OK, so Kenting is what the Miami Beach resort scene is like. On Friday night it's quiet here and Saturday morning is fine too, then all hell breaks loose...
First off it started to rain (deja vu....my French is improving..) and second, the tourists start arriving... When the skies cleared we headed outdoors to visit the Kenting Youth Activity Centre, a youth hostel designed to resemble an ancient Chinese village. It is very well done with its whitewalls structure and wooden slated roofs. The many adjoining areas had various accommodations with either ondol (no beds) or regular beds. Even though the outside seemed to be in the ancient period, the interior had all modern facilities. The hostel has become somewhat of a tourist attraction in itself. Along with the other 'tourists' we took a walk through its coral garden on the shore line. I found it very hot, and voiced my opinion in all so many ways, that the folks decided to head back to the hotel. The rest of the evening was spent with an early dinner and a stroll down the main street which by then was crowded with the Saturday nightlife.
At the Catholic hostel, mummy attended the 8:30 pm mass while Papa and myself played in the children's area. The mass was interesting as it was held in a very small chapel with a handful of people. She even got to do one of the readings in English. This was all fine, except for one thing... the priest insisted in doing the sermon in Chinese and then again in English! (just for her). Double the sermon - double the nap?... Not this time. Mommy said she really had to pay attention as the priest was speaking directly to her!
The next day we visited the Kenting Forest Recreation Area (botanical gardens). At the entrance there were some examples of poisonous snakes and warnings about them lurking around the paths... (we let Papa lead the way..).
A very lush green garden, a few caves and a viewing tower where we met some nice students. And no snakes in sight.
As Monday rolled in, most of the crowds left, resulting in Kenting's transformation back to its semi-tourist state. We too took an early bus as our destination was a small mountain village in a region where we hoped to visit some aboriginal villages. After a few busses and a ride from a nice man who was test-driving a car, we arrived in Shuimen, next to Santimen. I waited with mommy at the bus station, taking in the sights and flavour of the small town, while Papa went to find us a hotel. Shuimen consist of a couple of main streets lined with small restaurants and stores selling some of the beautiful local embroidered work. Papa returned on the back of a motorbike ridden by a kind man who later came back to pick up mommy and myself as well. That was my first motorcycle ride - fantastic! The only way to go -- easy riding...
After breakfast the next day, we went in search of the aboriginal villages we came to see, such as Santimen, just across the river and up the hill... We started out, it was hot and the walking was slow but we finally made it to a Taoist temple overlooking the river. Unlike Buddhism which originally came from India, Taoism is indigenous to China and very important to the Taiwanese culture. Its temples are the most colourful, the roofs brightly decorated with lucky symbols such as dragons and fish. Inside you will usually find a small courtyard with a large incense burner (urns filled with sand). There are also tables upon which bowls of fruit and other offerings are placed. Outside the entrance stands an oven either made of stone or metal. This is where the ghostmoney (printed paper) is burnt as offerings to the deities and spirits, in the hope of giving them enough to live on in the next world. Some of the wealthy temples may have side alters and other rooms as well as gongs and drums. All rituals performed are clearly to give good fortune and blow away bad demons. The Chinese people practice both Taoism and Buddhism jointly so in these temples you may find statues of Buddha along with the Taoist deities and perhaps Confucious as well.
After visiting the temple we continued our walk up into the hills intending to reach the village of Santimen. Since it was so hot so we decided to hitch a ride. I was hoping for the biker again but instead we were picked up by a couple heading all the way to the remote village of Wutai, even higher up in the mountains and inhabited by the Rukai tribe. (to visit here one needs a special pass, which we didn't have), Always glad for a ride and an opportunity to visit something they may not otherwise get a chance to see, my parents practically jumped into the car. At the road entrance and police checkpoint, we encountered about a 3/4 hrs worth of 'red tape' until we finally got clearance to visit. Unfortunately, as it turned out, there wasn't really anything "aboriginal" to see in the village or its people.
Back in Santimen village we parted company with our ride and 'took to the road' on foot. On the way down we came across a small bamboo shack from where we heard blaring music. An older lady was barbequing pork and roasting purple yams on a grill. By then we were hungry and needed a rest so we stayed to check out the BBQ eats and take a break in the cute shack with its karaoke player. While eating our snacks I got a chance to strut my stuff and happily did a rendition of 'Jingle Bells' and 'You are my Sunshine' for the lady and her daughter. Wow, I was impressed they knew the Jingle Bells one! I was having too much fun and didn't want to leave. But I finally relinquished the microphone on the promise of an ice cream later (Ok, Ok, so I can be bought...). Other visits were to the Aboriginal Culture Park where the outdoor exhibits include traditional aboriginal homes made from materials such as those used in the past - bamboo, straw and earth. It was well done as an open air museum. There we got to see some traditional songs and dances performed by the local people. That evening we also got to meet a few nice people, A man who helped us find a good place to eat and took us to visit his friend. An artist from Calgary who had been there for 3 years and had married a local girl. Very nice people.
Sept 18 we had a very early start from Shuimen to catch the 11 am boat from Putai to the Penghu Islands. This turned out to be an adventure in itself - 1 hr and 45 min. crossing over the roughest rolling seas I've ever experienced. We all got terribly seasick .... Not a pleasant time! I kept asking my folks why we had to be here in the first place and I actually considered getting on a flight back to Canada the minute we arrived! When we finally landed, Mummy and myself wanted to have our return portion of the boat trip refunded so we could catch a flight back to the mainland in a week. I knew there was NO way I was getting on that boat again!
The Penghu Islands is an archipelago in the western strait between Taiwan and mainland China. It is made up of 64 small islands. We landed in Makung, the largest city on the main island, where we found space at the local youth hostel near a small beach. Later, as I was playing with a couple of young boys in the shallow water, I had a bit of a mishap - It all happened so fast - As I took a step to get a closer look at a live starfish, I lost my balance and fell, cutting my right hand. Mummy and Papa bandaged me up and took me to see a doctor. At a small clinic the nurses and English speaking doctor patched me up. I now have 2 stitches on my right wrist. My folks said I was very brave - (Yes it did hurt, but I got over it easily with a McDonalds happy meal and ice cream).
Sept 19, we changed hotels and met up with a very nice man, Robert Pon, whom we had met the previous day. A very friendly and generous man - wanting to buy me all kinds of gifts. The rest of the day we spent doing some of the things that had to be done like mailings to Canada, some patchwork on Papas new backpack. and getting the patchwork on my hand re-patched again. We also managed a small hike to visit the town. There was a great island-village feel with its constant warm breeze blowing.
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