KENTING

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I just spent 2 relaxing days in Kenting- a National Park/ beach area in Taiwan. Marco closed his teashop and about 25 of his employees, friends (less than half of whom spoke English), and I all hopped into about 5 separate cars and caravaned it down the 2 hour drive to spend a couple of much needed days at the beach- it has been over 90 degrees here almost everyday, so I was excited just thinking about being able to go swimming. We stopped for lunch along the way at a busy seafood restaurant. Kenting is known for it's great, cheap seafood. I was a little worried being a vegetarian and all, but luckily I wasn't alone. One of Marco's friends is also a veggie and he showed me all of the amazing food 7-11 has to offer (everything from veggie buns to fried rice- who knew?).

We continued our drive and stopped at the hotel just long enough to put down our bags and get ready for the beach. It was pretty crowded for a Sunday and I must say that I was a little surprised not to see towels spread out for miles with everyone half asleep and lathered up like I'd see in CA. The girls here are much more modest and it seems as though most Taiwanese are afraid of the sun. Instead, everyone huddled close to the shade provided by the over sized beach umbrellas while sitting in miniature plastic chairs (which I'm surprised the legs didn't snap as soon as I sat down). Anyway, I didn't sit long before peeling off my layers, grabbing a floaty, and jumping into the water. Soon after I did, I looked around and suddenly realized that I was the only girl on the whole beach wearing a bikini. All the other girls were in T-shirts and shorts (I even saw some in jeans) while swimming in the water. Oops- people must have looked at me as just another crazy foreigner. Anyway, it was still a good time even though we couldn't swim out that far. They have the swimming area roped off because the other area is used for jet skis that pull big floaties people hold on to while the jet ski drivers whip around trying to make them fall off. It was still fun floating around and finally beating the heat for a bit. I spent the rest of my time at the beach playing volleyball, eating ice cream and drinking beer.

That night we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up before heading out the the night market which both fortunately and unfortunately were right outside the hotel. The only reason I say unfortunately was that there was a stinky tofu stand that I could smell from my room when we opened the windows- not good. Anyway, we had a good time walking around, people watching, and playing some traditional Taiwanese night market games. After that we went back to the hotel where we played this silly game- basically if you picked up the lowest card, you lost and if you picked up the highest card, you won. Rules were- winner draws on loser's face. Needless to say I wound up with a mustache and hearts on my cheeks.

The next day we stopped off at a go-cart track before heading out of Kenting. Then we went to another beach location that was made famous by some Taiwanese movie that was filmed there a few years ago. We stopped for dinner in Pingtung along the way. Apparently this city sells the best pig's feet in Taiwan. Needless to say I was happy the restaurant we went to had vegetarian noodles and fried tofu.

Overall it was a really good weekend. I can't wait to go back to Kenting when I have more time and it's not so hot because there are supposed to be some great hiking trails and more secluded beaches.

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