October 2000, our trip to Hainan Island - the Chinese Caribbean!!
Everyone in China is supposed to have a week's holiday for National Day. Well on hearing we had a full 7 days off, we made several different plans, scrapped them and began again over and over. Finally we stuck with the beach, the prospect of a tan top up and 7km of white sand was too much to pass off. So with little to no help from anyone here we planned our trip. Well really we just said we wanted to get to the beach and vaguely planned how to get down there, no hotel booking or anything - bearing in mind this is a national holiday and everyone and their brother is on the roads!!! The closest we got to planning was Rachael after much persuasion buying us a train ticket to Zhanjiang (a 1/3 of the way) and the school providing the minivan to get us to the station as the train left at midnight.
The minivan dropped us at the station and the driver pointed us in the right direction - no verbal communication of course! So Alex and I headed into the station and got accosted by the guards asking to see our tickets before we could enter. None to happy about having our tickets stamped before we even knew we were in the right place, we managed to stumble over to some seats and collapse, much to the amusement of the entire station which had of course dropped everything to stare at these two strange white girls carrying huge rucksacks - my act of getting mine on and off caused much hilarity all along the journey.
Well it turned out we were in the right place and that everyone was waiting for the same train. An announcement got everyone stirring so up we jumped and pushed ourselves to the front of the queue only to remain standing there in sweltering heat for another 10minutes - seems the Chinese love queuing just as much as the English!! When the gates finally opened we filed through and were ordered into lines by official women shouting through megaphones. Once we were all in line we waited patiently until exactly on the dot of 11.59 the train pulled in. At this point organisation went to pot and everyone started running for the doors. We were left rather with our mouths open wondering where the hell we were meant to be. Then after showing our tickets to several people who directed us up and down the platform again to different carriages we finally ran up to the right one shouting just as the whistle was being blown - so much for organisation!!
On the train we found our berths, whole carriage was full of 3-tiered bunks and sleeping bodies. Have never been on a sleeper train before so was all very exciting. Just as got bedded down the lights were switched off and it was time to sleep. Quite a comfortable journey but I woke up every time the train stopped and then at 6am the lights were snapped back on and Chinese music started blaring out. (I half expected everyone to get up and start doing morning exercise!) The night was over and it was time to begin the unplanned part of the journey.
We knew that we could get a no. 1 bus to the harbour (Zhanjiang to Haikou by boat is the fastest way to the island) however, what the Lonely Planet failed to tell us was where the hell we could get this bus from. In the end we haggled with a cab driver who dropped us there for 10Y. At this point we got surrounded by other cab drivers desperately trying to convince us that there were no boats going to the island and that we should go with them for the mere price of 400Y. We told them in our best English to b----- off but did they get the message - hell no. Eventually after dragging them around the whole ferry terminal a couple of times we found the ticket office and the lady hurried us off to the ferry which was due to depart in 5mins. We ran down some steps and jumped into a waiting cycle buggy which raced us round the harbour to the waiting boat. We squeezed into the last remaining seats and sat down for a pleasant 3 and 1/2 hour crossing for only 100Y.
Unfortunately the crossing ended up taking 5 1/2 hours and was rather rough but slept through most of it and made friends with a little girl and her mother who were sitting next to me. The girl was fascinated with my watch and we both had fun pulling faces at each other whilst her mother plied me with food - fresh melon, grapes and some kind of seed. We also got a free lunch of sorts on the boat - random bean porridge slop and biscuits, also the compulsory free water. It seems like if you pay enough for the transport you get free water, we collected so much on our way down that it lasted us the whole holiday!
On arrival in Haikou, the capital of Hainan Island and rather a large dull city we got chatting to a bloke who spoke broken English and explained where we wanted to go. He turned out to be a cab driver so we negotiated a good price and squeezed in - our bags taking up most of the room as usual. The guy was friendly enough but insisted on telling us that there was no accommodation left in Sanya (the town we were heading for) and that we should stay in one of the many hotels in Haikou that he kept plying us with brochures for. We would have preferred if he had kept his eyes on the road. But we made it in one piece and managed to get a bus leaving soon down to Sanya. The most expensive type of course, because they wouldn't like to disappoint foreigners, but at least it meant we got there in 3 1/2 hours and watched a film with English subtitles.
It was on arrival in Sanya as the sun suddenly dropped and it got pitch black that we realised the full extent of where we were and what we had done. We were arriving in an extremely touristy town late at night with nowhere to stay and at peak season when hotel prices triple. There was no way of communication to bargain them down and there was equally no chance that we could afford the totally crazy prices of average hotels, the likelihood of sleeping in the bus station seemed high.
