Welcome to Wai Ling Ding Dao

From the first day being here, I have always heard that Zhuhai is famous for its beautiful islands. I read that it counts about 140 islands and decided to visit some of them. People are strange creatures, we always find excuses not to do what we want. So did I, making excuses by saying to myself: “No time”, “Nobody to go with”, “Bad weather”.
Last weekend turned out to be the best time for going to the island. I had everything: free time, a great team to go with, wonderful weather!
We were supposed to meet at 14.00 and then go to the pier together. Everybody did, except me. I was stuck in a traffic jam, yeah, yeah, it can happen in Zhuhai too, though I have never experienced that before. Those 30 minutes in a taxi seemed endless, but luckily, I got the ferry! I was almost the last to catch it and our voyage began…By the way, I didn’t know how to say “Port” in Chinese, but as soon as I said in my poor Chinese “Wo xiang …zai ….Wai Ling Ding Dao” the driver understood where to drive.
There were ten of us: with cameras, backpacks and expectations of great weekend. I don’t know why, but the story about “Ten Little Niggers’ came to my mind. For a while I imagined tsunami, flood and that we would disappear, like those ten dolls. Wasn’t it a silly thought? I will tell you now, everybody got back safe in life and limb :)
Some of us went out to an upper deck to have a better view of the sea, while others were sitting inside. Emily and I felt a bit seasick, which was also a new experience to me. Doug helped us with a good advice to keep looking at the horizon and I found that quite helpful.
The first thing we did on the island is we checked in the hotel which was the closest one to the pier. Tiny rooms with small beds and bars on the windows. Did we care about them? No! As soon as we left our things in the hotel we went to the beach. It was in 5-10 minutes walking distance from the hotel. Ana, Bev and I were the first to jump into the water. We did some awkward kayaking, borrowing a boat from a local guy. We had been having fun on it, until he said “Gei wo, gei wo” That was the first time for me to swim in the sea in Zhuhai. You know, the pleasure I got from swimming was worth one and a half hour being seasick.
On the way back to the hotel we took another way, which had a splendid view of the sea and the mountain with giant rocks.
We enjoyed the sunset while we were having dinner. Doc and Doug kept on leaving the table and taking pictures. What was the purpose of a tour: dinner or photos? Of course, photos! I am sure, guys will post their sunset and sunrise photos, which are sure to be marvelous! Doc already did.
When it got dark, some of us went to the beach again, others went roaming about the town, exploring new places. One can rarely see stars in the sky being in the city. The night we spent on the island, was a Star Sky night. We could clearly see “The Great Bear” or “Big Dipper” as others say and the Polar Star. It is a pity, we didn’t set a fire there, but in spite of it we enjoyed the time sitting by the sea and chatting. One of the topics of our discussion was “What time will the Sun rise?” , “What time shall we meet in the morning?”. Everybody was telling different time. By the way, who was the person who was close to the sunrise time? Me?  What was the bet? 5 quai? 10 quai?
We decided on meeting at 4.15 morning, promising to set alarm clocks on 4.00. There were few bars in the town, one of them “Coeeff culb” (it is not my spelling). We preferred sitting outside and enjoying fresh breeze. Did everyone go to sleep? Nope, we stayed night up chatting and at 4.15 we were at the meeting point. Betty found a local guide who showed us the way to get to the mountain. There is no need to go to the gym after such morning climbing. I could hardly move my legs, while the guide who is in his early 70ies, was full of energy. We had been waiting for the sun for half an hour or so. Everybody was busy with own business :). Our guide was singing a Sichuan Opera, Ana was dreaming lying on the rock, Doc, Toby and Emily went up to the very peak of the mountain, Betty and Doug were taking morning shots. The morning was a bit cloudy, so that we didn’t have a chance to see sun beams on the horizon, but we did see the Sunrise! We did that!
On the way back we tried to make our Grass Music Band Have you ever heard about that? We did that in my childhood. That seemed to be easy those times, but this time none of us managed to make a single sound. What should one do? Hold a piece of a grass between your thumbs, fill your lungs with air and blow!
Then we found an old temple. There was a big Wish Bell ( I just suppose so). We could make a wish and strike it with a chained log.
I would lie if I say we didn’t have a wink of sleep. We had about an hour of sleep before breakfast.
The second day was more exciting. We hired a motorboat ( was it?) and went to another side of the island. Speed, waves, whistle in ears. It was great! The place we arrived was gourgeous. One must see that with own eyes, I am not good at describing things :). Guess what we, girls, did? We couldn’t get out of the water. One was lucky not to hear my scream when I saw a big spider on the rock. It turned out to be a black crab or something, but not a spider. Toby kept on reading his book, Tony and Flora were sunbathing. Where were the others? Again on the top. On the top of the mountain. Before leaving, we picked some small white stones, which can be used for peeling heels. No need to go to”Watson’s” to get a new one. Doc, do they really come from the volcano?
We could have enjoyed other more 10 minutes, but Ana was starving. Yes, starving! Of course, the rest didn’t want to see the Queen of the World hungry, angry and dead, so, we had nothing to do but obey.
What an unfair thing happened to me and Ana in the restaurant. We were the first to order the lunch, but the last to get it. Here is one tip for you: order the last, to get your meal the first.
At 4 p.m. we were on the ferry. This time I wasn’t sea-sick. Why? I was sleeping curled up in a ball.
What did I gain from this trip? New impressions, new experience, new friends and one more thing... Now I know how to say “ketchup” in Cantonese. Here you are : “Ketzup”.
I thank everyone for the unforgettable weekend. Emily and Betty were helpful with translation and telling interesting stories. Looking at Doc and Doug, or Doug and Doc( whatever you like), one gets inspiration to find something special in simple things and take pictures. Doug, it was a cool idea to gather people! And thank you for peanuts in syrup. Toby, thank you for your hat. Tony, I was glad you came back with lychee. I love them! You know, that reminded me the game “Hide-and-seek”, when you disappeared. Flora and Bev, you are really good at dancing. Next time, we must have some music with us. And Ana, thank you, Your Majesty, for joining us. It was a big Honour to share a room with you.
And here are some tips:
1. Don’t forget to use sunscreen cream
2. Don’t forget to use sunscreen cream
3. Don’t forget to use sunscreen cream.
I am burning…

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Along the coast