Taiwan Trip: Day 7 (26/07/2013)

Nice breakfast indeed!

On that morning, we took at last the opportunity to have our breakfast in a very local breakfast restaurant. Those are famous and numerous across the island as they offer cheap morning snacks in a joyful atmosphere. We had fried pancakes stuffed with bacon, egg and veggies (the restaurant specialty) as well as garlic toasts and a refreshing iced coffee. We talked a bit with the owners and witnessed the small restaurant life as regulars were coming and going.

Nan Wan and its 10am fierce sun

We then left our hostel and drove along the west coast for an hour until we reached KenDing National Park (墾丁國家公園). The resort area is very famous with both local and international tourists thanks to its white-sanded beaches (they’re more yellow-sanded, to be accurate) and mild weather. We stopped at Nan Wan (南灣, South Bay) around 10:00am for a first dip into the water. Though entering the water is allowed (this is one of the very few spots in Taiwan where you can actually do it), swimming is barely permissible and lifeguards are here to make sure you respect the rules. We’re talking real shit here as waves are quickly overwhelming and you’re out of your depth about 5 meters from the shore. Plus, the tide usually takes you away from the latter as you don’t get the attraction phenomenon you encounter with a continent. We nonetheless had fun, “surfing” the waves as they were approaching the shore. We then took a walk along the beach, watching the real surfers trying to handle the tide.

As we were leaving, two locals stopped and asked us if we’d be willing to let them record us. They were shooting short video clips to promote tourism in Taiwan and were looking for foreign tourists. We didn’t think twice and readily accepted. They asked us to say “Time for Taiwan!” as well as “旅行台灣就是現在!” (“lüxing Taiwan jiu shi xianzai!”, “Time to travel in Taiwan!”) and we shot about 10 times. The guys actually sent us a rough cut of the clip (see below our 2 seconds of shine) which should be used in the final video broadcasting all over the country – we’re still eagerly waiting for it!

Quite similar to Nixon's head uh?

We had lunch relatively early, on the small terrace of a Thai restaurant inside KenDing ‘village’, which is just a long street fringed with hostels, restaurants and souvenirs shops. The food was obviously pricey (we mean, relatively) but tasted okay. We then looked for some accommodation for the night and probably went to 80% of the hostels to check their rates. We bargained a room for NTD1,000 (about €25) at one of the first venues but I honestly and mistakenly thought we could find a cheaper option. After some research, we quickly discovered the average price was NTD1,600 and found the offered room had been taken when we went back to the first place. Resigned, we decided to head for the remote campsite but nonetheless tried our last chance at hostels at the edge of the street. We could eventually bargain a room at NTD1,000 and didn’t miss the opportunity. The room had no window but would easily make-do for the night.

ELuanBi, southernmost of Taiwan!

A shower later, we took our bikes and went to ELuanBi (鵝鑾鼻, though many different spellings are actually written on the road signs, at least enough to be confused) which is the southernmost tip of Taiwan. We strolled in the small park, walked along the coastal rocks, visited the lighthouse vicinity… There’s not much to do but the venue makes it for a relaxed walk. We then drove to the west side of the National Park; we stopped at Sail Rock (船帆石), an impressive stone that rolled down the nearby mountain centuries ago and which is also called ‘Nixon Rock’ due to its resemblance with the former US president’s head; we stopped once again at MaoBiTou (貓鼻頭), another small park that offers beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean; our final stop was BaiSha Wan (白沙灣), a yellow-sanded beach quite packed with locals. It had kind of a “Philippines sense”. The early dusk and nearby bar music offered us a relaxing atmosphere, which we enjoyed with a fresh beer.

(packed) BaiSha Wan

Back at our hostel, we refreshed before setting up for the night market. Crowded and a little pricey, it nonetheless offers a real ‘resort touch’ which definitely makes you feel that you’re on holidays. We had several snacks such as chicken bites, dumplings and a sort of omelet, which we moistened with the inevitable fruit smoothie. We sat at a ‘mobile’ bar (built in a truck) and enjoyed a Red Horse pint. Both tired, the 7.7% Philippines beer nearly had the best of us but we were ‘brave’ enough to have another beer at a supposedly-French bar called “Chez Papa”. A promised free shot never made it to our table so we decided to head back to our hostel, as the nightlife wasn't as busy as we expected.

We spent the day inside KenDing park