According to our bible, the Lonely Planet, there was a reasonably-priced hotel somewhere in town but none of the cab drivers had ever heard of it and the one that had refused to take us saying that it had no stars and we should go somewhere better. The very reason it had no stars was why we wanted to stay there so we trudged off alone. Eventually our fabulous map reading skills got us there, only to be turned down by the owner who refused point blank to give us a room, whether it be because we were foreign, or that there was no space, we did not know, but the reality was that our only hope was gone.
Plan B turned into walking back into town and going into every cheap-looking hotel along the way. By a miraculous stroke of luck though we were spared this unhopeful fate as we got accosted by a lovely trainee English teacher called Tracy. She asked if she could help us. We explained we were looking for a cheap hotel and after a long discussion about how all the prices were elevated at this time and there was little hope she agreed to help us. Her friend got on the phone and moments later, Alex, me Tracy, her boyfriend and her friend bundled into a cab and headed off to a cheap place. However, on seeing us the hotel swiftly announced that they did not invite foreign guests!
Alex's and my morale was waning by this point as it got later and the possibility of a bed got further away. We headed off to another hotel but this time changed tactics and the boys went in to book the rooms. They came out a while later and told us it would only cost 100Y (10pounds ) a night. Our relief was immense. The plan was that they would pay and take our bags up and we would follow to look like their visitors.
Slightly nervous about handing over money and all our belongings we waited on the street with Tracy. But as good as their word we got a room - very nice we thought considering Tracy's description of it as a "not good environment". We were expecting rats and cockroaches running around and a dirty mattress on the floor. Instead we got two nice beds, a TV and bathroom with complimentary soap, toothbrushes and flip-flops. Having actually found somewhere and so cheap, we were just left flabbergasted with our mouths open, constantly thanking Tracy. They then took us to a little noodle place in the street below for dinner. Our thanks could never be enough.
Tracy returned on Monday at 9am to confirm that we could stay another three nights at the same price as she had spoken to her friend. Our luck in meeting her and then all the 'guanxi' (connections) she had to get our room cheap was amazing. Tracy inquired where we wanted to go. We said we were going to try and head for the beach. So a few phone calls later me, Alex, her and her poor boyfriend (he had come away for a romantic holiday with his girlfriend and was spending all his time with us!) got into a very much bargained-down taxi and set off for the 1/2 hour drive to Yalong Wai Bay and the 7km of white sand beach that the Lonely Planet had promised us.
Well in this it was totally correct. The view was breathtakingly beautiful. Clear, blue skies covered a hot crystal clear sea and, yes 7km of pure white sand unspoilt beach. We were in heaven. Tracy and her boyfriend soon left us and we headed off to find ourselves an out-of-the-way patch of sand. 7km of beach and all the Chinese were squashed into about 10sq meters of it. (actually most likely because they were clever and remained where the shade was). We on the other hand headed off with our umbrellas to set up camp and bake ourselves.
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| Ya Long Wan beach, the most beautiful one ever |
The sea was beautiful so when we got too hot we just jumped into its hot waters - slightly different from the freezing waters of Coll!! No-one could be having as much fun as us. It was pure bliss and so we decided that a compulsory sandcastle had to be built. We had turrets and a huge deep moat and all and had immense fun flinging sand around like kids back in Alassio (my childhood beach holiday in Italy). Mid way through building, a local Chinese boy came up to investigate what mad things these strange people were doing and ended up joining in. Then we went for a swim with him and he tried to invite us back to his house but as we had left most of our stuff at the entrance in a locker we didn't want to go off and abandon it. So instead we played cards and then said our goodbyes. We headed back to the Chinese area and some shade, it certainly was scorching.
We spent the afternoon walking along the beach and discovered another resort and, wait for it, other foreigners!! In all we met quite a few this holiday and were totally fascinated by them. It's so strange not to be the only white people around that we stared worse than the Chinese and then sometimes curiosity got the better of us and we went up to investigate further. We met a very nice German couple holidaying and later 2 Canadians and a girl from the Caribbean who were working in Guangzhou as teachers like us.
Well, Monday night we headed out to investigate the town but only got as far as dinner. Then we walked along the river front for a bit and discovered sugar cane. Extremely sweet as would be expected but by the end we had got quite expert at chewing off the outer bits then biting and sucking the inside before spitting them into the river below. On the way back we discovered the nicest ice-cream ever. It was made directly in front of you with fresh fruit and syrup and tasted just fab so the perfect end to a perfect day.
