Sanuk in Hainan

[Guest]

I will soon spend few days in Hainan, does somebody have experience about sanuk in this Chinese trpical Island?

[Sukhumvit]

Yup, just got back to the UK on Thursday night and still jetlagged. Both Haikou and Sanya have action available although it's a lot easier in Haikou. Prices are more expensive than Thailand. If you don't have any Mandarin skills it may be pretty difficult for you. When I've got my head around this new board and recovered a bit I'll try and post a trip report.

[Guest]

Thank you and I am waiting for your report!

[Sukhumvit]

Gotcha.

 

Will put something up in a few days when things are a little less hectic workwise & boozewise.

[Sukhumvit]

I just spent 90 mins penning a report off the hoof.

 

When I pressed continue I received an error message.

 

I don't particulary feel like doing it all again.

 

I've contacted the board to mention this and hopefully the report will be resurrected out of the ether.

[Sukhumvit]

Well, my epic piece from last week was lost forever. Thanks KS for the email by the way.

 

 

 

Okay, it's been a quite Easter weekend here in the SFZ but here's a concise report.

 

 

 

Getting there:

 

 

 

I flew down from Beijing. Using the Rough Guide there was mention of a ticket office just along from Tmen Square,(on the same side as the Forbidden City and about 500 m out of the square on the right). I went with England Boy on a Sat afternoon to get the tickets and were charged 1700 RMB, (it's about 8 RMB to the US dollar, so that's just over 200 US. Our return journey was only 1000 RMB as we booked 3 days in advance and flew with a different airline, Hainan Airlines, on the way back), one way! It's a long flight of some 3 and 3 quarter hours to the south of China so I should have realised it wouldn't be cheap. As it was Saturday we had to find somewhere to cash traveller's cheques and as luck would have it the nearest bank to the ticket office wasn't a Bank of China. Luckily the security guard followed us outside and offered to change some money for us.

 

 

 

Arrival:

 

 

 

We flew the next day, Sunday afternoon, from Beijing Capital airport to Haikou. The first thing that hit us was the heat. It really was rather toasty down there. We were the only white westerners on the flight, although there may have been other non-Chinese aboard who didn't speak Mandarin, and usefully the crew gave out instructions in both Mandarin and English, which was nice.

 

 

 

Orientation:

 

 

 

England Boy's luggage stayed in Beijing and we had some fun with the pleasant ladies at lost luggage explaining the fact that it would be better if he had his bag with him rather than several thousand miles away. She wanted to know where we were staying. As we hadn't booked anywhere, preferring to do things on the hoof as it were, we were at a bit of a loss. Helpfully she took us upstairs to the left and to a little bookshop where we bought a paperback Hainan Visitor's Guide to China's Tropical Island for 20 RMB. So we told her that we'd stay in the Haikou Hotel. This Hotel was no good according to her. Therefore we knew it was just sleazy enough. 61 RMB and a ride in a DVD equipped cab later and we were at the East Jifang Lake Hotel. Seems our cabbie didn't like the Haikou Hotel either.

 

 

 

To be continued.

[Sukhumvit]

By this time it was early on a Sunday evening.

 

We were hot and sweaty and in no mood for pissing around looking for hotels. Just give me a bastard room.

 

 

 

The hotel that our cabbie had dropped us off at looked promising at first. There, behind reception, were 4/5 Chinese chicks in brightly coloured blazers. Schwing. Okay this will do for now.

 

 

 

Now, you may think that Thailand should be renamed LOB- Land of Bureaucracy, (okay, well maybe you don't), but let me tell you that China beats LOS hands down for officialdom. There we were, sweating profusely, dripping in the reception fililng in forms when they asked how we'd pay. Why Visa of course. They looked at my Bank of Smeg visa card and ummed and aahhed. Hmm, something not quite right. Instead of swiping it through a machine they rang some bastard up. Now, A. this was China, B. this was Sunday night, C. they'd probably not heard of the Bank of Smeg and D. I've lost the plot but I just knew in the pit of my stomach that we wouldn't have any joy.

