China part 3- Frolicking in the South China Sea

27th November

We awoke the next morning to some patches of sunshine.  Most importantly, however, it was warm!! We had longed for this! We finally ditched our trousers and coats for shorts and t-shirt and set about a few tasks.  We planned to do a bike ride from north Hainan to South and needed to get some maps and some cycling shorts.  We took our rented bikes for a spin to check them out and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of them.  Things were looking up!

After finishing our tasks, we headed for the beach for a much needed sunbathe and swim.  In common with the rest of China, the cycle lanes are shared with electric scooters which made for a fairly hairy ride across town.  Nevertheless, we arrive an hour later to golden sands. This was more like it!

After such a long bike ride, we needed some refreshment and the great thing about Hainan is that there are coconut trees growing everywhere J  We therefore bought a coconut to share and savoured the sweet milk as we lay on the beach soaking up some rays.

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After such a long time away from the beach, we also just had to swim!  Amazingly there were no local people in the water at all leading us to wonder if it was either dangerous or very polluted.  Neither it turns out although we did attract a lot of befuddled onlookers.  A whole group of Chinese gathered on the shore to take pictures of us frolicking in the surf!  No matter, it was fun J  We also got accosted by some 14 year olds who wanted to know about how children’s lives are in the UK!  And they also wanted… to touch my nose!  I declined, of course but poor Aoife had to spend the rest of the day reassuring me I don`t actually have a big nose (just bigger than the Chinese)!

We cycled back to our hostel to make plans for the ride the next day however after much deliberation we decided not to do the ride at all!  We decided that what we really needed was a week of seaside and sunshine J  Having made this important decision to sack the cycling, we headed out for some dinner at the local street food market! This was really excellent with little sit down tables and everything.  Once finished one dish, we’d run to another vendor for another one! With the luxury of sitting down  we could really get into it and before we knew what happened we had almost eaten ourselves into a coma!

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28th November

With little to do today except catch the train to Sanya, we started late and moseyed down to buy our train tickets.   Frustratingly, as a foreigner you can`t use the automatic ticket machines and this meant queueing for our ticket for about an hour.  Again, even though this was a shorthaul train (only 2hrs) we still couldn`t just rock up and get on and had to be allocated both a train and a seat. This meant that we had to wait another two hours at the station because all the earlier trains were already full.

By the time we arrived in Sanya it was late, but again, noticeably warmer than where we had come from! Yaay!  It was proper tropical weather and we headed out to find dinner wearing t shirt and shorts for the first time since Turkey!  We were staying at Dadonghai beach which is the most touristy of all the Sanya beaches and so there were plenty of seaside restaurants to choose from all serving delicious seafood.  After our experiences in Shanghai we knew what to do, however some of the prices were out of this world!  Lobster for 600yuan (about $90)/500g?!  That would have to wait for another day but after selecting a tasty looking white fish from the tank, we took our seats in anticipation of our meal J  It didn`t disappoint- the fish was just steamed with garlic and so, so fresh.  Accompanied by some stir fry vegetables, rice and a couple of beers…we were in foodie heaven!

We hit our beds tired, happy and looking forward to the prospect of a sunbathe in the morning.

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29th November

After a late start we made towards the sands but unfortunately the rain had followed us so despite being warm, it wasn`t the beachiest of weather!  Nevertheless, we sat on the sand and went for a swim (we`re British/ Irish  after all!).  We were also starting to unwind after our frantic schedule of the last few months and weren’t good for anything in the afternoon except a nap. I, Aoife, ventured off for a run, but it was hard to find a good smog and people-free stretch of land to stretch the legs. A lot of the sea front was sectioned off into private hotels and residences. We went for dinner later in a small glitzy looking restaurant (there were millions of the same style) off the main road and enjoyed some delicious food and a taster of chinese brandy…which is quiet a nice tipple!

 

30th November

The guilt of the last few lazy days had finally caught up and before we had even eaten breakfast we were out the door for a run.  We took some advice from the lovely friendly girl on reception, Liu. She advised us on where to go- it`s not so easy in China to find a good running spot because you have to pay into all the parks.  Also, there are people everywhere! Solitude is a rare commodity! However, we were well advised and managed a 7 or 8k run over some hills and then down to the local marina and back up over the hills of Dadonghai.  Having struggled our way to the end of this (a bit of a tough morning run!), we felt energised to head out to the Rainforest Park for an afternoon of sight-seeing.  We got there, bought the obligatory coconut off a man selling a few he had just cut down on the footpath right there! We went up to the ticket office only to find that our hostel had told us the ‘local price’ for getting in. The real price was the equivalent of almost $40 each for foreigners, and given we only had a couple of hours before closing time we decided to abandon this plan and find something else to do. Something cheaper 

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Fortunately, the park was near to Yalong Bay which is the posh bit of Sanya so we decided to check it out J  The great thing about being a western tourist in China is that the locals just assume you are wealthy however you look or behave. We were not behaving or looking particularly wealthy at this point in time, I can assure!  However, we boldly walked straight in through the entrance of the Marriot hotel, greeted the bell boys sauntered through to use their private beach and pool…No questions asked!  This was an excellent discovery as Yalong bay is the most picturesque of the Sanya beaches and by far the least crowded.  We spent the rest of the day lounging under the shade of the complimentary padded beach beds and parasols.

