Golden Week Part III: Sanya

      We arrived in Sanya in the afternoon and someone from our hostel, yet again, met us at the airport.  However, instead of getting private transportation, he just hailed a cab for us. It was kind of a waste of money, but we did not know that at the time. The taxi stopped at a kind of sketchy side street and told us we were there. We walked down the sides street that was muddy and wet (it was drizzling) and finally found our hostel, the Thornbird. It was on the second floor of a rather shaky looking building. We climbed very steep, not sturdy stairs to the second floor and checked in. This was the first hostel where we had a six person room instead of a four person room; however, we lucked out because we were the only four people staying in the room. In fact, it seemed as though we were the only four people staying at the hostel.

The Thornbird Hostel

     Our room consisted of three sets of bunk beds and a set of small lockers. The beds were two pieces of plywood with a sheet over them.  There was also another sheet for us to use for covers.  It was definitely a let down after our previous hostels. Also, the bathroom was a toilet, a shower, and a sink all in one.  There was no separation between any of them, it was just one big open room.  Thankfully, there were two sinks for us to use in the hallway because the bathroom was rather disgusting.
     We needed a pick me up, so we decided to go to dinner at a restaurant called Fat Daddy's that some other girls in the program who had been in Sanya earlier in the week recommended.  I had the most amazing burger that had sugared pineapple and avocado on it. We also ordered a pitcher of Mojitos that were the best mojitos I have ever had. Our glasses even came with a cane of sugar in them to bite on.  Our waiter actually ended up being a former CIEE student from North Carolina that moved to Sanya, so that was pretty cool. We chatted with him for awhile and made plans to meet back up with him the next night so he could take us out to some clubs.  We went back to the hostel and went straight to bed.
    Although I was exhausted and had been looking forward to bed, I slept horribly.  I was 100% sure my bed was going to break and I was freezing without a blanket. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sarah's alarm went off.  We got up and had breakfast at the hostel. Thornbird had a more traditional Chinese breakfast, which was not bad, but it seemed like our food had been sitting out for awhile and would continue to sit out.
     After breakfast, we went in search of an ATM yet again.  We got money and then decided to buy a coconut because that is what Sanya is known for.  The coconut we got was a red coconut, which was actually green.  The guy we bought it from cut it so we could drink the milk out of it and gave us straws.  We walked down toward the beach and drank the milk, which was not bad. We did not actually go on the beach because the beaches where we were staying were covered in trash and the water looked brown and polluted.  When we finished drinking the milk we tried to get our coconut open so we could eat the meat, but no one would help us get it open! We headed back to the hostel because we were supposed to meet a driver who was going to take us to a hot springs resort at 12:00. However, when we got there, the girl working the front desk told us he actually would not be there till around 1 so we went around the corner and grabbed some lunch.  Finally we got in the van to go to the hot springs!
      Our ride to the hot springs was a little sketchy and we offroaded it some as well as taking some roads that were in much need of repair.  Once we got there, we were given little electronic wristbands and then shown to a ladies locker room. We each had lockers that our electronic wristbands opened.  Inside was a towel for us to use and shoes for us to wear.  We changed in to our bathing suits and then went out to hit up some hot springs! It was an overcast day which was lucky because not too many people were there. There were tons of different springs, some man made and some natural, as well as an infinity pool and huge play area with water slides. Some of my favorite and most unique springs were the coffee spring, the milk spring, the fragrant liquor spring, and the fish spring.  The fish spring was my absolute favorite! In this spring there were tons of small fish that would come up and eat the dead skin off of your body. It sounds kind of weird and gross, but it was actually amazing!  At first the sensation was really weird and kind of tickely, but once you got used to it, it was awesome! Sarah and I were really the only ones into it though. When it was almost time to go, we went back to the locker room and showered and then grabbed a snack at one of the restaurants.

Sarah and I in the fish spring

      When it was finally time to leave, we discovered there was a small problem. Something apparently had happened to the bus we had taken up to the hot springs and so we had to take a different one back. Which would have been fine, only it meant that we had to squeeze 15 people into a car roughly the size of a minivan. Lucy, Sarah and I were put into the back seat, which was extremely wobbly.  The entire ride home we were terrified that our seat would fall back into the back door and some how make it open and we would all go flying out of the back. Thankfully that never happened. However, not too long after our first stop letting people off, our seat completely broke! There were some free seats in the front so we moved up to those, but it was still quite the experience!
     Finally we made it back to the hostel alive and in one piece and got ready to go out to dinner. Lauren was not feeling well so she stayed in.  Lucy, Sarah, and I went to Dolphin's Bar and Grill for dinner, which was amazing! We had spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer and then I had fettuccine alfredo for my meal. We tried lots of different cocktails and they were all pretty great! After dinner, we went back to Fat Daddy's to meet up with our waiter from the night before.  He had to close that night, so we had to wait for a bit. He gave us a free round of mojitos and we sat and talked to some other Americans.  Next, Lucy and I ordered Pina Coladas that were served in an actual pineapple! It was one of the best drinks I have ever had!! By the time our friend was done closing, we were too exhausted to go out so we just walked back to our hostel and went to bed.

Lucy and I with our Pina Coladas in pineapples

      After another night of not very great sleep, we woke up and decided to have brunch at the Dolphin, which is where we had eaten dinner the night before. By this time we were all extremely Shanghai sick!! Brunch took awhile and after eating we took about a 15 or 20 minute cab ride to Yalong Bay.  We bought tickets to go out on the beach there. First we had to walk through a seashell museum, which was pretty cool. Sarah and I bought sun hats in the gift shop! Once we left the museum, there were several vendors selling all kinds of goods.  We bought a coconut, not a red one, a normal one, and drank it pretty quickly. We hung out looking around at different things and Sarah tried to find the perfect set of pearls to buy! Finally we finished our coconut and we took it back to the guy who sold it to us and he cut it open for us. It was the best coconut I have ever had!! While we were wandering around we saw an entire group of Chinese tourists in matching Hawaiian outfits.  It was pretty fantastic.

Drinking out of the coconut in front of the beach

Sarah and I in our hats

      We went down to the beach and changed into our bathing suits and paid for a set of two chairs and an umbrella.  Lucy, Sarah and I got into the water for awhile, but it was overcast and we got chilly pretty quickly.  We laid out for a little while on the beach, but we were salty and soggy so we decided to change and head back.  We showered at the hostel and then went in search of Dongbei Jiaozi Chang restaurant.  It was not as good as we expected, but it was not too bad.  We walked back to the hostel and packed up our stuff and then had an early bedtime.

Part of the beach in Yalong Bay

     The next morning we eagerly sprang out of bed, happy to be going back to Shanghai! We went to Fat Daddy's to get their clay pot breakfast, which was eggs, potatoes and other things cooked in a clay pot. It was phenomenal! We grabbed a cab to the airport, breezed through security and got on our flight.  When we landed in Shanghai we grabbed our bags and then headed for the Maglev.  Then we caught the subway the rest of the way back.  On the subway, a Chinese boy was facing Lucy and I.  He kept looking at us and finally shouted ""外国人" (foreigner). Then his mom smacked him in the face. It was pretty funny.  We spoke to him some in Chinese and told him we were "美国人" (meiguoren).  After that he kept looking at us and 
saying "美国人".  It was a great way to end our trip! We got back to the dorm and went to dinner at one of our
favorite restaurants 学友 (xue you, study friend), with some friends and it was great! Then I had a lot of work to
catch up on because today I had a test and oral presentation. I managed to do pretty well on all of it though!