Boao

It was still raining when I woke in the morning. Well let's see what happens after breakfast. It was a buffet affair, with mostly Chinese food with a concession to Western tastes in the form of a few bowls of cereal. I only saw one Caucasian couple in the dining room so I daresay the cereals weren't in demand.


Here are some coconut chickens on the street just outside the hotel.

It was still drizzling so I put on my jacket and pulled the rain hood over my head. Might as well walk down to the mouth of the river to see what I can of the Boao Forum for Asia site. There was a seafood restaurant facing the sea and I made a note perhaps to come back for dinner.

Despite the rain there were tour groups here for a walking tour of the site. I didn't feel like mingling with the crowds so I walked outside of the tourist area for free.

The apartment development here is for people who want a view of the sea. Hainan is positioning itself as a resort and holiday home destination. It didn't take me too long to finish exploring as much of the grounds as I can in the misty weather.


I bought some snacks and went back to the hotel room. Then I came out again for lunch. I settled on a small restaurant and had salt and chilli prawns with rice which were alright.

I spend the afternoon reading, surfing and napping. During the afternoon there was a knock on the door, and a hotel maid brought in a bag of fruit as a gift. There were 4 segments of sugarcane, 2 each of oranges, mangos, pears, and bananas, and an apple. I wondered why they did that. I think what happened is that they had a surplus of fruit and they decided to give them away. The mangos are not the sweetest; they have still some way to go in breeding tasty varieties.

By evening the rain still hadn't abated so I decided to have my hot pool dip in the drizzle anyway. After that I had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The waitress suggested a set meal. It was quite good value for 32RMB. I could have had meals in the restaurant for about the same price as outside.


And that was the end of a rainy day in Boao. I suppose I was lucky to be in a comfy room with the Internet and a book for amusement. I could have been very miserable if stuck in pokey cheap hotel.