Qiongzhong

I set out for Qiongzhong (琼中) in the middle of the island. The girl at the hostel said to take bus 17 to the West Station. Turns out she was wrong on two counts. Bus 17 didn't pass the stop I waited at so I had to go back to the hostel to ask again, and another girl told me that 30 would also do. Back at the stop I noticed that West Station was listed on the route details for 30. I should have looked more carefully and saved myself a walk. The second mistake was more serious. When I got to West Station, the ticket counter told me Qiongzhong was served from the South Station. So I had to catch another bus there. One hour wasted. Sigh.


By this time it was nearly 1130 and I had to wait for the next bus at 1220 so I decided to grab a bite in the form of a cob of corn and a sticky rice dumpling from a street vendor.


The ride was uneventful, I dozed off from fatigue and also the landscape wasn't particularly remarkable. The road doesn't begin to ascend the hills until near Qiongzhong. My nose had stopped running and I wasn't sneezing anymore. So I was allergic to the pollution in Haikou. And Haikou is supposed to have cleaner air than most other Chinese cities. This did not bode well for travel in China.

I strode out of the bus station looking for the hotel mentioned in the guide which was supposed to be nearby. After 15 minutes walking I still hadn't found it. Checked the notes again. Ok, maybe it was the other direction then. No good. I gave up and asked at a luxurious looking hotel what their rates were. It's about 60AUD. That sort of money now would only get you a poky motel room in a small country town back home, so I took the room. The room was even better than the one at Boao. The air was cool due to the elevation.


In the afternoon there was a small gift of a basket of fruits, this time just an apple and lots of cherry tomatoes. I had bought some to try in a supermarket in Haikou thinking there were some interesting fruit, but they were just cherry tomatoes. I wonder why the Hainanese think they are special.


Unfortunately Qiongzhong is a one main road town and stretches a long way. I walked a fair way towards the town centre and still hadn't found it so I had a dinner at what looked like the most acceptable restaurant of tofu on an iron skillet with rice. Edible but not memorable.

In rather dim light in the outdoor park next to the hotel, which seemed to be still under construction, local women were dancing in formation to prerecorded Mandarin pop. They just repeated the same song again and again. Seemed to be their way of getting exercise and having fun. There was a second group dancing in a circle to different music. And that was my night in Qiongzhong. Some travel days are just less scenic than others.

There was no way I could visit Wuzhishan the next day though I might be able to spot it; it requires a hike. But maybe I could visit Baihuashan (百花山) falls the next day. And for the night I could stay at the Litchi Hot Spring Hotel in Baoting. I had no reply from my enquiry to the hotel's agent so I emailed the room discounters I had used before for Boao. They said that there were no vacancies, but maybe I might like the Narada next to it. The price was around 120AUD. Oh what the heck, might as well soak in luxury to end this trip so I accepted.