getting lost in the sauce
Right from the bat I got into a big a mishap at Shanghai airport. I didn’t know the ticket I booked required me to transfer to a different airport within Shanghai. After sleeping a couple of hours, some girls talking beside me woke me up and I realized I had to find a last minute taxi past midnight to make it to my flight. So much for my first day in China after so many years.
I didn’t have any money on me at that time and had to ask a kind stranger to lend me some so I could catch a cab to the other airport. It was pretty stressful!
In the end, I was able to arrive safely in Sanya (you can check out my travel guide on it here). It was hot but since it was a seaside province, the weather was comfortably temperate.
I tried to ask for directions for the bus terminal but I was handed a piece of paper with some drawings instead, I had to crack it like some kind of code but managed to find my way.
Chinese people were very different, even inside the bus they were loud and rowdy and it was quite fun seeing people so open albeit it’s hard to find one’s peace.
I got dropped a bit far from my hostel and I had to walk a couple of blocks, tired and sleepy from the uneventful airport adventures. I was able to find my hostel, Sanya Backpacker International Youth Hostel, after walking around the block a couple of times as it was pretty hidden around some alleys.
I checked-in just fine and crashed for a couple of hours, waking up in a daze, I decided to make the most out of this day and started to head to Luhuitou Park.
the deer of luhuitou
It was a long walk with a lot of slopes going up, now I hadn’t recovered from my long trip coming here so I found myself getting winded quite easily.
I was able to see life in the city and for some weird reason there was a guy with a painted face in Shrek’s costume screaming on his phone which was super funny.
There were also a lot of video bloggers around carrying these mini tripods and I’ve never seen these things before, it was really interesting.
I reached Luihuitou’s entrance. There were trees adorned with bottles and other ornaments, it was pretty.
Turns out to enter the park, you had to buy a ticket. I bought my ticket and went on to find out that the park itself was a hill, meaning I had to hike a lot to reach the peak. It was quite fun to take a rest at those hillside gazebos. The views kept getting prettier the higher I got, seeing the seaside and beautiful buildings of Sanya was quite a sight.
There were deer as well, they seemed to be a sacred animal and had something to do with the legends of the Luhuitou.
Strangely, at the peak there were Russian dancers, seemed like they’re hired by the park to perform for the Chinese. I finished circling the area and tried to see as much as I can from gardens to statues and headed back down, which was easier.
The air smelled great and I decided to go to the beach. It was calm and peaceful but also a bit dark, I sat down and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the presence of the ocean.
After that, I decided to get something to eat so off I went in search of affordable but delicious food. I walked on the way to my hostel and found a place to eat beef noodle soup. It definitely hit the spot.
I went back to my hostel to find another person in my room. He was Chinese, friendly and quite talkative. He told me about the stuff he had done and I told him my plans for the next day. Surprisingly, he dropped everything he planned on doing and decided to go with me instead to Yalong bay.
I guess… I was down for it? I was just a bit tired and wanted to get some sleep. I went to bed, being woken up a few times by people coming and going but otherwise all was well.
trip to yalong bay
I woke up and took a shower and went to meet my now friend from yesternight. We ate breakfast with another Chinese dude and I just let him lead me to the right bus. Good thing he was there. We got on the bus which was a bit crowded, but I got to sit. It was a relatively packed and noisy bus ride, beside us were two Russian girls.
We ended up striking some conversation with them on the bus, turns out they were also heading to Yalong bay so we decided to go together.
All four of us got down and headed to the beach, we set up our things and just talked for a bit. The two girls were Julia and Tasha. Julia could speak English but not Tasha but we somehow could still vibe well with Julia translating sometimes.
They shared with us the fruit they “got” from their hotel which was a blessing to eat on the beach. It was delicious.
Apparently, Julia and Tasha are married however my Chinese friend didn’t seem to understand this concept. We talked about gender politics in Russia as well as the usage of cannabis.
We had some fun swimming and just talking, going back to bask in the sun. My Chinese friend invited me to go find food for some late lunch so I went with him. There was a little kid studying in the restaurant, most likely the child of the owners.
My friend treated me to a good meal, I am thankful for that. He also gave me a shell necklace, super dope. I wore it the whole day (and took it all the way to the parties in Gili Trawangan during my Southeast Asia trip).
The afternoon came and passed and our two Russian friends decided to go to another beach. Us two guys decided to stay, I was still hoping for a sunset but the weather was quite cloudy, looks like there wasn’t going to be one.
As the skies darkened, there seemed to be another party happening at the back. I got to know my friend a lot, about his life, the Chinese mindset, and how much the government had an effect over their thoughts and action. I added him on WeChat as that was the only thing he had.
