Weekend getaway to Kaohsiung & Kenting
October 4, 2016
So we decided to do a weekend getaway and hit up the south of Taiwan. Lucky for us, Clint is very good at directions, planning and Chinese so it was a simple task, both for those who do not speak the language but still want a fun getaway to Kenting, I will post all of the details below and try to make it as easy to follow as possible.
First stop: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Okay, so it is possible to go from Taichung straight to Kenting in one day if you want, we decided to split it into two because we wanted to spend a day in Kaohsiung since Clint served there. We started off the day heading to the Taichung main station. We took our scooter there, but you could take a taxi or bus as well. We bought a Chu Jian區間 ticket to XinWuRi新烏日 ( this is the high speed rail station for Taichung). The cost of both tickets was $46 US for both of us. There is a cheaper train that you can take to get down to Kaohsiung, but it takes 2 hours instead of 50 minutes. So if you want to save a little money you can take the slower train.
Once we got to Kaohsiung we left the train station and we were right next to our Air bnb. This place was incredible! So affordable, perfect location and updated. We dropped off our stuff and then took the MRT/Subway to Zuoying Ecological District. You can buy a subway pass from 711 or Family mart and put money on them or the actual subway( we recommend doing the ones from 7-11 and family mart because they can be used on buses and to buy goods at 7-11) then at the subway station you just scan the card and can go anywhere! No need to worry about buying tickets and you get a discount for using them, they are called Easy cards.
Once we got to our destination we rented bikes from the Kaohsiung public bicycle rental system ( the first hour is free and then the first half hour is only 10 NT, then 20 NT every half hour after, which is like .30 cents American. SO CHEAP). We rode the bikes around to Lotus Pond, it's huge on the map so very easy to find from your phone GPS or just a paper map. At the pond we took pictures at many temples and ate some yummy food. We saw hundreds of turtles in different ponds and I was freaking out. I love turtles. It also started pouring rain on us so just imagine two Americans riding their bikes in the middle of a rain storm in Taiwan. Talk about memories! LOL
First stop: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Okay, so it is possible to go from Taichung straight to Kenting in one day if you want, we decided to split it into two because we wanted to spend a day in Kaohsiung since Clint served there. We started off the day heading to the Taichung main station. We took our scooter there, but you could take a taxi or bus as well. We bought a Chu Jian區間 ticket to XinWuRi新烏日 ( this is the high speed rail station for Taichung). The cost of both tickets was $46 US for both of us. There is a cheaper train that you can take to get down to Kaohsiung, but it takes 2 hours instead of 50 minutes. So if you want to save a little money you can take the slower train.
Once we got to Kaohsiung we left the train station and we were right next to our Air bnb. This place was incredible! So affordable, perfect location and updated. We dropped off our stuff and then took the MRT/Subway to Zuoying Ecological District. You can buy a subway pass from 711 or Family mart and put money on them or the actual subway( we recommend doing the ones from 7-11 and family mart because they can be used on buses and to buy goods at 7-11) then at the subway station you just scan the card and can go anywhere! No need to worry about buying tickets and you get a discount for using them, they are called Easy cards.
Once we got to our destination we rented bikes from the Kaohsiung public bicycle rental system ( the first hour is free and then the first half hour is only 10 NT, then 20 NT every half hour after, which is like .30 cents American. SO CHEAP). We rode the bikes around to Lotus Pond, it's huge on the map so very easy to find from your phone GPS or just a paper map. At the pond we took pictures at many temples and ate some yummy food. We saw hundreds of turtles in different ponds and I was freaking out. I love turtles. It also started pouring rain on us so just imagine two Americans riding their bikes in the middle of a rain storm in Taiwan. Talk about memories! LOL
After that we dropped off our bikes to their return center, which is right by the subway that we took to get there, so convenient! We headed back to our hotel to get dried off and just chill for a while.
Our next adventure for the day was to head to the Love River. We took the subway to City Council station, then we walked a few blocks and BAM there it was! So gorgeous and had many cute restaurants to eat at, we had some famous Taiwanese mango dessert which hit the spot and continued walking around. We saw the Kaohsiung Central Park and went to the night market right by it! There is seriously so much to do In Kaohsiung that you could make a whole weekend trip about it if you wanted to! It such a fun city and I would defiantly recommend going.
