My holiday in Sanya!

(TO FIND OUR HOLIDAY PICS, GO TO THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE & CLICK ON THE LINK "MY PICTURES", YOU WILL THEN SEE A SET OF PICS FOR SANYA)


Well I flew out to sanya on this crazy China Southern airplane, hoping to experience immense relaxation. I say crazy as the pilot seemed to do everything in extremes, instantly climbing very steeply, doing massive banked turns. Lets just say it wasn't as smooth as it might have been. But before I talk about all of that I need to explain that there was a slight hiccup in proceedings. As my flight to Sanya was delayed from 10:30AM to 3:30PM. I had no way of contacting Jessica as she would already be on her way to Sanya via Hong Kong, so at first I was kinda freaking out. However, I remembered that I had said to her a few times that if she gets to the airport in Sanya and I am not there that she should go straight to the first hotel. So I try to put it out of my mind and wait for the bus that will take all of the stranded passengers to a hotel. Yes, that's right, they offered us a hotel to wait in even though my flights there and back only cost just over 100 quid. So we set off and I realise that all instructions will be in Chinese as I am the only foreigner going there.....should be interesting. It takes maybe 30 or 40 mins to get to this place, the China Southern Resort Hotel or something. I try to check in using broken Chinese, then get told to go to the restaurant where they will be serving us lunch. So I end up sat at a big round table with a group of people I don't know. And of course they are highly amused by the fact that there is a foreigner at there table. They are really nice and friendly, but just watching me eat each different dish then murmuring amongst themselves. They tell me that one person at the table is really good at English, but it comes as no surprise that this person doesn't want to even try to talk to me.... something I got used to in Taiwan. People spent a lot of time and money learning English, then don't want to use it unless forced to!! So we carried on conversing in my broken Chinese, although after about 5 or 10 mins they kinda gave up, or my Chinese ran out!! Anyway, the food was wicked and free, so I cant complain. After lunch I made my way to my room (via bus!!); it was a basic but comfortable room. It is one of those places that has loads of rooms in like a holiday camp chalet style complex. I had a shower, a cup of coffee and settled down to watch some TV. So my little de-tour came to an end and after my slightly worrying flight I arrived in the tiny airport in Sanya. I looked around the airport and there was no sign of Jessica, so I made my way to the hotel. She must be there I thought, so I haggled for a taxi and set off. After a 20 minute ride we arrive at the hotel, a guy takes my bags and I get all checked in. However, after a half chinese/english conversation I find out that Jessica isn't here yet!! So this is where I start to really worry. The porter shows me to my room and I my brain starts working overtime... OK I think to myself, don't panic, just have a shower and she will come. So I hop in the shower, have a shave and start to get dressed. Then the phone rings and guess what?? It's Jessica... you wouldn't believe how relieved I was. It turns out that she flew to the wrong airport on Hainan Island!! They have 2 airports Haikou and Sanya, she flew to Haikou. So you can imagine that she arrived, waited for me and obviously started to panic when I didn't turn up.... and when she asked the people at the airport about my flight number they said it didn't exist!! Anyway, she worked out eventually what had happened and came down to Sanya in a Taxi - it took 3 hours!! Anyway, I am just so relieved to see her and I calm her down, tell her that our holiday started now and to forget all about this bad experience. So we go decide to go and have the hotel's BBQ buffet and forget all about it. We both feel so excited to be with each other again and our holiday starts :) The buffet includes a lot of food and also beer, and they have it on a patio next to a pond with...get this... live entertainment (a filipino singer who is not always in tune!!)So we settle in and enjoy our food. We were staying at this hotel, called "the Resort intime" for 4 nights and it was really nice. It was a big resort style hotel that had its own section of the beach. We spent our time relaxing by the pool and beach, it was awesome. I really needed a simple and relaxing beach holiday to prepare me for starting work in Guangzhou, and I realised that this place was perfect. And it was near a small town, where we could venture to eat cheap food, so we rarely ate in the hotel. Although we did have an afternoon tea buffet once, where you eat cake, sandwiches and sip tea. We sat out on the balcony on these really cool wicker tables and chairs, its a shame I didn't take a picture of this. Of course the breakfast was awesome, and me and Jessica ate a lot every day!! This is one of our many weaknesses!! So we were really happy with this hotel and having a great time. When the 4 nights were up we were booked into the Marriott hotel & spa in another area of Sanya. So we went by taxi and were looking forward to the 5* luxury, wondering how it would be different from the first hotel. Well let me tell you this place blew the other place out of the water. It was a really grand looking hotel complex with a massive lobby, which included a lounge that looked out onto the sea. Its a circular area with lots of wooden sliding doors which they usually leave open, so you get the most amazing views. The style of the place almost had a colonial feel to it with big wooden fans whirring above you. This was a place that we were to often sit, relaxing in the evening sipping cocktails!! The room was awesome with a balcony and a sea view. The place had a lagoon pool area, which was a interlinking set of small pools with jacuzzis and a poolside bar and cafe. Then they had a regular pool in another area. The beach area was very private and they had security guards to stop hawkers. So we went from being relaxed in the first hotel, to a state of almost comatozed relaxation in this place. Just meandering around wearing flip flops and beach shorts was blissful. The complex was in the middle of nowhere, so you had to eat in the hotel. It was expensive for China, but for a 5* hotel it was still pretty good. Probably like regular prices in a Travelodge back home!! We ate in an Indonesian restaurant, as well as eating lots of Hainan specialty's and also having a crazy buffet one night (which included steak, shrimp, peiking duck amongst other things). So all in all me and Jessica had an awesome time in Sanya. We hadn't seen each other for half a year at least and we really enjoyed lazing around and chatting. You should get this impression from our photos!! I would highly recommend this place to anyone who is out this way. It aint exactly a simple Thai style beach holiday, but if you like the occasional blowout resort holiday then you will love this place!!!