Day 5 (March 12, 2018): Kenting National Park

When we planned our three days in Taiwan, we decided on a day to tour Kaohsiung, another for Tainan and, for a change of pace, a third in Kenting National Park, which is at the southernmost part of Taiwan.

Kenting is a long bus ride from Kaohsuing, via the Kenting Express Bus, which we took at 9:15am, arriving around 11:30am. Our plan was to use the four bus routes that ply the national park as a means of exploring. But when we arrived, the lack of an English schedule and a complete lack of information on bus stops, etc. made us realize the local bus was not a viable option. Most people tend to rent a scooter, but one must hold a Taiwanese scooter licence for that.

Wearing a skirt, Pam was not keen on the idea of a scooter. And if you saw the way people drive here, you would easily understand her apprehension. But sometimes, sheer necessity dictates one's path!

The scooter shop was keen to have a rental (there are tons of scooter rental shops, but customers are scarce on a Monday), so they turned a blind eye to me not having a Taiwanese scooter licence. In no time at all, I was given a crash course on operating the thing, and was declared ‘fit’ to operate a scooter in Taiwan. But before we could start out on our scooter adventure, we had to deal with Pam’s skirt: we quickly found a cheesy part of short to get her through the day, and then we were off.

We decided to do a circular route from Kenting City, down to the southernmost point in Taiwan, then up the eastern coastline, before cutting through the interior back to Kenting. The windy road offered breathtaking vistas of rugged coastline. We quickly became used to the scooter, although Pam never stopped holding on for dear life! Having left Kenting city at noon, we were back at the rental office by 4:30pm, grabbed a snack and coffee at 7-Eleven, and were on the 5pm Kenting Express bud back to Kaohsiung. We grabbed a quick meal at the Zuoying High Speed Rail Station before getting the MRT back to our hotel.

It was a 12-hour day, spent mostly on trains and buses, but touring the national park on a scooter was a wonderful experience, and a great way to round out our Taiwanese adventure. It’ll be an early rise for our morning flight to Hong Kong and onward to Hainan, China.

The Kenting Express bus is a comfortable way to get from Kaohsiung to the national park, with good views of the eastern Taiwan mountain range enroute.

Taiwan has a variety of palm which makes for some of the nicest, most lush palms we have ever seen.

The green fields outside of Kaohsiung.

We always find it interesting to see how different countries and religions bury their dead. The graveyards of Taiwan reflect a style of mausoleum we have never seen – we assume it’s a reflection of Confucianism and Buddhism.

All over Taiwan, you will find huge reservoirs like this one, with paddle rotors to keep the water oxygenated. The reservoirs are used to water the crops.

Kenting Beach.

Dajianshan peak, at 316m, is the highest point in Kenting National Park.

The beach at Sail Rock. Oh, that big ole' rock in the back left is Sail Rock!

Sail Rock is one of the most unique landmarks in the Park.

Eluanbi Cape is the southernmost point in Taiwan, and is marked by this cement marker…

… and signpost.

Eluanbi Lighthouse was built in the 1880s and continues to function. By the way, we were intrigued to see a very detailed plaque on the site in which the Chinese affirm their ownership of Taiwan and its most southerly extremities. The whole issue of "does China really control Taiwan?" continues to burn fiercely.

The rugged coastline, sweeping vistas and isolated sandy beaches of the eastern coastline.

Jialeshui is a stretch of coral coastline on the eastern shore. We can only guess the Chinese text on the boulder reads, “Welcome to Jialeshui”! Although the presence of English is significant in Taiwan, one is left to make many assumptions!