我在小金门的日子, Lieyu aka Little Kinmen Island (14th January 2014)

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Tuesday, 14th January 2014

Our final day in Kinmen took us to the island of Lieyu or more commonly known as the Little Kinmen Island. The journey soon reached a gridlock as soon as we arrived on the island. Touts were aplenty at the ferry terminal even though we were quite determined not to utilise their services.

Contrary to what was written in some travel guidebooks, Little Kinmen is NOT walkable as the places of interest were widely spread out. Starting from the west of the ferry terminal, the only sights within walking distance were the Jiugong Tunnel and the Victory Gate.

As we were heading towards Hujingtou War Museum along the western tip of the island, we had to rely on the somewhat unreliable public bus services for our commute. The return leg from the Museum to the ferry terminal was painful as we probably waited closed to 2 hours for the bus service. At one point, we thought that we were stranded as we approached the local residents for their information and assurance.

We were back in Kinmen Island in the afternoon where we had time to take in some of the sights as well as savouring the delicious local snacks along the way. For the rest of the day, we found a cosy corner at Joan Ranch to while our time away.

We ordered take away for our dinner as we wished to spend some time in our homestay. Ann, the owner was nice enough to bring us out on a free night tour of the island after dinner. This was very welcoming since it was difficult to move around given the inadequacy of public transportation after dark.

Starting from our homestay, she drove us through the northern coast where the bright lights of Xiamen were evident. We also had a chance to stop by at the sprawling University grounds before catching the night show at Juguang Tower.

This was a happy encounter as we shared our travel experiences with Ann on our last night in Kinmen. Four nights on, we were happy to discover the island at our own pace as we made a pact to be back again at the homestay in a few years' time!

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