Next stop was Gaoxiong. We were in Gaoxiong for 2d/1n before heading down to Kending. From a traveler’s perspective, there really wasn’t much to do in Gaoxiong. After dropping off our luggage at Walking Story, we headed off to Lotus Pond – one of Gaoxiong’s main attractions. The whole city didn’t really appeal much to me. It was really commercialized. There were vendors everywhere. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, especially because the area is a tourist hot spot. Whatever. After Lotus Pond we spent the remainder of the day back at the hostel.

The next day we ventured to Little Liuqiu Island. Although the island was located about 20 km south of Gaoxiong and about 15km offshore, getting there was a bit confusing. The bus ride was supposed to last for about an hour, but took a little over two hours. Even though it took some time getting to Little Liuqiu, the trip over to the island was absolutely worth it. Unlike Taiwan, Little Liuqiu is actually a coral island. Because of this, the island is incredibly small and flat. Once on the island, we rented bikes to cycle around the island. The whole experience was absolutely amazing! The road surrounding the island was really short, maybe only 10-12km in length. However, including stops to eat and take in the views, it took us the whole day to get around the island. We didn’t leave till around sunset. Later that night we headed back to Gaoxiong, this time by taxi, to get our stuff before heading down to Kending.

Some additional highlights from Southern Taiwan:
–       The hostel owners at Walking Story. The owners are a grandma/grandpa. They made us feel incredibly welcomed. I almost felt like I was staying at my grandparent’s house. They were so nice!
–       Liuhe night market. Although I generally don’t like night markets (streets full of vendors selling everything, primarily either food or clothes/items) this night market had a lot of interesting things I’d never seen before. Most notable was drinking pulled milk tea from a plastic bag.
–       Taking the High Speed Rail from Taizhong to Gaoxiong. FAST!