling place in China....flowers everywhere.


We arrived in Paul's town and made our way to his campus. He lives on the top floor of his building and had a great view!


The two gals from England were there also. They came here a day or so before to visit Paul.
We were just there for the day. I wanted to ride around inland anyway, and visiting Paul gave us a destination.


Paul's apartment building.

Paul took us around town a bit. He stopped into a shop that sold glasses, so I bought myself a new pair....NOT!


After we had lunch it began to rain so we bought a couple of $2 rain suits.
They didn't really help that much.


The trip to Paul's town took about an hour and a half. The trip back took three hours.
It rained, and I mean it RAINED HARD!
About half way back the rain stopped and we too a little break.
But shortly after we got back on the road, it started up again.
And it continued until just before we got back into Sanya.


After a hot shower we headed into town for dinner and a walk around.
By the way, Sanya is full of Russians.
This must be the place where all the rich Russians go for vacation.
Kind of like Canadians going to Florida.
Most every shop had a Chinese/Russian sign.
When we went into a restaurant they would hand us the menu in Russian.
Even the Chinese people selling goods along the street would greet us in Russian...very weird!

Claudia knows some Russian, so she could translate for me.


These ladies were everywhere selling pearls.
If you even asked how much the cost they would swarm on you like bees to honey.


This poor guy asked one lady and 10 seconds later...BAM.
That's a good thing though...competition drives the price down.


The next day we decided to warm our bones in the sun again.


And headed back the the place with the red snapper.
Like I said, these ladies were everywhere.


This was the smallest one they had. And he was HUGE!
It barely fit on the plate.


Claudia was amazed at how big it was. But we ate it all!


ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST


I would like to say we stayed here...but not on our teachers budget.


Here is where we stayed.
The Blue Sky Hostel...it is really a great place to stay.
Only about a 3 minute walk to the beach.
And cheap!

I've gotten used to hostels here in China. It's a great way to meet other travelers from all over the world.
Most of them are teachers like ourselves.



People from all over the world sign the walls.


And the staff is the friendliest I've ever met at a hostel!!


Later on that evening, I signed the ceiling. The walls were full!


I never realized how hard it is to write upside down.


That evening while hanging out at the hostel I met this fellow Kennith.
We decided to scuba diving the next day.
The owner of the hostel (Peter, standing) took us to a friend of his that has a dive shop and got us a good deal on a dive.

Diving is the South China Sea...that's one for the log book.


Loading up the tanks and gear.


They took us about a half an hour out to sea, next to an island and dropped anchor.


It was a perfect day for diving.


There was a Chinese guy diving with us also, except he was doing a two tank dive.
So while he was on his first dive, we put on our wet suits and snorkeled around for a bit.

It's been a while since I've been diving, but it's just like riding a bike.(but wetter)


The water was warm but visibility wasn't that great.
It had been raining off and on for a few days.


Kennith found a hermit crab.


After the Chinese guy made his first dive we headed to a different island where the visibility was supposed to be much better.
But it was much worse!
The water was about 50 ft. deep and very murky. Plus there was a pretty strong current.
I did catch a lobster, but he was too small to keep.
It wasn't one of my best dives ever, but it was fun.


And so we headed back to the mainland.
Here is our captain.

Kennith was up till about 3am the night before so he crashed as soon as we headed back.



The rest of us just enjoyed the ride home.


It was about 6pm and the fishing boats were heading out to sea.


You can't tell it, but they were setting off fireworks as they headed out.
For good luck. Or to scare away any sea demons.





They use hundreds of lights to attract the fish at night.



And if they didn't go out to sea, they were stuck on land till the next high tide.


Some of these boats were very old.


Back to the dock.


They had our shoes ready for us when we got back. I didn't even realize they left them there.


Peter picked us up about 15 minutes later and brought us back to the hostel.
He had planned a barbecue this evening, and the goods were ready for the coals.
This guy is hungry!


Shrimp, fish, chicken, crabs and vegetables that I've never seen before. Even in my town!


And Peter was the HAM!


Proving how fresh the crabs are.
Still alive and pinching!


If you ever go to Sanya in Hainan, this is the place to stay!
Sanya Blue Sky International Youth Hostel
Dadonghai District
E-mail: sy-youthhostel@163.com
sy-youthhostel@gmail.com
Tel:+86-898-88182320
13322098659
Ask for Peter and tell him Global Jim sent you.


Around the corner from the hostel was a huge food court.
The had the best sushi I've had in a year...okay...the only sushi I've had in a year.
And so cheap!


Kennith told us about this place.
I ate there 3 or 4 days in a row.





Also, next the the hostel was fruit street.
I call it fruit street because they had all these fruit stands set up.


Claudia sampling some of the strange looking fruit.


As not to confuse anybody, they would punch up the cost on a calculator and show it to you.
Sometimes the dialect in different parts of China is so different that I have a hard time understanding the Chinese that I do know.


The next day we went to another beach about 40 minutes away.
Now this is where the really rich Chinese and Russians went.
This is the Sheridan hotel. I didn't even ask how much it cost per night.


The beaches here were much less crowded and much quieter.
The water was even clearer.
I had some little goggles that I bought, and the visibility was so good I could see 25 ft. or more.
I saw small schools of squid, puffer fish, trumpet fish and small jelly fish.


They even had free umbrella's to sit under.
And cushions on the chairs.
Very comfortable!


The hotel itself was just first class.


Great pools everywhere!



And any hotel with a Ferrari in the lobby has got to be good.
(And expensive!)





Sun burnt and ready for sushi!


I love the way they use these clay pots to hide the lights.


I had to look to make sure that's what they were for.




Last night in Sanya...I had to have sushi.



These guys make some mean sushi!!


I have to learn how to do this some day.


The next morning we said our goodbye's to Peter, the staff and everyone else that hadn't left already. And headed to the airport.
Good bye, Sanya....I hope I can come back again some day!


By the way...Claudia is afraid of heights!


Not me...I love to fly!
Claudia, if your looking at this blog, don't look at the next picture. LOL.


And this is landing back on the mainland.


The bus ride back to Changxing was great. Only half a bus full of people.
Then I took a pedal taxi to the Ma La Tang for dinner.


These guys went on and on about how dark I was.
They wanted to see my pictures, so I got my camera out and showed them how to review the pictures, while I got my soup going.
Then they had to run around taking photo's.


I told them I would put them on my blog.
Here you are guys!

Then I noticed that Eric was having dinner too.
Man he looks pale...LOL.



So that's my last big vacation in China.
I still plan on going back to the country and doing some hiking.
But first I need to recoup from my vacation.

Here are some more quotes.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." -- St. Augustine

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will lead you there."

"Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter." -- Izaak Walton

"A tourist doesn't know where he's been. A traveler doesn't know where he's going" - Paul Theroux


Jim