A Beach Adventure
Trip Start
Jun 10, 2006
1
8
Trip End
Aug 01, 2006
Kenting, Taiwan
Monday, July 31, 2006
Kenting is extremely popular in the summer, known as the destiny to go for beach resorts. It's especially crowded during the month of July and August because Taiwanese college students have just gotten out of school! With that in mind, we headed down the west coast of Taiwan to join in on the fun.
We arrived in the evening and checked into our hostel. Because we had originally planned to have about 17 people on the trip, we had booked a 20 person room. But with only 12 people, we had much more room to spread ourselves out and sleep very comfortably!
The main street of Kenting is like a nightmarket with vendors selling all sorts of items, bars and clubs using crazy methods to attract customers, seafood restaurants, and arcade games. We wandered up and down the street before settling down at a seafood restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we attempted to go to the beach, and after lots of wandering we found it! The night was spent sitting on a rock and gazing at the stars.
The next morning, our bus took us to Kenting National Park, the oldest and southermost part of Taiwan. The famous lighthouse Eluanbi is there as well. We were also able to see some old coral reef. Part of the path that we were walking on was torn up from the typhoon that had occurred earlier in the week. It was interesting to see the direct effects of the typhoon since Hsinchu, being in the northwest of Taiwan, hasn't been affected much by the storms.
After the morning tour, we all headed to a beach that was less known, which meant less crowded! We spent most of day there and despite previous fears of heavily infested ecoli waters, we went into the waves!
The night was spent walking the main street again and enjoying the nightmarket once more. Dinner was had at a nice sit down, and then Dan, our HR representative, met up with us and we went to a nearby bar/dance club. After a while, we decided to go down to the same beach and enjoy the night once more. It was definitely a night to not forget!
Our Kenting adventure ended the next morning as we got up, packed, and boarded the bus. Our lunch stop was made at Donggang, a place well known for its fresh seafood! In my opinion, it was a great way to spend my last weekend in Taiwan, relaxing on the beach with all the great friends I've made this summer! :)
Tomorrow is my last day of work, and I leave very early Tuesday morning to go back to the states! I've had a great time at ITRI, experiencing the Taiwanese work life, making a bunch of friends, and realizing I have a bit of catching up to do in Mandarin! All in all, a great two months! :)
Thanks for reading! See you back in the states!
