Day 17: To the Southern Tip of Taiwan

It is Sunday, July 25 (note that the “trip day”, aka Day 17, is not necessarily the same as the “post day”, which is the date that is written above each post), and we are heading towards the southernmost tip of Taiwan. A few days ago, after only a few hours on the bus, we were in Taipei, near the northern tip of the country. The island’s not known for its large size: the convenient high speed rail completed in 2007 can get one from Taipei to Kaohshiung (north-south) in ninety minutes, while today, we crossed Taiwan from its East coast to its West coast in about thirty minutes (via bus). Those who were sleeping awoke to some confusion that the body of water had gone from their right side to their left side. Goodbye Pacific Ocean, hello Taiwan Strait.

View from Maobitou, facing Kenting. The water is part of the Taiwan Strait.

The main focus of today’s plans is Kenting National Park, Taiwan’s first National Park surrounding the area’s southern tip. The day started with a three-hour bus ride, but soon enough (after a nap), we were at Maobitou, which translates to “cat’s nose peak”. The area is Taiwan’s second southernmost point, just slightly north of Erluanbi, which we intend on visiting tomorrow. The rocks that rise from the waters are supposed to look like a cat’s nose, though I didn’t really see the resemblance. Either way, it was a gorgeous site from the viewing platforms, and definitely a popular tourist spot.

Maobitou. Where's the cat?

After about an hour of free time, we headed to lunch, and then to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. The coastal attraction featured three main exhibits on marine life, a water park (which we weren’t prepared for), lots of hands-on activities, and animal feedings. The exhibits were quite impressive, as the museum is relatively modern and features innovative design, including an 81 metre aquarium tunnel. My favourite exhibit was the penguins (which are no longer at the Toronto Zoo), while touching sea urchins and sea cucumbers was fun. Overall, the museum was enjoyable, and we had free time for nearly three hours.

Left: Marine animal based water park. Right: Asia's longest aquarium tunnel.

Left: yay Penguins! Right: Sea Urchin. We got to touch them in a different exhibit.

The view from the back of the Aquarium. Lots of research is also done here.

We departed at around five and headed to the Kenting Youth Activity Center. Also mentioned in my travel guide, the center is unique in design, blending modern and traditional architecture. The rooms were comfortable and very welcoming after the previous night’s stay, and almost everyone enjoyed the night. After dinner, we had our group singing contests, where each bus (four in total) competed against each other singing two of five Mando-pop songs that were in our handbooks. Luckily, the event didn’t take too long, and by 8:30 we had free time to explore the town of Kenting.

The Kenting Youth Activity Center.

The activity center is right on the waterfront of Kenting. This is the sunset.

The area is a tourist hotspot, so its nightlife is a lot more active than the previous nights. On the street just outside the youth center entrance, both sides were lined with vendors, mainly selling food and souvenirs. I had some grilled squid and one of those frog egg drinks I mentioned in an earlier post. They aren’t really frog eggs, instead similar to the pearls in bubble tea. As we headed back, we came across a frozen yogurt store with a Canadian flag, promising Canadian dairy. With a relatively cheap price for frozen yogurt, and a craving for dairy products in Taiwan, we had to give it a try. It was a fresh change from the usual night market food, though it still tastes better in Canada =D.

Tastes from the Kenting "Night Market" Street