And again a magnificent Fr. Hainan!
We liked Hainan Island during our February trip, and we didn't see everything planned because of our health. We constantly monitored tours for the near future and for three months in advance, the situation was as follows: it’s more profitable to book back-to-back for 8 days, and it’s more profitable to book 15 days in advance. Therefore, back in June, we booked a tour for 15 days.
A week before departure, our friends expressed a desire to also relax, but tours for 15 days went up in price by almost half, they had to take just a week at an adequate price from Kompas Touroperator.
The flight was direct from UIA, 12 hours with two meals a day and drinks during the flight. The system has allocated places and change only for a fee. In the cabin 2 + 4 + 2 seats in a row. We got the 19th row in the middle, everything would be fine, BUT! three girls were sitting in front of us drunk, especially one - it either clung to passing men, then lost consciousness - they poured water over it, vomited, then lay down on the floor to sleep, and this was the first half hour of the flight! At first it was funny to us, then it became disgusting and tired of all this.
And finally landed at 22.50 at Sanya Phoenix Airport, it was very reminiscent of the airport in Haikou. We went through all the procedures: handed over the prints of both hands, passport control, safely took away the luggage, in which there were 2 folding knives, a 10 cm blade, 2 canned food, 2 sticks of sausage, 1 pack of butter, 3 packs of toaster cheese, boarded bus 4 in the direction of the guide and after 40 minutes we were at the hotel, and at 00.30 we were already in room 914 of the Sanya New City 4 * hotel.
The hotel produced very positive emotions, it is very close to the Bibolio hotel where we rested in February. Location in the middle of Dadonghai Bay, near the Leto shopping center, with cafes and private exchangers at a good exchange rate around.
The rest began with a meeting with the guide the next morning, we signed up for a free survey in the hope of seeing places we had never seen before, but no such luck! Obzorka is stupidly a scam for money from tourists with good pressure that they don’t have a scam, like everywhere else, but the original. Many are being sold, and when exactly the same products in exactly the same packages are found in a supermarket or pharmacy, they are surprised that they paid much more (up to 300% more). The guide also sent us for a free diagnostic. It reminded me like a fortuneteller - a neat question: does your head hurt? Are the legs perpnut or hands? OH! You must definitely undergo procedures for 750 + 750 + 120 yuan + 1500 yuan of weed for a month to drink. And when none of my and my husband’s problems were voiced, they begin to beg for at least half a course, be sure to pay in advance, start today. We had a hard time giving up on those Velcro healers!
On the 3rd day, we decided to go to the springs, it cost 200 yuan from the guide, so we turned to the local at the Zima shopping center and took 38 baths for 100 yuan to the Zhujiang Nantian hot springs, one with peeling fish and a large infinity pool with 1 slide more for children. He booked tickets, we re-photographed ourselves on our mobile phone and put us on a free bus at 14.30 from the Pearl River Hotel (Pearl River), the journey took 35 minutes. They showed their mobile phone at the checkout with a photo of a ticket for 4 people and went into the territory.
We went into the dressing rooms with bracelets, opened the drawers where there were towels and slippers. Get dressed and explore. At first glance, I liked everything - a beautiful area, immersed in tropical plants, birds sing, there are almost no people, there are often coolers with water and green tea on the paths. The temperature in the baths is from 39 to 42, tolerable even in the heat! The coolest and most pleasant procedure with fish, at first it was very ticklish, but you get used to it and enjoy it. Vova even dozed off.
Time passed unnoticed and it began to get dark. The locker room has a shower, hair dryer, toilet. Changed, drank tea and took the bus back to the hotel.
4th day after a hearty breakfast we decided to go to Yalongbei. We reach the bus stop and hear the scream-din, the police, it's dumb to come closer. Buses pass one after another, and we observe the picture: the policeman has already stepped aside, and several female janitors are yelling, almost grabbing each other by the loops. One jumps on the bus, but the other pulls her out into the street screaming and yelling further. It turned out that the janitor receives a salary from a kilogram of collected garbage, and that other one picked up garbage on someone else's site, they move on mopeds with a trailer. If only we fought so hard for cleaning, who to pick. In cafes, the Chinese also let their people earn money, as they say. They throw malnutrition and bones under the table if the cafe is outdoors, and if it is indoors, then on the table around the plates. This is how they did it in our hotel.
Then we took bus 25, paid 7 yuan each, to the InterContinental Yalongbey Hotel. We went to the embankment, walked further and did not see a better beach, the same sand as in Dadonghai, no cleaner water, a little more storm. We stopped at the public one, where the radio also works, free sunbeds, people bathe and we went too. So we spent half a day, it was time to refresh ourselves. We went out to the square, looking through the assortment and prices - there was nothing to stop looking at, and even the prices are much higher. We decided to return to Dadonghai and have lunch where there is a huge choice for meat-eaters of our men and seafood for us of the weaker sex =) The bus 25 back stops right in front of the stops there, and nowhere else. Each room has its own stops.
5th day, beach before lunch, and after lunch we decided to take a bus to the Houses of Trees, on the way to the underground city with a river and to the waterfront of Sanya, where there is a good view of Phoenix Island. We took bus 25 to the Tree Houses for 2 yuan per person, the illumination has already turned on - beautiful, colorful.
Then we went towards the embankment about 2 km, to the underground city, along the way there were concerts near large malls, the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China began. Crowds of people on the street, everything sparkles, huge stages, folk dance groups and artists perform. Holiday atmosphere!
We reached the entrance to the subway and went downstairs, it turned out that we still had to walk 1 km to the river past all the boutiques to the end. Gone, beautifully on a boat, a Chinese feeds colored carp fish from a nipple.
