Curiouser and curiouser

I finally left Taitung after a more controlled but still crazy late-night in the Amigos bar (some entertaining pictures to come there...). Had a great time dancing and ranting about bands with the locals, which despite having no common language went swimmingly well I though. Technically it was foreigner night, but I don't think there advertising is working too well...

My next stop was Kenting, the Taiwanese Hawaii, in there own words. It was a nice enough beach town, and Saturday night on the main strip was quite lively, but I was really recovering from exhaustion and what appears to have been a mild stomach bug (which I had assumed simply just from the beer beforehand). So I stayed only one more day and looked around the botanical gardens up there, walking miles just to see a feature called the "cliff of apes" which should of been the best thing in the world, but turned out to be a small ape-less rock ledge. But lots of nice plants and a few caves and good fresh outdoor area, always nice after the scooter-fume filled towns. On the way out of the park I felt dizzy and very exhausted, so I instead sat down to wait an hour for the bus with my water and my book. Two minutes later I was being offered a lift from a random passing guy - the people here are great ! That evening was spent relaxing with beer and a decent French chap I met who spoke great English - you begin to value that common bond after a while.

I then moved into Koashung, the second biggest place out here, where I felt once again just really uninterested in seeing any of the few "sights" and quite bored and tired. A lucky encounter with a local bar owner and hash house harrier turned my late afternoon stroll into an evening of biking through tiny alleyways, stopping off at tiny stalls on route for beers and seeing the incredible back-street everyday life-styles of the locals, only a few metres from the main roads that had been boring me so much. The guy is organising a whole two hour biking / drinking tour of the area for Friday, I only wish I was around for it ! Our session went on long and well though, I met a few more local ex-pats and shared beers and stories with many of them, before wondering home via one of the night markets for lots of post-drinking snackage. Some of the fried items you can pick up for 30-40p are simply wonderful, and after a few drunken e-mails (you'll probably know if you got one of them...) I took the remaining food things I'd picked up back to my hotel for closer examination and consumption. Tonight I am due to go to the guys bar for some food and beer and hopefully more of the wonderful English language being spoken ! Then onwards up the West coast to find more outdoor areas for hiking and picture taking - far more healthy and feels a bit more like travelling.