Thank you Mr Marriot J

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1st  December

The sun came out beeming today so we cancelled all thoughts of doing anything other than sunbathing!  We found a nice spot at the far end of the beach (as quiet a location as we could find on the main Dadonghai stretch) and settled in for a lazy morning.  After lazing around for about half an hour Seb suddenly noticed that there was something funny about the Chinese group we were lying next to.  Not only were there about 50 of them all sitting in a very tight pack behind us. But they were all men, and were all practically butt-naked!  Apart from the shocking thongs and mankini devices on display!!

Just check out the photos!  We’d have never seen such a collection of wierd and wonderful thongs/swimwear! To top it all, some of the lads were obviously worried about the tan lines that the thong straps were leaving because they undid the backs too!  It was all a bit too much for us! 

The other weird thing was that ever since we had got to China we`d noticed that the Chinese have a general aversion to the sun- so much so that the beaches in Sanya were almost more busy after dark than during the day.  But here were some avid sun worshippers, trying to get an all over tan…

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We decided to get some lunch to mull over the meaning of it, but upon leaving the beach noticed that we were both a bit pinker than when we arrived! Unfortunately the factor 10 we had been using in Turkey didn`t look like it was going to cut the mustard here!  We were pale after 6 weeks in the cold L

We headed back to our place and by the evening the burn had set in.  We headed out for supplies of industrial strength aftersun and better sun cream for the next day!

 

2nd December

We awoke just about the colour of lobsters.  Fortunately I wasn`t too bad- another day and it would be brown- but poor Aoife had burnt her eye lids and looked like a puffer-fish!! Her words, not mine 😉 We spent the morning icing her eye and face before heading out to find a sheltered spot for the afternoon, to read and hide from the sun. And what better option than to head back for the comfort of Yalong bay?!  This time we picked on one of the other resorts which was actually even nicer and settled in for sleeping under our parasol.

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3rd December

We woke up early, looking and feeling a little less pink from the day before and decided to venture off and see another part of Hainan. We decided on Houhai beach. This was a surfer beach about an hour east from us, where waves were plentiful and crowds less so! We hoped on a local bus and were there before we knew it. The beach didn’t disappoint. It had an alluring wildness to it. Smashing waves and impressive rockfaces in the back drop. The crowd were a lot more chilled there too, and more sparse 

Seb went off swimming in surf, not getting too far with the powerful tides at work! I sat in my shelter zone until the sun started to go down in the evening. Then we walked along the shoreline, passing by massive shipwrecks at the far end of this crescent shaped bay!  We sauntered back through the funky beachtown here and picked up some tasty corn treats before making our way back to the bus.

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We still had energy to burn when we arrived back in Dadonghai, so we set off on the hill run we’d sampled a few days before. It was pretty spectacular at night. No-one about and views of the ocean from high in the hills. We were invigorated and starving on return! So we went to the well known expat bar not far from our hostel and went all out with some burgers and chips! Talk about undoing good work 

We chatted away to some holidaymakers from Shanghai and then enjoyed some drinks and dancing to the tunes of the live rock band on stage!

 

4th December

Today we decided to venture to the areas busiest beach, Sanya bay! We decided to try brave the Hainan roads on an electric scooter. The Union Jack theme followed us here from the bedsheets in Haiou! But, inspite, we had a lovely spin on our leccy bike out to Sanya beach. We settled ourselves here for some swimming and reading. Later in the evening we strolled up the long beach, just as the fishermen were casting their nets to head out for their evenings work. Beautiful sunsets, with views across all of Sanya and the neighbouring bays!

