So we collected our hire car in heavy rain at the airport and headed South. We didn’t really have a plan – apart from head South to nicer weather.
We drove for a few hours and decided to stay at a hotel near the highway. What another love hotel?? Honestly, these are the most spacious rooms in Asia and this one came complete with its own garage, a spa bath, a vibrant exercise plate (maybe in case you suddenly want to tone up) and a delivery of a McDonalds breakfast!
We decided (well, Pete decided) he wanted to drive up some crazy twisty roads into the mountains, so we made our way inland to Alishan National Forest. We wound our way up and up into the clouds and out of the top. We went to see the Danayiku Suspension Bridge and how the local tribes lived.
Then stopped at the Giant Cypress Tree which is 1600 years old (not quite as impressive as the Big Reds in California).
It was pretty misty/ cloudy so we saw some amazing views from above the clouds.
Next we headed to Tainan hoping for a quiet 2 night stay. Instead we got awful guitar playing until 23.45 and, when they started again at 13:30, Janet slightly lost the plot. When they restarted again at 09:30, we messaged the owner and told them we were definitely not staying another night.
We headed out to see the sights of Anping. First we headed to the Anping small fort.
Then the Old Fort which was originally built by the Dutch in the 1600s.
Then we went to the beach and watched surfers and windsurfers.
In search of a good night’s rest, we headed to the seaside town of Cijin. It had a surfers vibe but not too much of a surf happening. It made for a nice sunset beer on the beach anyway.
They were getting ready for a big music festival on the beach for the 4 – day bank holiday coming up. In the absence of any inspiring restaurants, we had a Family Mart tea (makes a change from 7-11). We hit the hay as it was nice and quiet since all tour buses left (parked opposite our seaview room).
Next morning we left prompt to drive to Donggang. Following Google Maps we went via all the docks until a man with a flashing stick told us we were in a restricted area – just us and all the container trucks!
We got to the port and quickly bought tickets for an imminent departure to Xioaquilin island (it has many names including Turtle Island). It was only 20 minutes on the ferry.
We rented our first ever e-scooter and headed to Lobster Cave. Above the cave, we looked into the sea and there in front of us were at least three massive turtles just swimming around in the ocean – Wow!
Next we stopped at Secret beach and sussed out the snorkelling situation. A lot of people were in kayaks, on SUPS and snorkelling tours. We just walked along the rocks and could see loads of star fish and coloured fish whizzing about.
Next we stopped at Haikou Harbour and right by our feet watched turtles feeding from the harbour wall – Amazing!!! “I think i love this island!!!!”
We visited one last spot called Vase Rock and then dashed to our very quiet hotel for a beer before an amazing all you could eat BBQ. Ooh it was good! We tried some weird things but mostly really good food.
The next day we explored the West Coast of the island.
Next we visited Wild Boar Trench which had really tall walls and a very tropical (and humid) feel to it.
We headed back to Secret Beach where Janet went for a swim with a couple of turtles and many bright coloured tropical fish. Just lovely. So our 1.5 days were up – the island was filling for the holidays (Children’s Day and Tomb Sweeping Day), so time for us to head back to the mainland.
We drove to Kenting in the very South of Taiwan to a hotel for 3 nights. After a night listening to frogs and animals in the padi fields, we decided we made a good choice.
Fully refreshed we set off to explore the Kenting National Forest Recreation Area.
Our last chilled day was spent at Baishawan Beach. We were surprised how many Taiwanse were enjoying the sunshine, in most of Asia a sun tan is a sign of being a poor farmer….. (the only Westerners on the beach opted for no umbrella – but not us).
And next we plan to head up the East Coast…..
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