Weekend on Penghu Island

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Every year on the 10th of October, Taiwan celebrates its' Independence with a 4 day long weekend. We decided, along with 5 other teachers, to visit Penghu Island (pronounced Pung hoo). On Thursday after school, we leisurely made our way to the airport. We arrived in Magong shortly after 6PM after a 45 minute flight.

Penghu County is an archipelago consisting of almost 100 islands and is also known as the Pescadores. It is famous for its great beaches, glorious temples and traditional Chinese-style homes surrounded by coral walls. In the summer months Penghu is hot and beautiful, while in winter and spring the archipelago is possibly the windiest place in the northern hemisphere. Many consider Penghu a windsurfing paradise and we would agree, the winds were consistently strong all the time we were there.

The islands were formed from the solidified lava of volcanic eruptions some 17 million years ago. This has resulted in predominantly low lying grasslands, stunning rock formations and towering basalt columns. Most of the 100,000 inhabitants live on four larger islands which are joined by land bridges. The Islands are dotted with many small towns and fishing villages, and there are almost 150 temples. We noticed old fences built out of dead corral. These divide the garden plots and reduce wind so the seedlings have a chance to grow.

We were picked up at the airport and whisked to C'est La Vie, our hotel on Shanshiu Beach. Our room was on the 3rd floor overlooking the ocean and pool area. We changed and headed down to the pool, wallowed for awhile and then played crib. Annie and Chris arrived shortly after, followed by Gene, Leah and Lulu. They had arrived in the afternoon and had been to Magong and returned bearing beer and snacks. We sat by the pool and visited until it was time to head to bed.

We tried to sleep in but by 7AM, we were enjoying the view from our balcony overlooking the ocean while sipping coffee with a perfect breeze keeping us cool. We joined our traveling companions for breakfast and around 10AM headed out to rent scooters. Linda, with her expired international drivers' license, passport, Canadian driver's license and KAS business card, was able to rent 2 scooters, one for us and one for Chris and Annie. Go figure! After picking up the 3 girls in front of C'est La Vie, we headed out to explore Penghu, Paisha and Hsi Islands.

We passed gigantic wind turbines, saw oyster beds (out of season at the moment), and noted the crooked trees which were bent due to the strong winds. We stopped off to see the basalt columns and enjoyed the spectacular views all along the coast. The weather was warm and have we mentioned the wind? Crossing the many bridges raised our definition of "windy" to a new level.

On the return ride back to our hotel we found a highly recommended seafood restaurant and tried baby squid, fish, oysters, sea urchin roe, fried rice and seaweed, quesadilla type finger food.....and beer. The seafood was phenomenal!
After a rest and shower the group met by the pool to visit and play cards but we soon gave that up and headed for our rooms. Maurice and I skyped Canada and visited with Mom, then Cory, Vicky and the boys. They were so cheerful and happy in the AM.

Saturday morning we were the first of our group to arrive for breakfast at 8AM and immediately struck up a conversation with a group of Chinese visitors (they didn't speak English). We poured them coffee and then Lulu arrived to bail us out and do some translating for us. We changed and headed off to the beach. Shanshui beach is considered the prettiest of the beaches and at this time of year, the beach morning glories make it hard to dispute that. Maurice and I walked to the deep water harbour on our left, then walked to our right over a kilometer. Atop a 30 meter high rise of land at the far end of the beach, there was an old military look out which was surrounded by cactus. No one would ever attempt to climb those cliffs and attack Penghu! We spread our towel on the golden sand and swam in the gorgeous azure colored ocean waters. The wind picked up and we were getting sand blasted and so we all headed to the pool instead.

After lunch, we went to explore the Kuibishan Chiyu Geopark, an island which can only be accessed on foot when the tide is out. We stopped at the Penghu Tourist Centre and gained an understanding of how the temples and buildings were arranged on the island. After a nap, we headed to a Taiwanese barbeque for supper where they bring your table glowing charcoal trays and set them into the table. People help themselves to oysters, squid, shrimp, fish balls and fish cakes, chicken, pork, sweet potato, mushrooms, green beans, pumpkin and more. We BBQ'd, visited and just as we were about to leave, fireworks went off just a short ways away celebrating the 10/10 weekend here on Penghu Island. We scootered back and called it a night.