Our next adventure for the day was to head to the Love River. We took the subway to City Council station, then we walked a few blocks and BAM there it was! So gorgeous and had many cute restaurants to eat at, we had some famous Taiwanese mango dessert which hit the spot and continued walking around. We saw the Kaohsiung Central Park and went to the night market right by it! There is seriously so much to do In Kaohsiung that you could make a whole weekend trip about it if you wanted to! It such a fun city and I would defiantly recommend going.
Second stop: Kenting, Taiwan
So while we were walking to our Air BNB across the street from the subway, we passed three bus places that will take you to Kenting, which is the only way to get down there. There are no trains, planes or anything else. You have to drive and buses are the most affordable way to go. After hearing each places deals for bus trips, we ended up going with a places called "Ibus" for a round trip ticket it was only $580 NT per person. If you get a taxi or a van to drive you it is $700 for a one way, so this was defiantly the cheapest and easiest in my opinion. Now since we were staying in Kenting for two days we asked if its okay that we do our return trip at a later date and they said yes no problem. So easy! We woke up and took the 11:00 bus down to Kenting. It was a 2.5 hour bus ride but went by fast and has a gorgeous coastal view along the way.
Once we got to Kenting, we stayed in the central part right next to Kenting beach. Our hotel was right across from the bus stop so very convenient and on a map was right across from Kenting main beach, but that would probably be the only positive thing about the hotel. The pictures made it look way nicer and it was dated and old. The walls were paper thin so you could hear them vacuuming the room next to you at 7 am, the Kenting main beach was closed for some reason but hey, the place was cheap, but I wouldn't recommend it other then that.
We walked to the main beach and shopped around at the day market for awhile. Later that evening we decided to go to Smokey Joe's restaurant because it has oh so glorious MEXICAN FOOD!! We both got burritos and they were scrumptious. A word of advice though would be bring your own drinks! They do not give you free water and a coke costs $3 US! Other than that the service, atmosphere and place was awesome. On our walk there we stopped at a different part of the beach that had gorgeous greenery and huge black coral rocks and took some pictures. After getting dinner we walked around the night market which is huge so you defiantly wouldn't miss it. They had every kind of food you could ask for and tons of games, shops and night clubs.
So while we were walking to our Air BNB across the street from the subway, we passed three bus places that will take you to Kenting, which is the only way to get down there. There are no trains, planes or anything else. You have to drive and buses are the most affordable way to go. After hearing each places deals for bus trips, we ended up going with a places called "Ibus" for a round trip ticket it was only $580 NT per person. If you get a taxi or a van to drive you it is $700 for a one way, so this was defiantly the cheapest and easiest in my opinion. Now since we were staying in Kenting for two days we asked if its okay that we do our return trip at a later date and they said yes no problem. So easy! We woke up and took the 11:00 bus down to Kenting. It was a 2.5 hour bus ride but went by fast and has a gorgeous coastal view along the way.
Once we got to Kenting, we stayed in the central part right next to Kenting beach. Our hotel was right across from the bus stop so very convenient and on a map was right across from Kenting main beach, but that would probably be the only positive thing about the hotel. The pictures made it look way nicer and it was dated and old. The walls were paper thin so you could hear them vacuuming the room next to you at 7 am, the Kenting main beach was closed for some reason but hey, the place was cheap, but I wouldn't recommend it other then that.
We walked to the main beach and shopped around at the day market for awhile. Later that evening we decided to go to Smokey Joe's restaurant because it has oh so glorious MEXICAN FOOD!! We both got burritos and they were scrumptious. A word of advice though would be bring your own drinks! They do not give you free water and a coke costs $3 US! Other than that the service, atmosphere and place was awesome. On our walk there we stopped at a different part of the beach that had gorgeous greenery and huge black coral rocks and took some pictures. After getting dinner we walked around the night market which is huge so you defiantly wouldn't miss it. They had every kind of food you could ask for and tons of games, shops and night clubs.
