Haikou Banana Hostel

I just took a van full of people to an outdoor activity centre based on Wanquan River. There is a Chinese company who provide several outdoor adventure activities such as abseiling and rafting. I wasn't sure what to expect from the organisation but it turned out to be an excellent day.

The area is fairly remote and the river is surrounded by tropical jungle, lots of Betel Nut plantations and small mountains. There are also a number of waterfalls feeding into the river.

The guides were friendly and seemed to be having fun themselves. We took a boat upstream and followed a steep trail through the jungle. We abseiled down a crevasse into the stream below and worked our way down the stream. This involved a combination of jumping into lagoons, floating/swimming through pools and sliding down wooden poles. We arrived at the top of a large waterfall. It looked even higher when peering over from the top. Abseiling down through the waterfall was an excellent new experience for me, pausing half way down to look around and take in the moment. Everyone was buzzing from the mixture of adrenaline and picturesque tropical environment.

After a late lunch we rafted for an hour or two down the river. The river was fairly calm so this certainly wasn’t white water rafting. However it was livened up by the water-fight with the group of random Chinese who happened to be rafting at the same time.

I would certainly recommend this day-out to anyone who wants to participate in some outdoor activities and wants to see a bit more of Hainan Island. I’m know doing trips from the hostel, click here to find out more.

After the success of the last camping trip we decided it was time for another. An acquaintance offered a trip on his boat to a deserted island just off the south coast of Hainan, where we planned to camp overnight. However things didn't turn out exactly as we would have liked. The boat trip never materialized and instead of relaxing on a small island we spend the day getting lost in random towns while searching for a good spot to camp.

As sunset approached we settled for the not particularly beautiful TianYa because we had little other choice. We set up camp on the edge of a large sand dune overlooking the sea. The cacti proved to be a little annoying in the dark. It didn't take long before local villagers became aware of our presence and we took advantage of their interest by giving them a few yuan for firewood and a torch. By now it was obvious that there was a typhoon just off the coast. Every minute or so the night sky and dark ocean was lit up by great bolts of lightening. The only ambient sound was the powerful waves crashing on the beach below. There was a distinct possibility that the storm was heading our way, but it seemed to stay offshore and we experienced only occasional strong winds and brief downpours. In my now intoxicated state the weather was kind of exhilarating, thou perhaps not for everyone.

A few 20-ish year old local village lads caught a bucket of small crabs off the beach and showed us how to cook them on the fire with a stick. They didn't taste particularly good but maybe it will useful to know in a Ray Mears survival skills way. For the first time in Hainan I saw a scorpion in the sand. I quickly squashed it and threw him in the fire mainly because of fear. The list of horrible, potentially dangerous, creatures i’ve encountered in Hainan grows.

We didn't hang around long the next day partly because of the stares from the group of Hainanese women who where planting trees in the sand dune around us and partly because of the locals who were hassling us for money for them 'protecting us' through the night. Next trip will certainly be better planned.