SUDDENLY FABULOUS for us the island of HAINAN, communist China in March 2019
Spring was approaching, which means a vacation for 2 weeks, according to the schedule, it is in February! All winter I followed the prices for warm resorts, the list of especially desirable ones was: Tanzania, Hainan, GOA, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand for 10 days, but if it’s very expensive, then Egypt or the UAE will do for a week, although in Egypt I don’t get a warm sea even at the end of May, what can I say about February ((!
I am actively monitoring the prices for tours and the situation is becoming clearer, on February 7, we do not have time to issue a direct flight for 11 nights for $ 1100 to GOA, and even visas for $ 105 per person, horror... the rest is all expensive, only Hainan Island sometimes slips at the same price, visa-free if in advance, and a direct flight with refueling in Almaty is also 11 nights, but the flight is a little longer - 14 hours on the plane. I look, my Vovchik every evening looks through and studies Hainan on the Internet, suggested that since such things, then watch videos about Dadonghai, firstly, a more protected bay, secondly, cheaper, livelier, there are no sand fleas on the beach, in the middle, get if you wish convenient even in Sanya, even in Yalunbey.
Having looked at the prices, and JoinUp sells it, I doubt it a little, but the flight is regular, only the SkyUp carrier, for the whole of February the prices differ a little, 15.19, 22 are more expensive, and 26 are much lower!
I call the agency and ask you to book a tour to the first hotel on the list, Biboluo Hotel, for February 26, the location is better than you can imagine, and even cheaper from the next one by $ 300, everything is done, but there is no confirmation and no, it takes 3 days and here it is a miracle at 4 am confirmed the hotel!
I'm starting to worry about the visa, I know that in January one couple in the group was forced to buy a visa for $67. I send a scan of the passport to the agent via Viber as they asked, but I myself perfectly understand that there will be no clarity, as it is written in the requirements, from such a transfer, I ask for their mail and send it by mail. They answered me that TO rejected, scan better, China will not miss. In general, we carried out this procedure several times, and finally the operator approved, but they did not give a 100% guarantee, you can expect whatever you want from the Chinese, just in case, prepare photos for a visa and money. OK cooked.
Then, a week before departure, it began....the transfer of the flight from 6:00 to 10:50, of course, I need to rebook the minibus from Poltava to Boryspil.
2 days before departure, my throat starts to hurt, I get sick - I scoop up additional medicines and an antibiotic too.
We arrive at the airport more than 2 hours in advance, registration begins, everything seems to be according to plan, nothing portends changes. Already in the terminal, it would be time to start fussing around exit 16, but no! I go to the SkyUp Airlines website, and I see a delay until 12:50 is displayed, we sit and wait further, I no longer want to Duty free, anything. The time is coming, again no one is fussing near the exit, I go to the site and there the departure is at 14:15. The mood worsens, the food is all eaten, everything starts to hurt. At 13:30, the guys came and brought 5 packs of water, started distributing, not answering questions. My nerves began to take over from the unknown. As soon as the water was distributed, the boarding board was lit up, everyone rushed to the counter and quickly settled into the cabin. The crew commander said that they were delayed for technical reasons. I started to wind myself up, whether they were able to fix the breakdown, etc. But thank God the flight went well, we were fed 2 times hot and all the time drinks juices, tea.
Arrived at 6:00 Chinese time (time difference with Ukraine by +6 hours), went to check-in, first prints of both hands on vending machines with tips, a queue lined up, some succeeded only after many attempts, you get a check and for control, there you also confirm that it is your fingerprint, they put a stamp on the exit. The host party Vostok-Tour distributed 4 buses.
Everyone started to leave, and our bus stood still for 3 hours!! ! It turned out that we were waiting for 1 couple, customs did not let them through, the guide helped them get visas and the group was assembled. As it turned out, the first 3 buses were taken on an unplanned excursion around Haikou, to promote the northern part of the island. We were taken directly to the resorts of Sanya, while everyone was brought to the hotels, ours was the last one, it took a little more than 6 hours! On the way, the guide decided to compensate for the moral damage and ordered a lot of food in the cafe, various salads, a large whole baked fish, Peking duck, various dishes that were not clear to us at that time, everyone was so tired that almost everything remained untouched.
We went to the hotel already at 18.15, exchanged $100 for 650 yuan with the guide, we wanted to quickly rinse and rush out into the street, get acquainted with the area and find our way to the sea!! ! Twilight began, not knowing the nearest way, we decided not to risk it and go through the central park of Dadonghai to the sea, until it got dark, we reached the time in 15 minutes. I liked the atmosphere right away! ))
Music is playing in several places in the park, dancing is slow, where they teach break dancing, where karaoke is, in general, so pleasant, warm, fabulous illumination on absolutely all buildings, BEAUTY! On the way back to the hotel, we bought fruit and goodies) so ended the first day on vacation.
February 28 at 8:00 we went for breakfast. I don't even want to call it breakfast
After breakfast, we went straight to the sea, we rushed along the nearest path in 3 minutes, well, here it is MOOOOOEEEE!! ! The weather is excellent, moderately warm +24, water +22 in the morning, before lunch, both the air and water warmed up more. Although I am a cold person, I swam every day with a few visits. This day passed by the sea, we took a light 1kg. 300g beach tent with us, it saved us from overheating.
We are making plans for what to see and when: Nanshan Buddhism Center Statue, Tree Houses, Phoenix Island, There are different thermal springs: Nantian, Banling, Little Fish (Free bus to the springs runs from the Sunshine Resort Intime Sanya and Pearl River Garden hotels, near In winter, from the side of the park, the guys offer cheaper entrance tickets. To those over 60, the cost of entrance tickets at the box office is 50%), and Deer Park turned its head which is closest to us.
