Killing lots of time

Above:  At the next massage table.  My turn next.  

Massage and cupping

Our flight back to New Zealand leaves at 0230 “tonight” (technically tomorrow morning) from Haikou.  We have the day to kill before taking the train from Sanya to Haikou airport before killing more time there.

I opted to skip breakfast and take brunch at 1000 before check-out at 1200.  Once “homeless”, the best way to kill time for me was a long massage.

I went to the Jiuwang Blind Massage around the corner and asked for the Whole Body Meridian Conditioning Massage, which was 110 mins with complimentary cupping.  The blind masseur was strong and worked my pressure points well for 110 mins.

At the next table, someone else had opted for a similar treatment and I saw that the cupping entailed the use of over 20 bamboo tumblers rather than glass jars.  The masseur dipped a torch of sorts in keronsene (or similar) and ignited it with a cigarette lighter (several times) in order to warm the 20+ cups before applying it to the customer’s back.

I wasn’t so sure about the blind playing with flammable fluid and fire.  When it came to my turn, I realised that my blind masseur was changed to a sighted or partially-sighted man.

At the end of the massage and cupping, my back felt like a million dollars.  It was so nice and “loose”, free from tension.  I had counted 25 cups on my back.

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Train to Haikou Airport

I grabbed a quick lunch of chasiu on rice before returning to the hotel to meet up with Swee and Chen.  We waited for the tram around 1500 from outside the station to get to the Railway Station.  For three people, Didi rideshare wouldn’t have cost much more but it was more for the experience.

We got to the station around 1600 well in time for the 1720 train.  The ride was uneventful but (as with the journey south), I couldn’t locate ourselves on Google Maps en route. Perhaps there was some GPS jamming in operation, considering the military presence in Hainan. China launches rockets from the island and we had missed the launch by just a day, according to the date of the ticket sold on Trip.com.

We often hear that women are being forced to cover up against their will. Oppression.  But on the train was a lady who wore a face mask.  They’re not exactly rare in China and I’ve seen some that also cover the neck.

Reason is heliophobia.  They want to remain beautifully fair and undamaged by the sun.  But what’s the point of that beauty that no one can see?

Beauty which cannot be appreciated.

Most passengers got off at Haikou’s Meilan station with us when we arrived at 1849. We avoided the rush to exit the station into the airport, with lots of time on our hands.

Killing time at the airport

We had time to kill in the quiet arrival area from around 1900 till midnight as check-in was due to open 2h30 before the 0230 departure (according to the signage).

Dennis arrived around 2000 and we caught up about his and our trips.  At around 1130, we went to the departure area in the hope that check-in would be open, as it is common to open 3h prior to a flight.

It was already in progress with a short queue which moved quickly.  In no time, we were airside to kill just under 2 more hours till boarding the Hainan Airlines flight to Auckland.

From previous flights in China, I knew that there is a very detailed hands-on pat down after one goes through the metal detector. However, I never expected that today’s pat down would be from a female officer. She was a little more cursory than the male officers though.

Thoughts on leaving Hainan

We had a great time in Haikou eating and enjoying the atmosphere which was similar to my childhood days.

Sanya is pleasant enough but it is mass tourism at its worst with some sights being tourist traps.

The in-city beach at Sanya is nice enough but not conducive (for me) for swimming with the onlookers, fishing boats and large vessels in the distance.  I would say it was far nicer than Takapuna in Auckland, nicer than Singapore’s East Coast Beach or Patong in Phuket, but nowhere near Maldives.

The ones further to the north are much nicer but we didn’t have to go make a trip up there specially to swim.