 

 

 

I pointed out the little visa symbol on the plastic, same-same as on the piece of triangular fuggin wood on the reception top and said the word slowly and loudly as I am prone to do when dealing with Johnny Foreigner. V-I-S-A.

 

 

 

No, they wanted cash. Ah, man I had enough to have some beers, a bit of R& R and maybe a bit of fun with a laydee. Plus, Johnny Chakwow, soon to be renamed England Boy, was skint as usual. He was in a foul mood as his bills were somewhere in Beijing, (could have been worse they could have sent his smalls to Korea.)

 

 

 

What to do? I didn't want to give over my RMB. I needed that mutha for planned extra-curricular activities. No, if my card was good enough for Beijing, it was good enough for Haikou...

 

 

 

5 minutes later we were crossing over the pedestrian footbridge at the bottom of Haifu Avenue. I was carrying my rucksack like a pro. Professional rucksack carrier that is and not prostitute. Chakwow was ambling aimlessly like a man without a bag to carry. Oh how light his steps were as around us the Chinese regarded us curiously, "ah the blonde haired fucker is the master and the other one with the beergut must be the slave..."

 

 

 

If only we'd turned left out of reception instead of heading over the pedestrian footbridge. But, these things are sent to test us.

 

 

 

A few hundred metres on we spotted a sign. "Look" Chakwow called "a sign." Yes. I could see that. It was a hospital. That's usually what those large red neon crosses stand for. "Maybe they'll let us have a bed for the night?" I queried. If I had to walk much further I would be reserving a bed in the cardiac ward.

 

 

 

5 fun packed minutes later and we were sat in a little restaurant drinking beer. Li Jah, (that's Anchor for those of you who don't dig the lingo), and very tasty it was too. As they say when in doubt, crash out.

 

 

 

What to do?

 

 

 

To be continued.

 

 

 

(Typed in bite sized lumps to prevent mass post failure blues).

[Sukhumvit]

Stepping out into the melee those precious minutes of beer drinking and map reading had not been wasted. We still didn't where the fuck to go.

 

 

 

Hailing a cabbie, he drove by. The next one stopped. "Chu nar?" (where to you reprobate capitalist scumbag? roughly trans.) "Haikou Hotel James and don't spare the horses." We headed up towards Jiefang Lu and then he turned left. Damned one way system. Soon we were heading back around the lake and back towards the hotel we'd just left. Oh, bugger. Around the roundabout we sailed and at the last moment we swept onto the forecourt outside the Haikou Hotel. Shangri la.

 

 

 

Inside, the reception was fairly large with a number of clocks on the wall displaying the time in different time zones. The staff seemed friendly enough and there was a bellboy in uniform. Visa? No problem. Oh, and at a reduced rate? How about 238 RMB for a double room each? Okay, not too bad.

 

 

 

Upstairs we were informed by a note in our rooms that the hotel was undergoing "recodrustion". Okay, that sounds like the kind of shit I can deal with.

 

 

 

To be honest the room was a bit worn. Tattered wallpaper. A hole in the floor in the bog where the water drained out big enough to allow a rat to crawl in. My room had a large glass sliding window/door affair which someone had previously broken and the hotel management had skillfully repaired with some large pieces of duct tape. Simple and effective.

 

 

 

The soon to be renamed England Boy was sulking in his room, doing the salsa under the dripping shower whilst I further explored my surroundings. Oh, the bog doesn't work properly. Just lift up the cistern and delve in with my hand and that'll sort it out. It was just like being at home.

 

 

 

I was soon out of my sweaty clobber and doused in Old Spice whilst the soon to be renamed England Boy looked pale and frankly uninteresting in his scummy tee shirt.

 

 

 

Soon, we were off into the tropical night. Out of the reception and we hung a left to the corner of East Jichang Road where a gaggle of motorcycle taxi drivers hung out with street walkers. We were obviously of some interest to them as we were the only show in town and no doubt they schemed ways to part us from my money as we headed off up into downtown Haikou.

 

 

 

To be continued.

[homeboy03]

Jesus christ, don't let us wait that long, please keep them reports coming...Bye, H.

[Guest]

... waiting for the reports, I am already in Hainan!

 

 

 

I found some interesting info on WSG and will make my report after leaving this island!