For WI-FI to work, to use the Internet, you must download Turbo VPN to your device at home, as well as offline MAPS. ME maps and mark the places you plan to visit at home.
March 1, after breakfast, together with the girls athletes who flew in with us, we go to the bus stop and take the 25th bus for 10 yuan each, according to my navigator we drive for 1 hour and 10 minutes, a full bus, the driver seems to be mocking, then picking up speed, then it slows down sharply, the back began to hurt while driving like that, then you still need to walk 10 minutes to the ticket office, stand in a long line for a ticket for the season of 129 yuan - and forward to religion, art and beauty.
The park is very large, there are many interesting small temples, well-groomed streets, lawns, lakes. It’s difficult to get around everything on foot, in 4 hours we probably only looked at the third part. You can buy a ticket for a train and see all the objects, but we thought that we could do it on foot, like many others, by lunchtime it was already very hot, we were tired of walking, we decided that this was enough for us.
We returned to the hotel by bus 55 to 13 yuan, more comfortable, does not take standing passengers.
March 2 was spent relaxing on the beach.
March 3, after lunch, we decided to go on foot there and back by bus, again the navigator helped out to the Tree Houses. Along the way, we enjoyed the beauty of the streets and the town of Sanya, photographed almost every building and every tree, of course we were tired, 4km 700m in the heat. We saw in front of the tent where Miss World 2018 took place, opposite is the entrance to the Tree Houses.
We walked along the chic corridors, at the end of the corridor we took the elevator to the 18th floor, there are observation balconies along the edges, they are very small and dumb. I enthusiastically began to photograph all the views, but Vovchik was somehow depressed, I was making fun of him, I didn’t even want to go onto the balcony, grabbing the door. As it turned out later, his temperature was over 38, he felt sick, his head was spinning, his stomach hurts and freezes. Well, what can you do, we returned to the hotel, got a first aid kit, but I can’t understand why. Toli overheated, toli poisoned. Treatment began with nurofen, nifuroxazide, coal....The temperature lasted 2 days, the stomach also slowly began to work normally.
The next evening we decided to go to the observation deck from Sanya Beach to Phoenix Island.
Many people have already gathered there in anticipation of this miracle), the Illumination was turned on at 19:15 very beautifully, there was nothing to do there for a long time, the episodes are repeated every 5 minutes, having watched the scroll 3 times, we decided to go to the hotel. The stop is nearby, 6 buses passed 25, but all the drivers said the finish line, and only disembarked passengers. I was worried about how Vova would withstand the hike back 4km500meters. She began to break into every bus asking to Dadonghai ?? ? The driver of bus 8 nodded his head, we sit down, turn on the navigator, ooh, there are already 1 km 700 meters left, suddenly he will turn the wrong way, we’ll get there already !! ! The arrow was approaching our hotel and a smile appeared on my face more often! )) At night everything is lit up and it is much more difficult to navigate. We left as expected 1 stop before the Pineapple near our hotel.
Again, we spent a day by the sea, got burned, we had to forget about the springs for a couple of days. There was little time left until the end of the holiday, our health was getting a little worse and we didn’t take any more risks on the excursion.
We went to the Barry Boutique Hotel, on the 33rd floor, observation balconies, the view, especially at night, is stunning on the whole of Dadonghai, and the Sanya embankment, houses of Trees and Phoenixes!
Every evening before sunset, the local population comes to the embankment for a fashion show.
March 8, the day of departure, the guide does not know what time they will pick us up. I go to the airline's website, the flight was rescheduled from 1:35 to 3:15
I ask the guide to clarify and not pick up earlier, it happened, we were allowed to rest the whole last day until 21:20 to vacate the room. Our hotel was the last to be picked up.
The way back was much faster, there were no traffic jams at 1:00 am, we were already checking in, again some oddities. We went to the terminal, the duty free was closed, but boarding the plane began at a speed. The flight home was much easier, even the time difference of 6 hours was not strained, we landed at 12:15 Kiev time.
Again, the minibus was rebooked, because at 12:40 we will not make it in time, there are no suitcases yet, even though we were the first to go through passport control! We are waiting for our suitcases, but the tape does not turn on in any way. At 12:35 the tape turns on, the first suitcases begin to leave, and lo and behold, both of us are in the forefront!
We grab our 2 suitcases, 2 hand luggage, a handbag with documents and a wallet and a camera in a separate case, we run, we call on the go, there is no connection, I'm on my nerves. we jump out as usual on the 3rd floor to the minibus, already 12:40 no one is there. And then the operator of the Green Elephant calls me and says there are places left, the bus is on the 1st floor, it is leaving now. We run again to the airport through the frame on the go, we consider whether all the things have been taken from the transparency tape, we go down the elevator to the first floor, the bus is waiting for us, shouting Hurray !! ! we sit down, the conductor gives us the first row near the driver. We are going home in a good mood, the phone rings continuously for the first couple of hours, then our friends and relatives calmed down and we safely arrived home at 17:00 were in Poltava.
A few days have passed, and we already miss HAINAN!
Maybe I tired you with my story, sorry, I'm not a master of this business.
P. S. Comparing with other countries: beautiful, original houses like in the UAE, nature is similar to Sri Lanka, the sea is similar to GOA but a little cleaner, there is a storm, but in calm it is very clear water, there are many eating places and it doesn’t stink on the street like in Thailand , large portions, average price tag $ 5, fruits - a large selection, ripe, tasty, varied and not expensive, like in Thailand, alcohol of different strengths and tastes, rice vodka is the cheapest from $ 1.5 for 0.5 l, there are very expensive drinks, transportation is convenient and not expensive.
