Narada Resort (Baoting)

I didn't think I could make it to Baihuashan today. Breakfast at the hotel was a la carte and not included. Pity, it looked good from what the guests in the dining room were eating. I couldn't think on an empty stomach so I walked to the bus station and saw a couple of hawkers outside so had a bowl of rice noodles in soup. The sign on the other stall confirmed what I suspected, they moved the bus station after my guide was published so the hotel I had been looking for was near the old station. Possibly future planning, to locate the new bus station a bit outside the town, and also near the junction of the new highway to the coast. I asked at the counter about buses to Wuzhishan (五指山), Five Finger Mountain. It's either 1020 or 1400. That decided it, I had to leave at 1020. I surfed a bit at the hotel then packed up and left.


The minibus is a rural run and full of people going home from the relatively large town of Qiongzhong. It swayed from side to side as it took bends. Towards the end of the run, a woman sitting on the floor had to use a sick bag. Fortunately I am relatively unaffected by car sickness, it's boats that get me. And I didn't have a full stomach.


Wuzhishan looked bigger than expected from the guide. There seem to be a lot of new apartment blocks so a lot of building has been happening. Also I saw a branch of Bank of China, whereas the guide claimed there was no foreign exchange ATM. I got onto the service to Baoting just in time. There was a bit of bother with the barcode scanner at the gate.


At Baoting (保亭) they dropped me off at the outskirts of the town. It turned out the centre is about 1km walk in. I found the market and had a plate of fried noodles at a shop. This town is a bit poor from the mess at the market and streets. I got a little attention walking around with a backpack. Also the woman at the restaurant, spotting my backpack asked me if I'm selling things. I guess they don't see many backpackers here,

Luckily I noted the Chinese name of the Narada Resort ahead of time for telling motorcycle taxis. A couple of taxis didn't want to take me there but eventually one offered to do it for 30RMB because it's 7 or 8 km outside town and he would have to come back with an empty car. I tried to bargain him down to 25 but I didn't persist because 5RMB is less than a dollar to me and maybe food on the table for him. Anyway on the way there were people waiting on the other side of the road for the bus or a motorcycle taxi so I suspect he got a fare for the return trip.

The resort was luxurious, it was the top rated hotel in the district, but showing a little sign of wear in the tropical climate. I got a room with breakfast. It seemed like there were two worlds, the people who live in Baoting and the people who can afford to stay at these resorts and come in cars or coaches. I booked a place on the daily shuttle service to Dadonghai in Sanya at noon the next day so I was all clear for the home stretch, no more struggling with public transport.

The bathtub was actually outdoors, on the balcony, with a modesty screen around it of course. The hot water comes from the spring. I had a nice soak in it.

The resort has excellent swimming pools of course.

The round one in the middle is the hot water pool.