The Road Trip - Take II

Day 5 - May.18.2005.

After spending the night in Chiayi and scrapping the original plan for the pre-dawn hike up Alishan, we made for Tainan, Taiwan's 4th-largest city and the former capital. It's home to some of the oldest temples and buildings in the country. We arrived mid-afternoon and checked out a few sights, but since we had seen so many temples on our travels thus far, we took a vote and decided we were templed-out for the moment. Our next destination on the itinerary was Kaohsiung, the 2nd-largest city in Taiwan and also home to the biggest port. Met up with Grant and Aarti, a couple of new friends Seb and I made while in Macau and after checking out Grant's pad, went to eat @ one of the best Thai restaurants in the whole country. The Rooftop Lounge. Very posh, boasting excellent decor and a fantastic view of Kaohsiung from the 15th floor patio. Much impressed and full o' thai food, we grabbed some beers and hit the town. Ended up @ an empty spot our friends' frequent, so we made our own party and got home around 4:00 in the morning.

Day 6 - May.19.2005.

Once again, we tried to make an early start but due to the previous late night drinking session, made our way out of Kaohsiung @ 12 bells. Our next stop....the most southern point of Taiwan, Kenting. Lamentably, it was raining when we arrived so we checked into a hotel and then checked out the town for some beach wear. After we had shopped til' we dropped, grabbed a couple of drinks and plopped down in the hotel room for some crappy cinemax action. We still had tomorrow after all.

Day 7 - May.20.2005.

This was the day we had been all looking forward to. We made for the beach @ 9:30 and stayed put until 3:00. Nothing but sun, surf and white sand....sigh, what a way to unwind after all the travelling we had already done. Needless to say, we all got a wee bit too much sun, but the pain was manageable and now we all have healthy tans to show for the fruits of our labours. Spent Friday night in Kenting...more drinking and some BBQ and we turned in.

Day 8 - May.21.2005.

All I remember saying when I woke up this day was "ouch." The sunburn had taken a turn for the worse and all of us were feeling the stinging kiss of our closest star. We did decide to take one more swim, but it was shirts on all around as the second the sunlight touched my skin it was like taking a match to paper. Gus joined up with us shortly after 10:00 and came with us for the rest of the trip back to Taipei. After lunch, we said goodbye to Kenting and headed straight for Taidong, Taiwan's 5th largest city. Spent next to no time there as there was little to nothing to see or do. Undaunted, we made for Hualien and caught Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith. There will be a seperate blog entry for this movie folks, so stay tuned. We were exhausted after driving almost 400 km that day, so turned into for the remainder of the night and got some shuteye.

Day 9 - May.22.2005.

The last day of the road trip and with a full car and slow-going taiwanese drivers, we didn't get back as early as we would've liked but hey, what's the point of having a timetable when you're on vacation? Checked out mostly 7-11's along the way as we needed beer to fuel ourselves and eventually arrived in Taipei around 6:00. Leesh and I dropped everyone off and then dropped the car off and that was the end of that.

So, that was the road trip. We all really feel as if we've actually seen Taiwan now, not just Taipei. It was a good time and we're all feeling recharged as we get back to the daily grind of things. Only 6 weeks left now before the end of the semester and better hours. Future vacation plans? Well, planning a little weekend trip in three weeks to Malaysia, and then the next big one will be in August when Leesh and I go for our two week excursion through Vietnam and Laos. But, until then the save is on so I can afford all this travel. Zaijian for now everybody.