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Once the sun went down, we belted up, in search of the famed Sanya seafood market. This was a huge fish market, taking place in a massive filthy dirty warehouse. It was thronged with peopl. There was water, blood and fish guts sloshing around the floors and vendors shouting and jostling over weights and prices. All sorts of fish imaginaeable were on display. Giant lobsters and crayfish hoping about in pots, and crabs climbing up the sides of buckets, eager to escape. Muscles, peri-winkles, urchins, squid and prawns. So many wish, wiggling about in bags, buckets and tanks. Some incredible to watch. Some absolutley gross! No sooner than we had arrived that we were accosted by a very very pushy Hainan lady. She had targetted us (not too many tourists in this place!) as customers who would but too much fish probably. Then she would lead us to her friends restaurant, and get some commission for getting us to eat there. The restaurant would cook our fresh fish for us, at an agreed price! This is how the system works here! Standing at a lofty height of about 4 foot, and a voice as loud as a brass band, she was too intimidating for me, so I pushed her onto Seb, and played the submissive woman, pottering along behind him as we wandered through the market. There was no beating her. We chose our fish (some prawns, peri-winkles and crabs) and after we paid for them (at fantastic value prices!) she led us off to her friends restaurant and got her reward! In fairness, it was a fine place to eat, with a great buzz and a happy flow of customers coming and going. We ordered some veggies, rice and beers and had a veritable seafood feast! We followed this with some mango sorbet (Mango freshly sliced and mixed about in a sort of frozen sink for a few minutes. Nothing added. Incredible!). It was already late in the night so we made tracks back to Dadonghai then, very full and satisfied!

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5th December

Our last day in the Hainan sun! We got the bus and went for one  final sunbathe on Yalong bay. We both managed to finish the books we were so slowing getting through over the preceeding few weeks! This was a very lazy day, just soaking up the last rays of sun. I for one wouldn’t be seeing too much of this for the next while anyway 

We ended the day with a nice seafood dinner down by the seafront and a wee drop of Chinese brandy then as a night cap!

 

6th December

Up early to get our bills, washing, packing etc in order. Time to leave Hainan! We said goodbye to the lovely staff in Sanya Backpackers hostel and then made our way to the airport in a taxi. By one o clock, we were in the air and bound for our final destination together….Hong Kong!!

 

We touched down in HK airport and were immediately blown away by the difference between HK and mainland China where we had spent the past 3+ weeks. This was like a different universe altogether. HK is remarkably clean, ordered, manicured. It’s like the anthisesis of the rest of China. We were looking at each other bemused…Had we accidentally flown to London?? That’s where we felt we could be. And expats everywhere. We were no longer the odd ones out!! It was only when we wondered outside to find our bus and the humidity hit that we were safely assured that we were not infact in London in December 

We enjoyed great views from our double-decker bus into town, passing the various islands around the HK region. The scale of infrastructure here juxtaposed with scale of vast rainforest vegetation is really something else! We found our hostel, a very cute spot with a rooftop garden, on the top of a skyrise building in the heart of HK. We settled into our hostel and then headed out for some noodles in one of the many fast food cafes around town.

We then ventured down to the tube. We had to make our way across the HK waters to Wan Chai, where I had arranged to meet up with my long lost friend Grace (whom I hadnt seen since we moved houses away from each other as kids!) and her husband Jodi. They brought us to a rooftop bar on the edge of the waterfront, where we had awesome views all over HK and where we enjoyed some really yummy gin cocktails! Great chats and great company! They told us all about their experiences, living as expats in HK and filled us in on the social and political side of things and the differences and divisions between HK and mainland China. Also, we had a great time getting very merry, and amazingly, we finally managed to get on the correct tube home! Thanks a million for great times in HK, Grace and Jodi!

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7th December

A bit worse for wear the next morning, our plans to do the famed HK hiking trail didn’t quite materialise unfortunately! We were a bit delicate and dishevelled. A serious breakfast was in order, and we found it at a hipstery café around the corner from our hostel. Home comforts were in order! We then mustered up the energy to head off sight seeing for the day. We crossed the bay on the famous Star Ferry, then took the old, almost vertical-running tram up to HKs Peak. This was pretty impressive!  We walked around the peak, soaking in the views around all the islands and bays and then made our way back down once we had run out of steam!

