Hengchun and Kenting

This morning we got up early, grabbed some breakfast and began our journey down to Hengchun. Our goal was to head south, travel around the southern tip of Taiwan and back up the west coast to our destination. We took the coastal road south and were going to cut through a small dirt road that connected to a larger road that would take us where we wanted to go. Unfortunately, when we got about halfway up the dirt road it was washed out. We attempted to cross the small stream, but when Am got out to check the terrain she ended up ankle-deep in mud. If we had the Tacoma, we would have been fine but we weren't sure the Livina would make it. Fortunately, we were not far from the main road and it only took about 10 minutes to double back. Our new route was the Southlink Hwy, which took us through the mountains to the west coast. The highway was pretty cool with winding roads and gorgeous views. Bernard tested the limits of the Livina while imagining he was driving Pike's Peak ;-)

The entire trip took about 2 hours and we arrived at our hotel just 20 minutes before Bernard's family.  We found out we could not get into our rooms until after 4pm so we had to kill some time.  What better way than to eat!  We got some directions to a restaurant from the front desk and found the restaurant with a little bit of searching.  We ordered up the food and most of us got some sort of soup noodle dish along with some "small dishes".  Am got a vermicelli noodle soup that was almost too hot for her but only after she added some hot chili oil.  We haven't quite been able to find her limit yet.

small dishes - quail eggs, thousand year old eggs and tofu, marinated tofu

 

must...have...spicy

 

By the time we finished it was time to check-in and we dropped Bernard's parents off at the hotel because they were wilting in the heat.  It was much hotter and muggier than Taipei and they were already regretting their decision to join us.

While they were resting, the rest of us (Bernard, Am, Bridget, Harold and Mireille) drove off to explore the nearby area.  We drove through Kenting which looked to be very lively and continued on to Jialeshui. On the way there, we passed by many scenic spots and stopped off at one that had dramatic cliff views.  We took some pictures and hiked around a bit before heading on.

the black rock is actually uplifted reef

Mireille

Jialeshui is one of the known surf spots in Taiwan so we had to check it out.  Not knowing exactly where the surf spot was, we stopped off at a parking area just outside of "town" to do a little reconnaissance.  There was a suspension bridge that crossed a nearby river and Mireille was begging to go walk on it.  The ticket counter was closed but there was nothing preventing us from walking on the bridge so we just strolled across it and back.  You could see the ocean from the bridge but there didn't appear to be any waves.

The actual surf break was only about 2 minutes up the road.  We parked the car and walked onto the beach only to be met by this...

ankle-high?

Bridie and Harold

Actually, there were some tiny waves that were surfable but even the longboarders were having a hard time catching them.  Mireille and Am played in the waves until the sun set and we drove back to Hengchun to, what else? Eat!

Set wave - Chest high on Mireille



Moon as the sun set

Bernard's parents joined us for dinner and it took a lot of walking around (due to bad directions) before we actually found a place by chance.  It looked like a bit of a dive but was actually very good!  Probably our most expensive meal yet as the fish was about US$30 by itself - although it was used in two dishes.  We got a bottle of Taiwan Beer to celebrate the reunion and Am gave it two thumbs up (or, if she were Taiwanese, the double peace sign).



this is not Annemarie...

Bernard's mom picked out the fish that was in the dish on the right and in the soup.

After dinner we walked around a little bit to help digest our food and almost went into "Starbucks".

Gee, looks a lot like some other coffee shop

Tomorrow we will do a little more exploring around Kenting.