Wish I spent more time in Houhai

03.10.2016

I had read about this interesting fishing village "worth the trip", in my Lonely Planet. It was about an hour and a half away, so I headed out there in the morning. The bus dropped me off about 3 km away with out even suggesting which direction I should walk in.

I managed to find the port, walking aimlessly in the sweltering heat, but all I could see were ramshackle huts and the putrid rotting fish smell was atrocious. I held back my gag reflex long enough to make it to the end of the dock and walk back. The struggle is real.

When I tried to get back to the bus, I walked through the town and it was one of the most depressing things I'd ever seen. I didn't dare snap any photos. Women and children were running all over the place barefoot into dirty cement cubby holes with dirt floors that served as their homes. Some of them were squatting on the road fixing their nets for tomorrow's catch. Why can't some of the price we pay for this delicious food go to the people who do the work of pulling it out of the sea? It doesn't make sense.

I was ready to drop dead from heat exhaustion, but just at that moment, a man with a big smile full of betel nut stained teeth, sold me a huge bunch of grapes from the back of his mini pickup truck.

Earlier, I had fantasized about chowing down on some fresh fish at the docks or in the village, looking out at the sea, but alas, I wasn't in Brazil anymore. From what I could see, there was nothing of the sort even attempted. I was content with my grapes. I found the bus pretty easily and slept until we got to my next destination, Houhai beach.

I thought this place was great, despite the oil rig, shipwrecks and mined out hillside. It was more chilled out and quiet than anywhere else in Sanya. The sand was soft and the water was cleanish. I bought a beer and finished my grapes while napping in the shade. When I came home it was evening, so I went to bed, only to be woken up by some German douchebags looking for "Lisa" at 4 a.m. by bellowing drunkenly into my window.

Xincun port