The last three days of the trip were spent in Kenting, about 90kms south of Gaoxiong. After sight seeing for the first few days of the trip, the last few days in Kenting were spent relaxing. Some highlights from Kenting:

–       Renting a motorbike for the day. Technically, it’s illegal to drive a motorbike without a license in Taiwan. Fortunately however, our hostel owner helped us rent out motorbikes from a friend of hers. Even though we only had the motorbikes for a day, I’m glad I had the opportunity to drive one. Riding the bike in the open was thrilling! I felt totally alive, even though I was only going max 40km/h. More importantly, I’m glad we didn’t get pulled over by the police. Apparently, if caught without a license, drivers are fined the equivalent of US$300!
–       Swimming at Baishawan (White Sand Bay). This was my first time swimming in the ocean on this side of the Pacific! The tide was a bit strong, so I didn’t dare go out too far. But the water felt fantastic!
–       The hostel owners. Unlike the hostel in Gaoxiong, the “hostel” we stayed at in Kenting was actually referred to us by friends of friends. After leaving the amazing hostel in Gaoxiong, we were all a bit worried (re: safety and cleanliness) of the place in Kenting. To our surprise, the place was actually pretty great. More importantly though, the owners were able to hook us up with great deals: renting motorbikes for a day sans license, renting a private driver for 8hrs, and getting us a fair price for our taxi ride back to Gaoxiong.

While in Kenting, I couldn’t help but draw similarities between the lifestyle here with the lifestyle back in Hawaii (specifically Naalehu, on the Big Island). The whole portion of Taiwan south of Gaoxiong was primarily rural. Though very scenic, there wasn’t much to do on a daily basis as a local. In the morning I could hear chickens crowing. Rice paddy fields dotted the landscape. Life here seemed to move slowly. Far different from the Taiwan that I’ve learned about while living in Taipei.

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!

After managing to get on an earlier flight back from Hong Kong on Cathay, I arrived back in Taipei a little after midnight. An hour later via cab and I was back at my apartment. As soon as I got to my place, I went to sleep, completely exhausted.

Six hours later and I was out again, meeting up with some friends for our trip down south.

Our first stop was Taizhong. We visited two places in Central Taiwan: Lugang, a quaint little town recommended by LP for a taste of temple life; Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake in Taiwan. Although the weather while in Taizhong wasn’t the best, it felt great exploring a new part of Taiwan.

Some of the highlights while in Central Taiwan were:
–       meeting other travelers at the Corner Backpacker Hostel
–       getting hit (or rather, sideswiped) by a motorbike while walking
–       biking around the mist-shrouded Sun Moon Lake

One of the things that caught me off guard however was the fact that, given my language skills, I quickly assumed a sort of group leader/tour guide role for the duration of the trip. Initially, I was a bit hesitant to fill the role. As the group leader, I soon discovered how taxing it is to coordinate logistics for a trip:

–       Knowing where to go, and when.
–       If by taxi, negotiating a fair “foreigner” price for longer distance travel.
–       If by bus, knowing where the bus station is located, and knowing when to get off the bus.
–       Assisting in case of any problems or emergencies that required some translation skills.

The list goes on and on. Even though I generally was apprehensive about filling the role, the trip throughout Taiwan was a great opportunity for me to practice my Chinese. A lot of folks I had to interact with – taxi drivers, hostel owners, restaurant owners, etc. – thought I was from Malaysia or Singapore. Others thought I was from Thailand. Not a single person guessed my background correctly. All these interactions I think are indicators that my Chinese has definitely improved since coming to Taiwan. So glad!

I never expected my first trip to Hong Kong would be due to a visa-run.

My initial impressions of Hong Kong: WOW! Although I initially saw mostly rainforests and a couple of apartment clusters around Lantau Island, after exiting Central station in downtown Hong Kong, I immediately was hit with sensory overload! So many buildings! The sight was absolutely amazing. This was the Hong Kong that I had always imagined. Amazing.

I had initially planned on checking out The Peak before heading to Macau for a couple hours, but since I hadn’t slept much, I figured I’d just laze around Hong Kong. I was a bit bummed because before leaving my apartment in Taiwan, I thought I had packed my Lonely Planet China book. Upon discovering that I had packed my Lonely Planet Southeast Asia book instead, I realized my short-stay in Hong Kong would be a bit more interesting. Instead of looking for the next place to visit in the travel book, I simply explored and got lost in the streets of Hong Kong. Besides The Peak, I mostly hung out around Central and Admiralty on Hong Kong Island, and the area around Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and Jordan in Kowloon.

Even though I likely could’ve seen more sights, and made my stay in Hong Kong more “useful,” not relying on travel books to explore was a bit refreshing. This city really is amazing. I almost found Hong Kong a little too much for me. It’s ridiculously crowded. Everyone seems so busy. The streets are incredibly narrow, so the city feels even more crowded. Despite these initial impressions, I can’t wait to go back!