Dragon Boat Festival Weekend in Kenting

Matt and I went to Kenting over Dragon Boat Festival. We have been to Kenting before during the "winter" but it didnt prepare us for Kenting in summer and on a holiday as well! We had hoped to be able to go back up the mountain, rent a scooter, and do some other stuff. Not that we had a long vacation, we only had two full days. That's our life here though, trying to squeeze as much as we can into a short amount of time. It was so insanely busy though. As much as I love Kenting, I would not go back during the summer time. It was very busy, and as it was a holiday, prices were jacked for scooter rentals and taxis. Also, the roads were ridiculously busy, and I know that a lot of people were drinking and driving. Everything was so busy that you have to see the pictures of the sidewalks. There were cars and trucks parked everywhere! Traffic was insane.

Back to the vacation though, it was really beautiful. The weather was hot! Too hot for really doing anything active, but the water was great! On Sunday, we got an umbrella and rented a doubles tube so that we could go bob around in the ocean. I have never seen a beach so busy. There were umbrellas six or seven deep down the length of the entire beach. It was completely worth it though. We swam in the water, sat under the u-mbrella until we were too hot, and then hopped back across the steaming sand to the water. One entertaining thing was to see all the cute puppies people brought. I do feel bad for the puppies that got dragged into the ocean. There was a cute little dachshund that was very unhappily sitting on an intertube, a golden retriever that was sitting happily, and a poor poodle-type thing that was...I am not joking you, getting tossed between its two owners as if it were a football. Poor thing.



One of the things I do have issues with here is what I consider beach etiquette. In what circumstance do people think that it is OK to leave poopy diapers lying on the beach? Not like, “I will throw it away when I run up to 7-11 in a little bit”, but just leave it there. Big weekends like this, people leave their bottles of water and beer cans on the beach, and at night I am assuming people pick it up. But poopy diapers, I have a huge issue with!

Well, Matt and I were too hot and a little dehydrated after three or four hours down on the beach, so we went back up to our place for the porch swing and a cold shower. We talked to the people in the next room for a bit, a nice older man(British) and his son(Canadian), who live in Hong Kong. You never know who you are going to meet here in Taiwan. Such a lovely mix. The son was here so he could surf, and went out at least once a day. The father just got to relax and hang out.

The next morning we got up, lazed about in our room for a bit, and then headed down to try Far Falla Pizza. Well, we were a little hesitant about trying this place, as we have never really seen anybody there. I don’t know why this place gets overlooked! They aren't as outgoing as at our favorite place, Bossa Nova, but the pizza was good and the beer was cold. Also, their dog came out and hung out with us while we ate. She just sat and rubbed her head on our laps when we stopped rubbing it. It was such a sweetie. Bossa Nova really is the place to go though if you are in Nanwan. They have a great menu, with great western food and Asian food. The chef is European and he runs it with his Taiwanese wife. He is a really good chef, not just someone who calls themselves a chef because he cooks for a living. It was great to get a taste of home style food.

On Monday, Matt and I decided not to do the full beach day because it’s expensive to get the umbrella and all the other stuff, and we had already gotten quite a bit of sun. We just wanted to go and sit on the porch swing and relax. We decided to go for a walk on the beach, on the rocky area where people don’t hang out. We saw some really cool things! Some of the things were super little and super cute, but if you look at the pictures closely you should be able to see them! We saw some really cool crabs, both these very teeny tiny little guys and some bigger ones that were very camera shy. We saw a lot of snails, little minnowy type fish, a hermit crab, a dead puffer fish (icky, but kinda cool to see one in real life thats not in a cage!), and something that we got in a picture but we have no clue what it is. It was about 3 inches long, and it just kind of glided over the rocks under the water. It was just a beautiful day to explore. We got back to our place around 3:30, sat back on the porch swing, read a book, watched the sun set, and talked to the other people as they got back for the day.



We had a really great vacation, and we were super sad to leave! I hope you all are enjoying the start of your summer!

Waterfall!!

On Sunday we went with Andy, Vlad, and Ellen to a waterfall outside Taichung. It was a little over an hour drive on our scooter. It was a pretty boring drive for the most part. Its was all boring suburbs and city until the other side of Taichung. Then it did get a little pretty out in the countryside, and then we arrived! It was quite the scramble up and over rocks to get to the waterfall, and by the time that we arrived we were all quite hot and sweaty and ready to get in the cool water. Not being prepared I didnt wear a swimsuit, so I just jumped in the water in my clothes! It was hot and sunny enough to dry them pretty quickly. It was a really beautiful day, and we were lucky enough to have the waterfall mostly to ourselves for the first hour or so. After that people started to come, and we had a couple large groups of people. At the falls there was a rope so that you could climb to the top and jump off into the pool at the bottom. Andy and Vlad both did it, it was really funny to see Vlad who is terrified of heights scrambling up the falls and jump into the water. Wish we could have got it on video, he thought we were ready so he jumped, but we werent! When some Taiwanese people showed up, some of them were crazy! Jumping off the fall and doing belly flops, flips and other stuff. One of them got very close to hitting the opposite wall with his foot in his flip. Some of the girls had little floaties, climbed partially down the fall, and then slid on their butts down the rest of the falls. It was a very cool place, and we really hope to be able to go back! Another reason to go back is Andy said the last time he was there a bunch of loud monkeys were there as well, I would love to see that! I love monkeys, and have yet to see one here. We had been there maybe 2.5 hours when we decided to head back. At the base of the hill before the bigger falls there was some people fishing for shrimp and some pretty little rapids. Some people had grills and some food set up on the flat areas. There were so many boulders in that valley, so it was easy to find a somewhat private spot to hang out at. On our way back we stopped in Taichung at an ice shop. Its not like slushies back home, its quite a bit better. We split three bowls between the five of us, a mango, strawberry, and a chocolate/peanut. My favorite was the chocolate and peanut one. Very refreshing.

It was a great day! If you click on the pictures you can see my comments about each one. This Saturday through Tuesday we will be in Kenting, so look for some more pictures soon!