No rest for
the wicked
The sound of
metal on metal woke us at 6 am as the ship began to sail into Sanya, China on Hainan
Island in the dark. We could see a line of lights in the dark distance.
Gradually, as we advanced toward the lights, the sun besgan to rise and we were
berthed.
Tours
We had a
7:30 meeting time for our tour and we were there in time but there were:
A few
hitches
It turns out
the gangway was a problem. It is like no other here. It is circular! Quite clever
in some ways with multiple potential exit points. Finally it was in place.
Then the Chinese
officials came on board. We were told that we would be leaving an hour late
which threw off all the tour plans as we could not delay our departure from the
harbor this afternoon.
Immigration
We had to
carry our passports and a copy of same along with our cruise card. We wound our
way through the many lines until finally we were before the immigration station
and the gorgeous young, serious, lady checked our documents several times and
then returned the copy but kept our passport. After some confusion, it was
explained that the passports would be returned to the ship.
And off we
go with this copy and our cruise card in hand…to a metal detector. Having
passed successfully through this, we were off to the bus.
On our way
The motorcoach
was quite nice with AC that was good enough. We drove a long way along busy
streets and highways (LA Freeway style) to a mountain which meant a one way
slow drive up. But the views were beautiful and we listened to Lena along the
way. She is a young (they are all young and ageless) who spoke excellent
English which she mastered by watching TV shows. She comfortably used many
American colloquial expressions which were funny coming from her.
I observed
some folks driving against the traffic direction. I suppose there’s some
special rule allowing for this occasionally as I saw it more than once.
Most are
scooters of various descriptions and carrying everything from soup to nuts and
multiple people who seem to comfortably cling to these wheels somehow.
Lena is well
indoctrinated by the local government and Chamber of Commerce repeatedly
telling us how they had no air pollution (not true as photos will attest) and
how great it is to rest and relax here in a hotel or resort on the beach.
It is a
destination for wealthy Chinese and Russians; Cyrillic is seen with regularity.
Li family “village”
The Chinese government
totally supports these people who live almost exclusively in this multiacre
complex clutching the sides of this very steep mountain. But think something
like the Polynesian Cultural Center on Hawaii. We winded our way through
seeming millions of people, to a point where
we were put into large golf carts and taken up this steep mountain to
the entrance to a huge amphitheatre. Our seating was in the front center and
titled VIP. Because there were a few seats in the front and I wanted to see better,
I sat down there. A Chinese official behind me chewed me out (in Chinese) and
it was clear I wasn’t to sit there so I scrambled back to the 3rd
row. Less than two minutes after this, another woman on our bus sat down there
and was unaccosted. I tried to figure this out all day without any luck but as
I’m writing this is it possible it is saved for older people and I didn’t look
old enough???? Hard to believe that.
Anyway this
was a spectacular show. Several hundred young and old people, goats, ducks,
geese, oxen…all used to illustrate their daily life. They recreated (in quite
funny fashion) the courting ritual and many other aspects of their lives. It is
on a large hillside and there were many simultaneous scenes unfolding in each
setting. In this respect, it reminded me somewhat of the Ramona pageant in
Eastern LA county. The music was loud and compelling and advanced the fun
dances going on. There were bits of humor here and there.
After this
we walked through samples of village buildings, all authentic. Here and there,
elderly women were weaving various textiles, cooking big dishes, etc. You could
take photos freely and the people were delightful to photograph.
An Unusual
part
Several
women were around 90 or more and had tattooed faces. There were 4 designs used.
The reason for it was so Han Chinese men would not steal them as wives. So when
they were 13, the loving parents tattooed their faces to prevent this
kidnapping. The practice stopped in the 1940s so these sweet looking ladies are
the only ones with them. Because the tattoos are so old, they are very faint
and you must be close and know to look for them. I would love to have captured
a good enough photo to illustrate this but the best I got was a sweet woman
smiling delightfully at my camera and waving. So adorable. The insides of their
houses are primitive with a central fireplace and one flat bed. Chair and table
are made of rough wood.
After this,
we came back down the mountain but without any traffic impediments this time.
