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Haikou
View of river-life in Haikou Guilt! I have had this feeling of guilt since arriving back from the wedding in Australia. Why? For various reasons, all of them trivial. Now before I go on to tell my story, let me start of by saying that guilt is a big thing in my family. We are all comfortably endowed with a guilty conscience about anything and anybody, it is in our genes.
Returning to Guangzhou I had made all these plans, I was going to visit such and such places of interest around the city. But instead of doing any of that I just stayed in the hostel and lounged in the common area talking to other travellers, Chinese and Western alike and sipping beers in the evening. For two days I did nothing and then left without ever having done any of those things I had planned to do. And so the feeling of guilt popped up. Guilt of not doing what I should have done. After all I am in China to experience the culture, see the sights and get a feel of the country, not to drink and laze on a comfy couch.
Of course socializing and relaxing is an integral part
Haikou
Big boat, small boat of travelling and I know that very well. It is necessary so as not to become overwhelmed by the sights and experiences. But I had just come back from Australia where I had done just that. I could just not shake of this feeling of guilt of not being bothered to see a place right at the beginning of my journey.
I decided it was a question of leaving Guangzhou and the hostel so as to force myself to get going again. Kick-starting the engine so to speak. And so I left for Haikou, which is on Hainan Island in the far south of China. Again I had made plans on what I was going to do there: stay a couple of days in Haikou, go into the mountainous interior and visit the villages and hike up a mountain and eventually laze a day on the beach at Sanya before moving back to the mainland. But what happened? The same thing as in the hostel in Guangzhou! The hostel in Haikou turned out to be very suited for hanging out and doing nothing, so before I knew it two days had passed and I had seen nearly nothing of
Wuzhishan
In the mountains Haikou. I fled once again from my guilt, this time into the mountains, determined to get right into it.
Alas, it was not to be. As soon as I got into those mountains I managed to contract a nasty cold which kept me in my bed for the next few days. I limped down to Sanya to get a glimpse of the beach, but most of the time I spend resting and sleeping in bed feeling very sorry for myself and my misfortune. Though at least there was not much guilt at missing out on Sanya beach life. It really isn't great.
Sanya is China's premier beach destination and advertised as a tropical paradise. On top of that it is also very popular with the Russians, so much so that half the signs are in Cyrillic. It is warm and it is tropical, but it certainly isn't a paradise. The beach is surrounded by high-rise and karaoke bars, in a very typical Chinese way. So no, there certainly wasn't any particular guilt concerning not seeing this place.
Having recovered and not having done anything at all of what I was going to do, I left the island.
Sanya
Beach life The guilty pleasures had done me in and I had paid for them by getting sick. I left on a long train trip to Guangzhou, where I took a night-bus straight out to Nanchang where I boarded yet another bus to Wuyuan before finally getting on when final bus to Xiao Likeng a little traditional village which was my destination.
And what did I discover within myself? Guilt! I was finally actually doing the things I had planned and here I was feeling guilty again. What was it for this time? It was because of the money I had spent in getting here, blowing my budget five-fold and I felt bad about it. Sure I was where I wanted to be, and sure there was not much I could have done differently, but tell that to my conscience.
Now Xiao Likeng is a lovely village it must be said, despite the fact that is big on the domestic tourist trail. Bus loads of tour groups arrive during the day. But I was staying in the village and nobody else was, so by six in the evening the village was all mine. Life returned to normal, kids played around,
Sanya
The most tropical paradise picture I could take farmers came back from the fields, and peace and tranquility reigned supreme.
I said earlier I was doing what I had planned to do, but this was not an entirely true statement. In fact I had wanted to visit a bunch of villages around here, but that turned out to be prohibitively expensive with the entrance fees added up. My budget had already gone to hell, and I had to compromise. One village for one night, which was all I could afford. I had to balance my guilty feeling towards missing out on the other villages with the guilt that would have resulted in visiting them and spending even more money I really didn't have.
And so I trudged on, up to Tunxi and Mount Huang Shan, with my guilty conscience tagging along. Now Mount Huang Shan like all mountains of interest in China has a rather hefty entrance fee even by European standards. Having already let go of my budget the question arose in my mind if I really felt like spending more money yet again, especially since the thing to do is to stay up on the mountain. And staying on the mountain was not cheap
Sanya
Girl on the beach either. Again I reached a compromise, I would not stay the night but go up and down in a day and deal with the guilt associated with the money I was putting into that later.
By all accounts the scenery at the top of the mountain is quite amazing and gorgeous and I thoroughly enjoyed my day up there. And the guilt? Well I will just have to live with it. I promised myself a long time ago that the feeling of guilt I would have got from not doing it, just to save and keep within my budget would be much worse than the guilt I feel every time I blow my budget in order to do something that I actually wanted to do in the first place. Guilty pleasure always wins, because at least I derive pleasure from it.
Now the question remains about a certain village nearby which is expensive to see but is a UNESCO World Heritage sight. Should I spend the money and see it or leave it be? I am leaving it be, because I happen to know that it is similar in style as the village of Xiao Leking and while
Sanya
Dreamy grass it is perhaps in an even more stunning location and an even better example of the local style of architecture it will not add that much more to my experience. And this time I won't feel guilty about it!
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Bridget Watters
non-member comment
Guilt
Welcome to the guilty club! There are lots of members! Great blog, lovely photos.