D20: 林旺 → 三亚湾

March 2, 2024

It is extremely on brand for Sanya that this is the only place so far that I've seen signs on the Hainan Coastal Tourism Highway pointing to non-existent Cyclist Service Stations

There's this guy, I'm going to call him Michael. That's not his name, but he is the owner of a place in Sanya called Michael's Coffee Roasters so it's as good as any other name.

I've known Michael for maybe two years now. Could be a bit longer, probably isn't a bit shorter. He likes all my coffee videos. One time, he sent me a free 3kg bag of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

Despite my inability to do anything with a free 3kg bag of Awesome Coffee beyond donating it to a friend whose restaurant sells coffee (cause it would be a crying shame to let coffee that good go stale at the rate I drink coffee brewed by me), by doing this Michael who isn't actually named Michael immediately became one of my ten favorite Michaels.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with the view from last night's hotel

I'd say the window is more of an air shaft

Its a bit hard to squat on if you are off the squatting disposition, but I really like this kind of toilet

Last time I was in Sanya, I was walking back to the place I was staying late at night and I saw a café with a logo I recognized. Just in case my logo recognition skills weren't being up to par, the logo was conveniently paired with the Chinese for "Michael's Coffee Roasters." Ah-hah, I said to myself. I must get coffee there before I leave Sanya. It will give me the chance to meet Michael.

There I am two afternoons later, drinking an okay but not great coconut milk latte when, after more than two hours sat there working, he still hasn't come over and said "hi" to me (and yes, I realize peak tourist season and all that jazz, but I'd spent the whole weekend being recognized) so I send a picture of my latte to him.

"I'm in Sanya."

"Where?"

Surely the garish tablecloth and chair covering are obvious?

"At your café"

"Send me a location."

Umm... ok, kind of weird, but sure.

Despite the second floor lobby, I would totally stay here again. It was wonderfully quiet and the bed was reasonably comfortable.

Tonight's hotel, in Sanya Bay, chosen because they were listed as "foreigner friendly¹," also had a pretty comfortable bed. And a flight of stairs I had to carry my bike up in order to get to the elevator.

Which is how I found out that Michael's Coffee Roasters supply coffee to over 50 cafés, bars, and restaurants in downtown Sanya...

On this pass through Sanya, Michael who isn't actually named Michael is one of two Sanya-ites I'm intending to visit. The other one is the one that I've just found out moved back to Shanghai. They aren't the only people I know in Sanya, but they're the only ones I found interesting enough (and Sanya-based enough²) that I'm willing to make a specific effort to visit with them.

Sanya does have nice bike lanes, that mostly aren't obstructed, I'll give them that

And they tend to enforce helmets on drivers and passengers of all two and three wheeled vehicles

This is doubly the case as Michael and I had been doing a lot of talking social media strategy (in terms of how badly his promotional material sucks) and I've found him a potential Brand Ambassador who, on account of her arriving back in China well after I'd restarted biking, although she's bundled it up with a bunch of other things actually came down to Sanya so she could have dinner with us.

So I'm more than a bit unhappy with Michael over showing up late, or the not eating anything, and all future calculations regarding my willingness to do anything for him are predicated on the (admittedly fairly small) dinner bill that I³ got.

A free dessert because Cucina are awesome

Two crashed motorcycles as an example from the traffic police on driving safely

Other than that, well, it was Sanya. Forever tropical paradise, and my least favorite place on the island. Whether it's the prize money I didn't get at the bike race I very definitely took second place at in 2007, the horrible bosses I had both times I worked there, or the general seedy atmosphere of a tourist trap, the only things I consider worthwhile about the place are the Dolphin Bar for the kind of western pub food that (the newly arrived to Haikou from Guangzhou) Happy Monk does better and Cucina Italia (which will be opening in Haikou before the end of 2024).

¹ Of the three listed foreigner friendly hotels I've stayed at this trip, only one has actually known how to register foreigners.

² Most of the Sanya people I know are regularly in Haikou on account of the fact that Haikou is a million times better than Sanya in all ways that aren't tropical beaches.

View from Zhuluo Ridge after I chose to take the old road instead of the tunnel

While it's true that I will do just about anything to avoid a tunnel, I didn't know it was going to become unpaved

But I still preferred this to going through the tunnel

³ The other foreigner was awesome and sent me her half of it after we left the restaurant.

⁴ Yes, the same recently consumed focaccia as mentioned the other day as being my first time this chest cold of coughing until I vomited.

Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 1,218 km (756 miles)

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