Sunday morning, our group slowly made their way to breakfast where we visited and swapped stories. We checked out of our rooms, returned the scooters, read and relaxed. Around 11:30 we got little bored, and so headed to Magong. We hadn't visited the city yet, and figured it was a good way to kill the hour and a half before heading back to Kaohsiung. We visited 'Old Street' and wandered the winding streets tasting cactus ice cream and other Penghu treats. Then it was back to Kaohsiung.

We were back in our apartment by 3PM. Maurice went to the market to buy fruit and vegetables for the coming week. Linda did homework.

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Photos

Map of Penghu Islands
The archipelago of the Penghu Islands 64 is located in the Taiwan Straits midway between China and Taiwan.

C'est La Vie
Our room at the C'est La Vie Hotel was large and comfortable.

View from the Balcony
The hotel was just a short walk from the beach, and this was the view from our balcony.

Renting Scooters
Linda, with her expired international motorcycle license, her ARC, her passport, her Canadian driver's license and KAS business card overwhelmed them with English documents, and managed to rent 2 scooters.

Windy on the Scooters
Strong gusts of wind made scootering across the bridges challenging.

Clean Water
The ocean was clean and clear, and the views were spectacular. We scootered all the way around the horseshoe shaped main islands.

Wind Turbines
We weren't surprised to find these wind turbines on the island, but we were surprised to be able to scooter right up to foot of the stairs of each of them. We didn't climb them though.

Wind?
Do you think it might be a tad bit windy at times for the trees to be like this?

Bent In the Wind
The trees were bent like this at certain places on the island.

Archway To One of the Landbridges
There are bridges joining the largest of the islands which happen to be all clustered together.

Fences of Dead Corral
There was an abundance of dead corral, so they have constructed these fences to protect seedlings from the wind for centuries.

Annie's Hair Blowing in the Wind
The wind was relentless, and when we were on the scooters, it didn't seem to matter what direction we were going, it was ALWAYS against the wind.

Garden Dividers
The coral fences are even in the gardens, dividing everything into little plots. These protect the seedlings, otherwise nothing would survive.

Temples Temples Temples
One of almost 150 temples, most are devoted to the Goddess Matsu. She is known as the guardian and protector of sailors and fishermen.

Another Land Bridge
4 bridges join the main islands and form a horseshoe shape. We rode from one end to the other.

Basalt Wall
These basalt columns were formed from the solidified lava of volcanic eruptions some 17 million years ago. The stunning rock formations and towering basalt columns, seen everywhere, date from that time.

Impressive
The islands are mostly low lying grassland plains. There are no mountains.

The Taiwanese Love Statues
We thought these were rather unique statues sitting in what looked like an abandoned park in the middle of nowhere.

Abandoned Fish Farm
We came across this abandoned fish farm, and made our way down to it. Chris and Annie walked along the partitions.

Centuries Old Dwellings
There were Fujian ruins such as these along the way. We stopped for photos.

Old Well
The hand pump still worked, and it brought back childhood memories for both Linda and Maurice.

The Door
All that's left of an old building. The ruins are in the center of a village.

Gorgeous Bronze Statue
We took a lot of photos of this statue which was located by the archway to the Great Bridge.

Coastline at Low Tide
This was what it looked like when the tide was out.

Low Tide
At low tide, many tourists walk out to this basalt island between Kuibishan and Chiyu.

Kuibishan Chiyu Geopark
We found many interesting tidal pools with crabs, shells, creatures, pill bugs, etc. in the sea water.

Comments

[Annette]

A lovely weekend!
Looks beautiful! And so different! Enjoy! :)

[Joanne Bryce]

Nice
You guys are amazing. Continue to make the most of all your adventures.

[wayne tamke]

hi
so when are you guys coming home for Christmas?

[Joanne]

Woohoo
Can't imagine it being anymore beautiful in another season ... Namaste :)