Kickin it in Kenting

Kenting National Park






This past weekend we took a trip down to Kenting National Park. This national park is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and is Taiwan's oldest and southernmost park, covering the southernmost area of the island. The beaches were beautiful with white sand and turquoise water. We stayed in this little surf town for 3 nights, and had an amazing time.


Thursday

After chinese class ended on Thursday afternoon, 24 exchange students (2 boys -One being Arthur ;-) and 22 girls!!) took 4 party cabs down to Kenting. The drive was around 2 and a half hours. Party cabs are very popular here because you can fit up to 7 people in one cab and they are all equipped with small TV monitors that play music videos. Once we got to Kenting, we checked into a hostel that was at a church. At $12 a night per person, it was a great deal. The hostel was clean and well kept. 




That night was Sophies birthday so we all went out to dinner to an outdoor Taiwanese restaurant. After this we went to a bar, that was completely empty. This small town is very popular during the summer months, but since we went in March, it was not very busy. Even though we were the only ones there, we filled the dance floor. Later that night a live band started playing popular songs such as New York State of Mind, and Shots! 


Dancing in Kenting   *Click on this link to see a cool video of the exchange girls dancing in Kenting*


Friday


We woke up to sunshine and blue skies. We decided to check out the beach that was a 2 minute walk from our hostel. The beach was absolutely gorgeous. As soon as we set up our towels and lay down on the sand, vicious rain clouds started to roll in and it suddenly became very windy. We only lasted about 10 minutes on the beach. We then decided to go to the hot springs. These hot springs consisted of 6 pools of different temperature. One pool was meant for water massages with jets of all different powers, and chairs with massagers. There were two hot pools that were hotter than any hot tub I have ever been in. You could only stay in for a couple minutes at a time. There was also two ice cold pools that were refreshing, but extremely cold. The largest pool was warm and was like sitting in a bath tub. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing day. In all pools in Taiwan it is required to wear a cap on your head. Since we didn't know this, the hot springs provided us with these silly shower-cap type things to wear.
 

After a relaxing day, we decided to go for dinner at a Thai restaurant. The food was fresh and the seafood was incredibly tasty. After this, we went to KTV, which is Taiwanese karaoke. You pay a fee per for a secluded room, and is very popular in Taiwan. 
Saturday




The weather was not very nice this day, and a number of students had gone back to Kaohsiung because they had class on Saturday. With a smaller group, we decided to visit the aquarium called the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. This was the most spectacular aquarium I have ever seen. The first exhibition we visited was the Coral Kingdom Pavilion. Here we saw large tanks displaying different coral habitats along with a large variety of tropical fish. The coolest thing about this exhibition was the large tunnel under a massive fish tank. The tunnel had 3 sections to be able to view the tank from all angles. The tank consisted of small sharks, manta rays, and a countless number of different fish species. 

The next exhibition we visited was the Waters of Taiwan. The main attraction was a massive viewing tank that contained a Whale Shark. We were even able to watch a feeding, and got a great view of the shark. In this exhibition there was also an area where there was an open tank to touch some of the fish. The sea cucumber was my favourite. Even though is was weird and gross, it was surprisingly soft. 

The last exhibition we saw was the Waters of the World. Here we learnt about some history, and the evolution of sea life. We saw some beluga whales, and I never thought that they were very playful, but they put on a great show. We then visited the penguins. This exhibit had three different kinds of penguins and we sat and watched them for about a half an hour. They are so funny and playful. 







After a long day, we were all exhausted. We went to eat at a fantastic Mexican restaurant that night. Since the weather was not great, a lot of people decided to go back to Kaohsiung. Arthur and I were rooming with our friends Ally and Justin, and their friends Manolo, and Fiona joined us that night so we decided to stay an extra night. That night we walked down to the beach and watched some fireworks that some other people were putting on that night. 

Sunday
This day was looking pretty nice, so we decided to rent some scooters and drive down to an area where you can surf. The drive was gorgeous. The nicely paved road winded through areas of tropical forests, or looked over a cliff to waters crashing against the side. The views were spectacular. We also stopped at the southernmost point of Taiwan. All three boys decided to surf while the girls enjoyed the sun on the beach. Ally even ended up going out to give surfing a try! This was a great way to end off a fantastic weekend. I will definitely be visiting Kenting again. 

Now it's back to Kaohsiung!
Chantal 
xo