On the beach

Trip Start Aug 24, 2008
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Trip End Jul 07, 2009


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Flag of China  , Fujian,
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The train journey to Xiamen was 22 hours but we passed some good scenery of mountains and rivers with some banana plantations. We crossed a bridge to get to Xiamen and saw the sea for the first time in 3 months. We got out of the train to be hit by a wave of heat, and then took the bus to the ferry terminal and the ferry to Gulangu island. We arrived on a quiet island with no cars (peace, finally - the Chinese use their horns A LOT). We checked into our room and then went for a walk. It was too dark to see anything so we came back again.

The next day shall henceforth officially be know as David and Angela's Day of Eating. We ate cake for breakfast under a tree in town. We walked through the narrow lanes and car-free streets to the beach. The island is covered with colonial architecture and villas with palm trees, so it felt like we were in the Mediterranean, especially with the sunshine. We sat on the beach and paddled in the rather cold sea, watching the crazy Chinese tour groups who had come to the beach in stilettos and suits and ties. They were all screaming at the waves and we wondered if they had ever seen the sea before. We had lunch by the sea in a french restaurant where David ate lots of meat with lemonade. We walked further round the coast after lunch and through a tunnel in the rock. We admired the crazy-shaped trees and bright flowers and then made our way up to Sunlight Rock, the island's highest point. On the way we stopped to gaze over at Taiwan, visible across the sea, and the many cargo ships passing. We stopped at an aviary and saw many exotic birds and a tree with giant prickly fruit hanging from it. At the highest point we had great view over the island, the sea and the red houses below. It was quite windy but showed us how small the island is because we could see the sea all around us.

Back at the hostel we found we had been moved rooms without anyone telling us so we left in disgust and went to the hotel across the road, which was cheaper and nicer. For dinner we went to a fantastic restaurant where we ate lots of fresh seafood, grilled prawns (which were huge) and cheesecake to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.

The next day we went back to the beach to relax under a palm tree. After lunch in a cafe we had to catch an overnight train to Guangzhou, from where we left China and took the express train to Hong Kong.
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Comments

heinz_schofeld
heinz_schofeld on Dec 3, 2008 at 07:20PM

Interesting arrangement
I like the design of the tree. I shall borrow one for the castle janitor to admire.

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