Kenting Road Trip
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2008
1
35
37
Trip End
Ongoing
Kenting, Taiwan
Monday, October 13, 2008
Some of the experienced staff decided to spend their three-day weekend by purchasing plane tickets to explore neighboring countries in Asia. However, as a new teacher who is required to spend a specific number of days in Taiwan for one year in order to be recognized as an "alien resident," I had to stay in the country and pass this time around.
Those teachers that decided to stay in Taiwan got together, rented a charter bus, and reserved a few hotel rooms in the tourist city of Kenting. The city is located on the southern tip of the country, and if I could compare it to any city at home that many people could recognize, it would be the Wisconsin Dells.
The city was initially created due to its beautiful beach and crystal-clear water. The weather is quite warm year-round due to its southern location. As the years passed and word started to spread about this location around the island, more and more people started coming to visit... which if we know the Wisconsin Dells, can only mean one thing: cheap shopping and tourist gimmicks. There is definitely no shortage of those in Kenting. However, it is not as extreme as it is in the Dells.
We woke up on Friday morning and boarded the bus around 7:30am. I initially was debating whether or not to go due to the fact that I was suffering from my first major head cold since moving from the United States. I even went to bed that Thursday evening with an extreme case of the chills. However, I woke up on Friday feeling strong enough to make it on the 4-hour bus ride provided that the karaoke was kept to a minimum (thankfully, no one started singing until everyone was awake and functioning).
We arrived in the city around noon and checked into our hotel room. The hotel was no Kalahari Resort, however it was close to the beach and the price was relatively inexpensive. Our hotel room in particular had four beds and I shared the room with seven other roommates. There was absolutely no problem in us all getting along. Plus, we came and left the hotel room pretty consistently at the same time so no one awoke due to noise.
We took a walk down the "Kenting Strip" and found a nice restaurant near the beach called "Buffalo Joe's" that served hamburgers and cold drinks. It sort of reminded me of an Applebees or Chili's back home, and it was nice to get some food in me which helped get rid of my illness.
We decided to risk life and limb by swimming less than an hour after eating. The beach was relatively crowded with people young and old swimming or reading books. However, one of the things that I noticed was that not many people here like to sunbathe. Most of the Taiwanese on the beach wore swimtrucks and t-shirts, or made attempts to cover their skin with clothing from head to toe. This is due to the fact that tan skin is considered unattractive. In fact, we were even warned once we arrived here to not purchase any locally made skin lotion because it contained traces of bleach to make your skin tone lighter. It was definitely an odd sight to see people bundled up for a trip to the beach.
That evening we went to a small Italian restaurant, bought a few beverages, and sat by the beach while the locals lit fireworks and a band played at a local beach front bar. I cannot lie, it was very nice to be sitting on a tropical island beach, sipping a margarita in my shorts and t-shirt at 11pm on an October evening!
I went to bed early on Friday night because I had signed up for surfing lessons on Saturday morning. I woke up rather cautiously and reluctantly because I have never had much luck with balance and really did not expect to have much success at surfing. However, I figured if there was ever an opportunity to go surfing and be instructed by a professional on how to do it, this would be the chance.
We took a cab to a small little surf shop/hostel that is run by local named Afei (Eff-ay). Afei speaks fluent English and has been helping Cornel staff learn to surf for about a year after one of our teachers came down and met him and made a connection. Afei has been surfing for about ten years and has won a number of competitions. He is really an amazing entrepeuneur whose business extends far beyond just surf lessons. He also is active in making and designing surf boards and even runs two shops where he designs surfing clothes and t-shirts.
Afei made us all provide him with the names of our mothers just in case there was an emergency where he needed to contact a family member (which we were all wondering what our mothers back home in the states could do to help us half a world away). In addition, he provided us with a surfing t-shirt to prevent "board burn" as well as a surf board to be used for the day and returned after the trip was completed.
Our group (which also consisted of about 5-6 Taiwanese tourists) boarded his Volkswagen van and headed for a beach. Along the way, Afei stopped and bought us all tea possibly in an effort to mellow us out and get us prepared for a long morning of surf lessons.
We arrived at the beach and had to walk our boards out to the spot. It was very windy that Saturday, almost to the point that the wind caught ahold of my surf board and almost blew me to the ground. Thankfully, one of Afei's helpers came over and helped me carry it across the wind. I thought I was going to be in for a long morning...
We got to our spot on the beach where Afei began his 45 minute lesson on what to do and how to do it. It was rather interesting to see him deliver his instructions in both English and Chinese and there was really no trouble at all in any of us understanding what he was attempting to say.
Afei then took us out into the water with about five of his fellow surfers where they would instruct us about where to paddle and when to stand up in order to ride the wave. We did not have to go far into the water; in fact, Afei had us go to a location that allowed him to stand next to us and provide direction instruction right next to our board.
The first opportunity I got to ride the wave was very nerve-wracking. I was laying on my board, stomach first, while Afei gave me directions. When the wave came, he gave my board a push (similar to the way someone gives a child a push on his or her bicycle when learning for the first time) and shouted when to stand. I quickly jumped up and slipped on the slick board and fell flat in the water.
I paddled back out into the water and was ready to give it a second try. The second time was much more successful. Afei told me to stay calm, and when the right wave came, he gave my board a push and yelled for me to stand. It was a little wobbly at first but once I got up, it was really amazing to see that I was actually surfing! My knees were bent, I had the surfer pose, and even managed to turn my board left and right. When the wave died down, I turned around and there was Afei with his fists in the air jumping up and down in the water with a huge smile on his face yelling "Yes! Do again! Do again!"
We came back to the main city around 2pm and were all completely exhausted. We got some pizza at a small restaurant and went back to the hotel to take a nap. We then woke up and went for a walk and did some shopping until it was time for dinner.
The next morning, I woke up early once again with about three other people from our group, and we went to the beach before our bus left for home. We arrived at the beach and rented some snorkeling gear and explored the water for about two hours. I had never been snorkeling before and it was really a lot of fun! The beach had a lot of coral, tropical fish with a variety of colors, and there were even a few water snakes and eels. It was really unbelievable how much life is in the same water that we were just casually swimming and surfing in the day before.
We boarded the bus around noon on Sunday and headed back to Taichung. It was a lot of fun and I really experienced so much. I am anxious, not only to go back again, but to experience the beaches of Thailand (this January) which are supposed to be some of the best in the world.
Comments
Italian food in Taiwan?
You said that you went to get Italian food?
I have been told that Italian food here in America is not really the same as in Italy, so I was wondering what you thought of the 'Italian food'.
Was it still pretty American-ized? Did it have a Taiwanese twist to it? Or did it strike you as relatively authentic?