Tuesday, I dumbly decided we should do the touristy thing and visit a very famous rock called the 'End of the World' which is depicted on the back of 2 Yuan notes. First we headed to the bus station to try and secure seats on and early bus back on Thurs, a total nightmare but I left Alex up to this one as I had done the elbowing in Zhanjiang to get our return train tickets. Then as instructed by the LP we got on a random bus heading out of town the right way and bone rattled our way though the countryside to be greeted with the most traumatic and ultimately horrible place ever. As soon as we entered - at an extraordinary fee - a beggar girl hooked herself onto us and followed us literally everywhere we went, including all round the maze!! The crowds of Chinese tourists were huge and all along the beach there were people trying to sell you necklaces and coconuts, a totally and utterly godforsaken place. Sitting down to rest we decided to find the rock a.s.a.p, take the obligatory photo and then get the hell out as fast as poss. Rock found and as expected was most unimpressive surrounded by Chinese having their photo taken. We also turned into the exhibit as were asked to pose for a photo with some of them. Then we practically ran out - well, as well as you can with a heavy bag, sweltering heat, millions of people in your way and being directed through as many shops as possible.
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Me doing the touristy thing in that hell hole of the world, Hainan Island. |
Back in town we decide that a rest was needed and that we would head back to the beach. Transport there was now a problem and so after being rejected by many buses we very tentatively got on the back of a motorbike (not the wisest of plans having witnessed the Chinese road technique!). I think that the driver sensed our displeasure though as on hitting a back street we both screamed and fast movements resulted in nail marks in his back where I was clinging on. But overall he was an excellent driver and instilled us with much more confidence than the taxi that had taken us back the day before who insisted on overtaking 5 cars at a time with heavy oncoming traffic at which he beeped loudly at as if it was their fault he was driving in the wrong lane!!! The beach was once again great and just what we needed to relax after a horrible morning. Our transport home though was even more impressive. On inquiring with the beach staff how to get home and if there was a bus - LP indication - we were informed there were only the taxis. Well at this point we must have had the lost-dog impression going quite well because a lovely tourist guide came up to us and offered us a lift back with her group free of charge!! We travelled in style in the poshest coach I have ever been in and to top it all the group were stopping off on the way back for dinner so we were invited to join them - a free huge and very expensive banquet with local specialities such as bamboo and coconut milk with chicken. I also finally gave in to the chicken's feet and discovered that they are really OK in a kind of slimy skin-and-bone kind of way! We swapped addresses with the guide and promised to keep in touch as she dropped us off at our door. We then went to visit Dedonhai beach where we were promised the glow of florescent shark nets. Unfortunately we never discovered them but got some fireworks instead so headed home for some more ice-cream after an exhausting day.
Wednesday was our last and so there was no way we were going to waste our beach time. This time though we succeeded in getting two buses to a junction and then a motorbike to the beach, all in only costing us 5Y each (as opposed to 100Y to get back by taxi and 65Y to get there by motorbike after we pretended not to have anymore money, he wanted 100Y). To celebrate this, we splashed out and hired a sun-shade for an hour and just gazed at the sea and thought happy thoughts before being very politely kicked off. Then with more caution than Monday, our backs were rather suffering from exposure, we made ourselves a sun shelter further along the beach and just lay, read and swam the day away. Another paradise-like experience.
Instead of getting a motorbike to the cross-roads we opted for the back of an open minivan which rattled us along and was generally great fun. Walking back from the bus stop, we discovered a huge and wonderful market taking up several streets. There were also food stalls so we stopped for our compulsory fill of noodles with meat and veg. Later we headed out to do the touristy thing and buy souvenirs. I had set my sights on buying a conicle hat and so got down to bargaining, later only to nearly leave it on the bus!! I would lose my head too if I could which is the reason Alex looks after all the important things like train tickets!!!! We also purchased some traditional local outfits, tried on in a cockroach-infested back room. I managed to stand on one so we got out of there as fast as poss.
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Alex and me in our new outfits from Sanya, Hainan Island |
Thursday we headed off at 6am for the bus station in a motorbike side-car - like a motorised rickshaw (so now we have tried out all means of transport except bicycles which were meant to be our main ones!!!) The journey home went without hiccups but consisted of lots of waiting between bus, ferry and train rides. I had managed with my scrawled piece of paper to book us the fanciest train sleeper tickets possible so we travelled home in style. On arrival - 4am - though, we were greeted by torrential typhoon rain and it reminded me of returning to England after a great holiday in the sun!!! Well we managed to get a cab back to school after wading through rivers of water and a waterfall down the steps, and just collapsed into bed.
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Random one of me with my huge bag in Haikou ferry terminal (capital of Hainan island) waiting for ferry to Zhanjiang. Note my necklace with a piece of jade on. A present to myself which hasn't been taken off since. Apparently it is meant to bring health and luck! |