We took a long walk to find the bus, he was supposed to help me find it but he ended up meeting his Egyptian friend. They started talking and seemed like he wanted to go with him.
So I told him I’d be fine on my own, even though I’m pretty sure I couldn’t find the bus stop as I did not have any wifi on me to look for directions. I ended up taking a taxi instead to the hotel, to meet my family and girlfriend as this trip was actually a family reunion for Christmas.
I arrived and waited for a bit and saw everyone, it was very pleasant. I was really happy to be united with Janelle again after a long time of long distance. We spent the night together just talking and getting ready for the next day.
the three-faced guan yin of nanshan
We went to Nanshan`s Buddhism temple complex the next day, needless to say it was huge. My family had trouble getting their stuff together and it was bothering me as well how chaotic everything was.
We made our way to the center where we took a tram. We saw the statue of Guan Yin up close and took some commemorative photos. We then went to have lunch, a lot of delicious meals served in succession.
Afterwards, Janelle and I had some time to explore the place on our own. We got the map and started to walk around, encountering a beautiful lake with lily pads, various temples and gardens as well as beautiful statues and Chinese architecture.
I was very happy to be able to spend this time with her and to be able to experience this place with her. We did a small hike up top and she got mad because I was too gung-ho and left her, which was my bad, I was too excited.
We also went to the sea side temple and got an awesome view of the towering statue from the rocky coast. After enjoying the sea breeze, we started to head back.
We grabbed a cab and headed to another hotel where my family was having a buffet. The food selection was simply scrumptious, and with our bellies full, we retired for the day.
binglang ethnic village
The following day, we got up early to head to Binglang, an ethnic village for the indigenous people. It was interesting to see something different from the usual Chinese scenery of Sanya.
The architecture and craftsmanship was unique, we were able to see their way of life, how they created their homes which were quite connected to nature. It’s very similar to the traditional fishing village of Tai O in Hong Kong.
After the tour, we had a buffet and headed to the rainforest.
There were a lot of different plants, trees, and flowers, surrounded by lush greenery, it was really fun to just walk around the place. We had some tea inside a bungalow.
I have such low heat tolerance so I had to wait for a while before I was ready to drink the tea. We tried different kinds of tea and all were pretty good.
We also did a zipline across the rainforest, ending the day at a high-rise glass bridge.
At night, we took a stroll going to the beach itself was quite peaceful, it was very dark and chilly with a lot of lanterns lit. We found our way to the beach and enjoyed walking across the coast, the seabreeze brushing on our skin and our feet feeling the soft sand. We collected some seashells and promised to take them back. She was so cute.
Going back, we had a little picture taking of our own playing with the red lanterns on the wooden catwalk on the way back to the hotel.
christmas in sanya
We celebrated Christmas in our hotel, the Grand Hyatt. Our lunch was super delicious and we retired for the day to chill for a bit before heading out to swim at the pool. The pool had a lot of wacky thing such as a bucket that slowly fills with water before toppling over and making a huge splash.
They had all sorts of fountains and slides, and even a bubble party. Afterwards, we had a very nice dinner buffet as well.
man down
Throughout the night, I had some stomach problems. I woke up not feeling well. They were supposed to go eat the biggest lunch for the trip with the best food and buffet, and I, unfortunately, was not up to such a big task.
I ended up with some congee and decided to skip lunch for a chance to rest and recuperate. Janelle stayed with me and made everything much more bearable.
I didn’t want to waste the day and I didn’t want her to waste the day stuck with sick me, so I pulled myself together and we grabbed a cab to Atlantis.
We had trouble finding the entrance of the place and we couldn’t get in without a ticket. With a stroke of luck, we found someone and we were able to get in.
There were a lot of interesting sea creatures and that was all good and all but It was here that I started to get an early onset of fever, gradually getting worse the more we waited along with a splitting stomach ache.
Now, we still had to watch a theatre show and we did, it was an entertaining performance with a lot of acrobatics, flair and a captivating story but I was pretty much just hanging on for dear life.
After the show, there was still another long excruciating wait for the rest of the family and then another wait to find a cab willing to take us to where we needed to go.
It was hard to find a cab because our hotel was quite near so they didn’t want to make that journey, we thankfully found one and I got to take my meds and reunite with my bed once we got back to the hotel.
never look back
The final day, we had our usual breakfast and fortunately, I was feeling quite better. It was a chill day, going back to the airport and getting an opportunity to relax at a lounge on one of our connecting airports before the next flight going to the Philippines.
