(continues from Taiwan part 3 – Alishan)
We arrived in Kenting around 5pm, just in time to catch a nice sunset before heading to our hotel a short walk away.
We headed to the Kenting Night market which was on a “parallel” street and had our first “street food” dinner.., even though Taiwan is very famous for this type of food, we had not eaten this, even though we were almost at the end of our trip.
Next day, we went to the Kenting Forest Recreation Area for a walk and birding, and to visit a cave and lookout..took a bus in as it was a few km to walk from the entrance
After that, we headed to Longluantan Nature Centre in the main town nearby of Hengchun to see the wetlands …this was a cool place built specially for birdwatching in an enclosed air conditioned environment and with many spotting scopes to observe birdlife on the lake!
Needless to say, we spent quite some time here (observing an osprey or two taking off and perching on a branch on the lake, as well as 2 cormorants and ducks swimming by).
PAt this point, we had engaged the services of a taxi driver from the lunch point (long story, involving a few u-turns walking and missing the bus) for 4 hrs (2500NTD for reference) and he would also then take us to visit the key sights of Kenting along the coastal area. This turned out to be a good choice instead of using e-bikes to do so on our own the next morning, which was our original plan (why? Distances are not that short, and roads are slightly hilly…those who scooter perhaps would be ok, I guess)
Managed to visit quite a few places in the 2 hr 30 min time before sunset, as you can see from above, and the photos below …
Dinner was absolutely delicious, with the freshesh prawns ever and toufu in salted egg and a healthy portion of crunchy vegetables!
And the next morning, it was time for a short walk along the beach, some more birding for me, and then a walk to the bus stop for the 2 hr journey to Kaoshiung,(zuoying hsr) and our last city stop for our Taiwan trip..
Lunch at foodcourt, in a mall near zuoying hsr…very quiet even though it was around lunchtime 1pm
We visited the famous lotus pond and pagodas there as it was very near the HSR and we could deposit our bags in the lockers/take a Youbike ride to go around the big pond.
Then we took the metro to the formosa boulevard station (interchange for the 2 metro lines), and saw the dome of light, one of Kaohsiung ‘s attractions, before walking a short distance to our hotel for check-in.
And a quick walk after dinner along the Liuhe night market …
Next day, it was a birding trip to Niaosong Wetland centre, followed by a visit to the Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts (arranged the night before and on the spot after Niaosong respectively)
After morning tea at the Centre of the Arts, a ride of a few metro stops brought us to the ferry to Cijin Island to spend the rest of the day.
A nice island to visit for IG photos, and the best way would be to cycle around (either use Youbike, or rent from any of the many places that have bike hire when you arrive)..
A quick dinner at Cijin and then we caught the light rail that took us to the pier area for some night scenery..
The final morning, we went back to the wetland area near Zuoying HSR, as it was known to be the place to look for jacunas… we had missed out on it the day we arrived as the place was closed (first having checked out and kept our bags in the locker at the station and renting a youbike each)
Sadly, the main trails were closed to public and there was only a small section that was accessible … 2 other birders were there ahead of us.
After an hour or so, we left and then went on to take the HSR all the way to Taipei Taoyuan airport .. checked-in and arrived home in SG safely after a 4.5hr flight!
What a great trip (9-22Nov 2023)!! And can’t thank Chien enough for doing all the research and bookings, and going for the birding sessions with me 🙂
While I Live, I Learn 