Lunch
We were
taken to a large banquet room in a big hotel and seated 12 to a table. I lost
track of the numbers of dishes were served but they included a delicious
chicken broth soup, bananas fried some way, sticky rice, noodles, green
veggies, coconut tarts, duck, chickens (or some smaller fowl as the bones were
small but not pigeon small), and more I can’t recall. We had the usual hot tea
and a woman asked for milk or sugar to go in it. She seemed not to know what to do with it and
as if this were her first encounter. We also had a choice of beer (Ed said it
wasn’t bad), regular Coke (diet almost unknown here), water or Sprite.
One woman
clearly didn’t know the etiquette of Chinese family style eating and seemed
almost to act as if every dish was directed at her first. No matter where the
plate was placed on the lazy susan, she would pull it around to grab some. She
also seemed oblivious of someone else taking food from it. So it was not
uncommon for me to cling to the side of the lazy susan while Ed was taking food
off for us to be sure it didn’t suddenly get jerked away. Even when I held it
firmly, she would continue to pull on it almost desperately. She also often cut
into line to get ahead of others. I kind’ve wonder if she is a little “slow”
and as she is on the ship with us from Hong Kong to Dubai, I’ll try to keep
this in mind.
Shopping?
There was a
small shop in the hotel and we still had time to kill. There was nothing really
to look at: a beach nearby touted as a resort destination. So as I wandered around,
I saw a dress that kept pulling me back so I asked Ed if we had enough RMB
(china currency: we save currency from the countries we visit for the next
visit) to buy it. He said he thought he did after he figured out the price for
me in USD. As we are going over to pay for it, a short, stout Oriental woman (I
think from the ship) says in unaccented English: They don’t take credit cards.
Ed tells her we know that. Almost in a confrontational way she asks if we have
RMB. When we both said Yes, she seemed very surprised and watched us as we went
to the counter to pay in Chinese currency. It was a funny movie scene.
I wore the
dress to dinner. It is obviously made for someone shorter than I am. It looks
OK and will make a nice tea dress but it doesn’t fit me as it would someone
less buxom and shorter. Se La Vie. It is cute and the price was right.
Pearl Museum
EVERYONE who
went on a tour had to endure the “famous Pearl Museum”. Yes it told the history
of the pearl but the most important thing was to get you to buy and some people
did. For most of us it was a big snooze and we went outside where there was a
small stand with fruits, drinks, and such. One of the ship’s photographers had
some Hong Kong money and he was trying to dicker with the merchant to give him
TWO coconuts (so the other ship’s photographer could also have one). This was
hilarious and went on for a long while. Eventually one coconut was cracked open
and he said it was the sweetest coconut milk he’d ever had. He is from the
Balkans where bargaining is a science and skill. He said something about he
thought it was a free market. Those of us who saw this interaction were still
chuckling about it long after we left.
I WON! IWON!
They have
photo raffles here with some regularity. When you have certain photos taken,
you get a ticket for the raffle. I have been saving mine and had 7 accumulated.
So I put two in the raffle box after someone else had started it. I watched to
see how many other people put tickets in and I added another for a total of 4
of the 7. Figured I’d save some for a later raffle.
Well a lady
one the 3rd prize (I don’t recall what it was). My name was drawn
for 2nd prize which is a collection of photos of the areas we’ve
been taken by the ship’s photographers. Then they drew for 1st prize
and again my name was drawn and this time I got a beautiful picture frame of
dark wood. I think it will match the others on our wall at home and we can
insert a more recent photo in it.
But for the
next raffle tickets we get, I’m going to put Ed’s name on it and let him win
next time. Don’t want people to think there’s a fix.Ha.
Dinner
The chef got
some unusual fruits in Hong Kong and they were featured tonight on a plate:
jackfruit, mango, and others local to the area all of which were very good and
tasty.
Entertainment
A comedic
magician. He was clever and fun. He’ll be doing a show in a few days again and
I look forward to seeing him.
Singapore
This is our next
port where we have an overnight. In the meantime, we have two sea days. Yeah.
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