We wanted to eat and decided to take an octopus here for 20 yu. and oysters 25 yu. , they were so peppery that it was impossible to eat. Never seen such spicy food in Dadonghai.
We returned to Dadonghai on the 8th bus for 2 yuan and had dinner at our favorite places.
The 6th day of the planned Yanoda excursion - Glass Bridge with all-inclusive meals at $54 per person with the guide, after counting all the pros and cons, it turned out to be $4 more expensive than the locals. But we were picked up directly from the hotel, there was a Russian-speaking guide, he led us and took us along all the paths of the park - we were satisfied. With an audio guide, we wouldn't have seen half of it. It was a very worthy lunch, which was not there, beer and ice cream too.
I liked the tour very much, the Glass Bridge is not scary, the main thing is to look ahead. There were many, the leg strength was still 6 days, it was especially painful going down the stairs.
7th day: beach, beach and beach. In the evening at 20.30 we took our friends on the bus to the airport.
Then for a couple of days we have some kind of emptiness, it seems that we wanted to go home. But we pulled ourselves together and continued to rest. There were no more scheduled views for this trip.
Vova did a foot massage, he was afraid of the consequences, because he has a problem - gouty arthritis. But it turned out to be very good, he pressed painfully on the places where he knew, he said where there were problems, he even diagnosed the spine in his legs, and after the massage he ran and did not complain about pain.
We walked along the promenade to the very end towards the Marriott hotel, it was very beautiful there, pools, paths, the whole territory was very well maintained.
Festivities in honor of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC also began on the Dadonghai Square of the park, stands, concerts, and sales exhibitions were also installed on the beach. People were arriving, and our tour was coming to an end. This time we also went to Barry boutique on the 33rd floor in the evening - admired Dadonghai. There is a supermarket under the hotel, where prices are lower than in Pineapple or other stores, and gifts are given with sweets or coconut milk.
Sanya. Very clean streets. Well-groomed lawns, parks. Amazing nature. The beach in Dadonghai Bay is very pleasant, the sand is light, fine-grained. Coast Guard on the alert, well done. If it is stormy, they pull up the fence, warn about the level of danger and drive them out of the water to the shore. Lifeguards are on duty late at night on the beach. There are plenty of cafes along the sea where you can buy delicious fresh juices. More than once saw a blogger with a pig on the beach. The pig runs after the owner, does not move a single step. In general, there are a lot of bloggers in the coastal strip, sometimes they get excessive attention, but even without understanding the language, in the end, they realize that it's time to set sail.
The Chinese are quite friendly, we were comfortable in terms of their mentality. In the parks, close-knit Chinese people gather in droves and do gymnastics. In the evening, there are singing fountains in the square, and nearby, elderly Chinese couples are dancing. On the streets of the city late at night, far from the hotel, we felt calm. By the way, they don’t give change on buses, you need to have small bills to pay for the fare. The escort began to count the money before throwing it into the box.
The Chinese don't speak English. Interpreter for help or gestures. But the sellers in the ZIMA shopping center, who sell excursions, speak Russian, albeit broken. If you are not ready to pay a tour operator for an excursion that is not cheap at all, then you go to the Chinese. We contacted Vlad. You can find reviews and videos about it. He works at the Zima shopping center "Vlad's Bags". So, in addition to excursions, he also changes the currency. Vlad has a good course, we have not lost money. But the guides at the reception are not very profitable.
Attention! Since January 2019, Chinese banks have introduced a rule that when exchanging currency, a passport is not enough, you must provide a TIN, a hotel voucher. And this is not a joke, the procedure will take about an hour, or even more. We didn’t manage to pay with a bank card, but we saw that right in the tea shop, where there is also a currency exchange, the Russians paid with a card. We had yuan left when we left, and in this store we exchanged back for dollars with a loss of only 3 yuan from $ 100.
The day before I left, I was severely poisoned due to my greed and stupidity. Having dined on squid in batter in a cafe, and the portions are very large, and I love seafood, but my husband does not. I took the rest of the portion to take away, ate a little more for breakfast, put the rest in the refrigerator, but there is not a refrigerator in the room, but a cooler without a freezer, and taking the card from the room cuts out all the light. We came for lunch, on the way Vova took a whole chicken for 20 yuan in a burger shop next to the hotel, I had a fresh 0.5 l for 15 yuan and decided to finish eating squid. The smell was normal, I ate half of it, less than half an hour later, I started to freeze, vomiting, diarrhea, the temperature rose to 38.6. Nifuroxazide was used, until the morning I felt better. The fear was about the long road ahead, but everything went well. It’s her own fault, you need to think better, not be greedy.
The rest was coming to an end, I didn’t want to leave, so we went and threw coins into the sea - thinking we’d come back!
We had a late check-out at 20.00 on the tour, we checked out the room, took the deposit. Picked up the bus at 20.30.
Half of the vacationers did not take care and they were evicted at 12.00, or maybe they were not warned at the agency, they had a heavy expectation before a long journey.
We went through customs, didn’t wrap anything up, didn’t take it away, the knives flew home safely. Very many, every third, were forced to open their luggage. Power banks and all equipment only in hand luggage! You can not take out coconuts, watermelons, melons, durian, jackfruit, lighters - neither luggage nor hand luggage.
Rested with new experiences, with purchases - fruits (mango, dragon, rambutan, lychee, passion fruit, mangosteen), tea (milk and creamy oolong, red sunset, blueberry, fruity, and not yet signed), a silk blanket and pillow , sweets, coconut powder, vodka (coconut, rice and bamboo) we returned home. Spruces fit into the allowed weight.
We already miss Hainan and think about what else we want to see there. No disappointment yet.
See you soon, HAINAN!
