The R & R That Wasn’t, Part 7 – Nantian Hot Springs

So, we continued on our way to our next, and last, planned destination, Nantian Hot Springs and Resort. It took us a while but we got there in the end.

The first thing of course was to get booked in. As usual, we had not booked in advance. It is hardly ever necessary here in Hainan. That could well be different during the Spring and Autumn Festivals though. Once again, ignore the displayed prices; they were far more than we actually paid. I had wanted a villa for the four of us but it seemed they were all out of action for some reason or other. Instead we ended up with ‘half a villa each’. Well, the two storey villas are divided into two rooms, one up and one down. The upper ones have a bath on the roof, very private too! The lower ones have a bath in the garden. Here are some pics of ours;

We did partake of the bath later on and although it never got full, we enjoyed it. The water was cool, perhaps the signs around are misplaced?

Getting around is easy, you just call reception and they send one of these

We took one off to the main building for our dinner. Nothing special, a normal Chinese evening meal I suppose, but the view was nice so we stayed for a few beers, that is until the girls had had enough of the mosquitoes!

These ducks appeared to be entered for the 100 metre the way they were moving. It was only when I looked behind them and saw #1 son chasing them and yelling ‘Beijing Duck’ that I fully understood!

After that it was back to the chalets were we decided to leap in the bath for a little rest and relaxation! Ah, bliss. . .

The next morning we walked to the Western Restaurant for breakfast. No need of a golf buggy, it is very close. The food was pretty good too!

After breakfast it was time to explore the reasons we had come.

As you can guess from the sign above, there is a lot to see! For future visits, we may well spend three nights so that we can get two full days in the water. Speaking of which, we started off in the swimming pool. Just like many pools in China, there are not enough sun loungers and in this case, many Russians as well as Chinese tourists. Once you have your loungers, someone always has to stay on guard!

More signs

And then a slightly worrying one, especially if you have children in tow. Of course, you could always give some to the mother-in-law!

Of course signs wouldn’t be the same without a little Chinglish now and then.

Now, my main reason for visiting was due to the fact that I’m a grumpy old man! We had read about the fishes that nibble away on your dead skin, and God know, I seem to have a lot. We took it in turns, always leaving someone to look after the loungers. There are many different fish pools, with three different sizes. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the biggest one was closed for cleaning. We tried a few of the others.

It seemed that the fish took a liking to me, I usually had more than anyone else around me. In fact, at one time, they even decided to eat me!

Huan and I stuck to the swimming pool and the fish ponds. Chris and Amber did spend some time in the various hot springs. They enjoyed all the ones they tried. All in all this is a great tourist attraction, not overcrowded, at least during sunny periods! It seems well organised, there is plenty to do and the scenery is good. We will definitely go back

The album ‘Nantian Hot Springs’ can be found here –

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CJa7SFZEp2mVGkrR8

All too soon evening came and we had to leave. We took our visitors to a shopping mall so that they could have KFC before they left China. The one we chose, because it was near, was Haitang Bay International Shopping Complex.

A good time was had by all, that is, until we drove back to the hotel. Wifey and I had been to Haitang Wan before so knew our way around. Unfortunately, there were major road works in progress all around Haitang town so it took us quite a few detours, mostly unsigned! When we did eventually get out onto the correct road, we were stopped by the police. They were busy breathalysing everyone. Wow, what a farce that was. Communication breakdown between policeman and I, between Huan and the policeman and my son in the back seat thinking I was taking the mickey by not blowing correctly! The policeman didn’t seem to want my mouth to touch the analyser; he certainly stopped me holding it. In the end, probably because Huan got through to him, he gave up. I should add there was never anything to worry about; I gave up drinking and driving quite a few years ago!

And that was it, the end of the R & R that wasn’t, so called because by the following morning when we said our tearful goodbyes to our visitors, we were, and they probably were too, absolutely knackered. I think it took Huan and I a good week back in Wuzhishan before we were back to normal. As for Chris and Amber, they went off to Hong Kong for a couple of days before flying back to the UK where Chris had to get up early the next day and fly to Edinburg for a meeting. Amber was lucky, she had a few days more to sleep. I’ll be back with more mundane stories soon, don’t go away!