Because I could literally write a
book about our vacation in Sanya, I will be blogging it in installments so you
feel like you are reading a novel. Consider this Chapter One.
So a billion months ago Bernard asked me what I wanted to do
for our second wedding anniversary. Last year we were in Abu Dhabi and we
booked a luxurious hotel, roach free, and went to one of the most posh ass
restaurants I have ever been to for a celebrity-like fine dining experience. It
was perfection.
I told him a nice dinner was fine, but later on, I was doing
a little flight research within China and found this cute little beachy place
called Sanya. Luckily, we had the Monday off for Dragon boat festival, so I
told Bernard that we should take another day off and fly to Sanya for the week.
I hunted online for weeks for the perfect hotel/flight
combo. I narrowed it down to two hotels: one, a modern, classic place called
the Cactus resort with some amenities; the second, a more rustic, Thailand-ish
feel, a little more expensive, but gorgeous looking rooms with big beds, no
bathtub. Bernard said hands down the second one, and thank the sweet Buddha
that he did! A few months after booking, we were on our way to the Narada
Resort and Spa Sanya! J
After a 12 hour work day (Sunday), Bernard and I packed up
the essentials (toothbrushes, passports, camera, sundresses) and headed to the
airport. OMG, the flight. So the flight was 2 hours and 40 minutes. We got a
meal! If you know me at all, you know that I have a sickness – I prefer the
term giddiness – when it comes to airplane food. FOOD IN THE AIR! JUST….WHAT?!
I love it.
So because of my lactose intolerance, I received the
“allergy friendly” meal. This is the third time I have put lactose in the notes
when booking a flight, and can I tell you, it is WORTH.IT. Bernard is
considering asking for the allergy friendly meal because my meal is ALWAYS
AMAZING. It’s always vegetarian, usually bigger than the regular meal, and
comes with more stuff because it’s vegetarian. So Bernard received a variety of
Chinese buns and an angel food cake and a white roll. I received the same white
roll with jam and a tofu and vegetable noodle stir-fry! Because it was our anniversary,
I shared my stir-fry with Bernard… because I love him. I wouldn’t give this
glorious meal to just anyone. Bernard said his buns were okay, but that
stir-fry? Dude. Sarah’s travel tip: REQUEST THE SPECIAL MEAL. Unless you
totally love meat and have to have it. But 3/3 times my special meal has been
far superior to the usual generic chicken, beef, fish, or veggie lasagna.
We finally arrived in Sanya and stepped out of the airport
into what can only be described as Abu Dhabi during a heat wave!!! It was a
gorgeous place with trees and clean air, but holy baby Jesus was it hot! It was
39 not including the humidity. And the humidity was 90%. Needless to say, my
testicles were sweating, and I don’t even have testicles…
So we’re standing around like a couple of tourists when this
dude approaches Bernard and starts speaking in Chinese. Bernard says “taxi, how
much?” and the guy wants a billion yuan for it! Bernard goes SHE ME?!
[pronounced shuh muh, meaning ‘what’]. Then we decided to trek OUT of the airport
to see if we could find a cheaper price. Bingo. We did. The only problem was
the sun literally sewed itself to my face, shoulders, back, and legs the entire
8 second walk to the street. Brutal.
50 yuan (less than 10 bucks) and 10 minutes later we were
driven past a gold sign that read Narada
Resort and Spa. The taxi spiraled up the drive bookended by palm tree after
palm tree and the odd fountain. We were in awe already. When the driver
stopped, a lovely bellboy opened the door for me and I felt like a damn
celebrity immediately. You know when you go to places where you feel like you
should pay a dollar for just breathing the air around it because it’s THAT
gorgeous and posh? Yup. Narada.
Besides the heat, I was in heaven. We walked
into the open concept lobby and saw elephant statues, wicker chairs and
loungers, golden architecture, and beautiful stone floors.
I must have looked
like a complete idiot gawking at everything! I didn’t care. It was amazing. A
lovely lady escorted us to the check in desk and brought us two glasses of COLD
– thank Buddha – green tea. The green tea was like a Christmas gift, but little
did I know what would happen next that would make this vacation go from a
happy, relaxing vacation to literally a once in a lifetime enchanting ass
holiday…
No comments:
Post a Comment