[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NeKPuKRDmVo/WGuFSXi1UCI/AAAAAAAANEQ/ZA7_9BlKjTo6OlHaWj2j_zN_3LESEn6HACCo/s144-o/20161207_141501.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332648449953826″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_141501.jpg” image_size=”2988×5312″ ] [peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4t9FbZKhdKg/WGuFSbWTy2I/AAAAAAAANEQ/HccDfVY5vOgfHIEo4D3m4rgBPyJjdihmQCCo/s144-o/20161207_132829.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332649471167330″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_132829.jpg” image_size=”1944×2592″ ] [peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ex52wEOgEE4/WGuFSZgcLfI/AAAAAAAANEQ/B5LJ_yokh0sEZg6pc37dPO8AGDbdvwYvACCo/s144-o/20161207_132741.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332648976788978″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_132741.jpg” image_size=”2988×5312″ ] [peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O6ZTJnjr3Do/WGuFSQWwa3I/AAAAAAAANEQ/66ZkOOamWDQWy-WfY8Key3usNeW1t0_RACCo/s144-o/20161207_132728.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332646520253298″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_132728.jpg” image_size=”2988×5312″ ] [peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Nz1BpGABV7Q/WGuFScPnALI/AAAAAAAANEQ/FK3E0d-U7Lwic3S8_7kuNChGk7Kg67EswCCo/s144-o/20161207_132347.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332649711501490″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_132347.jpg” image_size=”5312×2988″ ] [peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Or8SsUS4UI/WGuFSdkjFhI/AAAAAAAANEQ/J21nj5UajEcLX7x5B04Hp0STp5lpSS89gCCo/s144-o/20161207_122210.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332650067760658″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_122210.jpg” image_size=”5312×2988″ ] [peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DVEk97L_reo/WGuFSW6IrMI/AAAAAAAANEQ/-K9Y6KUgKUob4WAx99_xq6xE9hZObYsSgCCo/s144-o/20161207_122126.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106656392310830434275/6371332646546342417#6371332648279256258″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”20161207_122126.jpg” image_size=”2592×1944″ ]

By afternoon we had business to attend to. The mission was to buy a tablet for Seb to take on his onwards travels. I was given the job of lugging the laptop home! We hit Wan Chai electrics market stores. I’m usually a shopping fan and love a good market. But this was just tech from floor to roof! Painful! At one point I noticed I was the only female and non spectacle wearering person in the building! We eventually got out of there, tablet purchased, and then made our way towards the famed Temple Street night market. This place was fantastic! A fabulous colourful, bustling open-air market selling all sorts of eye-catching trinkets, and extending for hundreds of metres down the vibrant and charming Temple Street.

We were in search of a massive suitcase. Alas, friends, it was sadly almost time for us to go our separate ways. Seb would be going south from HK, towards New Zealand and then Australia. I, on the other hand, would be making the long trip home! All the way back to Dublin, where I first came from  . This had been the plan which had evolved slowly over the months of travelling. I would join as far as China, and then fly back to get down to business working and earning back some of the funds I had already spent doing this fabulous amazing trip!

Anyway, we needed a massive suitcase that we could load up with gifts and also fit in all Sebs things that he needed brought back to the UK before venturing on with just a backpack. I ended taking 33 kilos of luggage back with me. A little over my allowance of 20! 

After purchasing the suitcase, we stumbled across a food market full of eager customers stuffing their faces happily. The food looked good! We sat down to some mouth-watering fish and THE hottest chillies imaginable! Not sure if it was the flaming chillis, or the sudden realisation that I was infact leaving for home, but he looked very emotional sitting there on his plastic seat in that little food market )))

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8th December

We ventured out for a nice breakfast the following morning. Our last day as two oddsocks!! We made sure to get a good feed before venturing into the HK shopping metropolis. We had presents to get!  We headed towards the famed ‘Ladies Market’ and the shopping areas around this part of the city. Wandering around the stalls, admiring all the oriental designs, gifts and gadgets. Checking out the fake bags, haggling with the pushy vendors. I loved this! Seb, not so much. When it all got to much he would sometimes try lose the vendors by directing them towards me, and then he’d disappear off  behind racks of clothes to hide and go unnoticed! Being 6ft3 in China though, he stuck out like a sore thumb most of the time, so I can’t blaming for trying to steal the odd moments peace  .

Anyway, it was soon time to leave the market, and hurry back to the hostel! We had picked up most of the bits we needed before running out of time. We had planned to go to a nice sushi bar on our last night together in HK. We even got semi-dressed up for the occasion. We followed google maps which led us to a rotating sushi belt in an empty foodcourt in a snazzy supermarket! How had we got it so wrong?? We left there, obviously, and ventured into the after-work-business-drinks area of the city. This was a cool district full of bustling activity. We ordered a huge corn fed steak to share and washed it down with the most delicious red wine! There was an acoustic session going on in the bar next door, so we ventured in there for some laughs and a bit of dancing! And then, back to our hostel, feeling lucky to have had such an awesome time together, but also sad about what lay ahead the next morning.

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We were joined at the hip for four months! Together in the van. Just the two of us, pretty much all the time. Sleeping, eating, breathing, thinking! We were probably starting to morph into each other. But we weren’t sure. We had no-one to consult about this  

Going from this to being 20,000 miles apart was going to be a leap into the unknown to say the least!

And for all concerned, to put your minds at ease,  neither Seb or myself have been sectioned or admitted to any institutions since the oddsocks fission in HK. We’re well and hoping to fuse again some day in the right conditions 