Day 2 in Kenting:
We did some searching yesterday at motor scooter rentals to see how much they all cost and what the best deal was that we could get. Well Clint has an international license but not a scooter/motorcycle one ( I defiantly recommend getting that before FYI) so some places said they could only rent us an electric scooter, but those are slow and can only go so far so we wanted to get a real scooter. Since Clint has been driving one in Taichung( his friend is letting us borrow it for the month) we felt comfortable doing it here, if you don't have any experience then do an electric scooter to be safe. So we found a deal for $800 NT ( about $30 American) for a 24 hour real scooter rental( the guy trusted that Clint was a good driver so he didn't care about the license issue) so we did that In the morning. Our hotel gave us a map of the national park and we started the ride.
We first stopped at the Maobitou Park, it costed $10 NT to park in the park and $30 NT per person to get in. We got to see a beautiful look out of the view and saw the famous cat rock, which didn't really look like a cat but it was still neat. They also have free restrooms there, but don't forget to bring your own toilet paper LOL.
We did some searching yesterday at motor scooter rentals to see how much they all cost and what the best deal was that we could get. Well Clint has an international license but not a scooter/motorcycle one ( I defiantly recommend getting that before FYI) so some places said they could only rent us an electric scooter, but those are slow and can only go so far so we wanted to get a real scooter. Since Clint has been driving one in Taichung( his friend is letting us borrow it for the month) we felt comfortable doing it here, if you don't have any experience then do an electric scooter to be safe. So we found a deal for $800 NT ( about $30 American) for a 24 hour real scooter rental( the guy trusted that Clint was a good driver so he didn't care about the license issue) so we did that In the morning. Our hotel gave us a map of the national park and we started the ride.
We first stopped at the Maobitou Park, it costed $10 NT to park in the park and $30 NT per person to get in. We got to see a beautiful look out of the view and saw the famous cat rock, which didn't really look like a cat but it was still neat. They also have free restrooms there, but don't forget to bring your own toilet paper LOL.
Our next stop was White Sand Beach ( Baisha Bay on the map). HELLO PERFECT SAND! This place exceeded our expectations for an amazing beach. It has white sand, tent rentals for $11 US and huge rocks. We rented a tent because that's the only shade there and it is hot. We took pictures, made sand castles, braved the waves and had a blast. There is of course jet ski rides, banana boat tubing and other fun activities you can pay for there as well. It's awesome.
We spent a couple hours at the beach and then headed home to nap and get cleaned up! After that we decided to ride on the other side of the national park and see the snail rock and light house. If you follow the map you will easily be able to see the snail rock from the road. We parked and walked down to get closer to it. It was so cool and free!
The next stop was the light house but when we got there is was closed, so we just looked at it from afar but we couldn't get into the park and get close to it.
On the ride back we decided to go through the national park so that we could see its beauty and get a nice view of the island. So COOL! We were attacked by dragon flies a couple times but other then that it was awesome.
We went back into town and went to the night market and grabbed some dinner. Clint bought me a gorgeous hand made bracelet to represent our trip in Taiwan which was so nice of him! I love getting something little and meaningful from each place we go! Thanks babe!
We hopped on the bus the next morning, which said Kaohsiung on it and also we had our ticket with what bus number it would be as well so it's very easy to get back into town! Then we are just going to take the same trains until we get back up to Taichung and to our scooter!
Overall I would say it's defiantly worth it to go down to Kenting for a weekend. It's a little more over priced (especially food wise) since it's a tourist spot, so if you want to be money savvy, only stay two days like we did. But it was a beautiful destination with beaches, markets and amazing national park lookouts and spots. 10/10!
On the ride back we decided to go through the national park so that we could see its beauty and get a nice view of the island. So COOL! We were attacked by dragon flies a couple times but other then that it was awesome.
We went back into town and went to the night market and grabbed some dinner. Clint bought me a gorgeous hand made bracelet to represent our trip in Taiwan which was so nice of him! I love getting something little and meaningful from each place we go! Thanks babe!
We hopped on the bus the next morning, which said Kaohsiung on it and also we had our ticket with what bus number it would be as well so it's very easy to get back into town! Then we are just going to take the same trains until we get back up to Taichung and to our scooter!
Overall I would say it's defiantly worth it to go down to Kenting for a weekend. It's a little more over priced (especially food wise) since it's a tourist spot, so if you want to be money savvy, only stay two days like we did. But it was a beautiful destination with beaches, markets and amazing national park lookouts and spots. 10/10!