snapshot from a lazy tourist

This was honestly one of the strangest vacations I ever went on. Strange because I was in another country and should have been interested the unique cultural activities and sites it has to offer, but actually if you were to ask me about Taiwanese food, history, culture, aboriginal communities, etc. I would have absolutely nothing to say to you. Maybe this was because the dumpy beach town I stayed in had absolutely nothing distinctly or uniquely Tiawanese about it- the food and tourist kitch was mostly from Thailand, everything else was kind of generically East Asian. Maybe I've just kind of become dull to East Asian art, culture and cuisine because I experience it everyday, but I really couldn't be bothered with another taoist, confucian or buddhist temple; the roasted innards, smelly tofu or squid-on-a-stick that you can find at the street stalls in night markets; the cultural relics or even the fine art.

All this is not to say that I think all East Asian cultures are the same; for to say that would be a great error that would prove to the world that my stupidity and arrogance have gone beyond the levels of your average Western tourist. But can't a girl be bored by it after three years and numerous cities in several countries? I have, after all, visited Seoul, Busan, Fukuoka, Osaka, Beijing, Ghuangzhou, Macau, Hong Kong and Taipei, not to mention a very few southeast asian cities (which are in some ways more markedly different from notheast asian cities).

All that was just to say that this was possibly that laziest vacation I've ever taken and my curiousity about Taiwan was rather limited to discovering its natural beauty as opposed its cultural beauty. And Taiwan, when you leave the polluted cities and suburbs, has quite a lot to offer in the way of natural beauty.


This is the southern most tip of Taiwan in an area called Kenting National Park. There is no public transportation around here, so I rented a scooter in the dumpy, generic beach town that reeked eerily of Ocean City, Maryland and that scooter brought me here, to a point which overlooks the coastal mountains and coral reefs that can be found not far off the coast of the island.





I spent four days on beaches like this, and I didn't even get a sun tan! Seriously, for the first time in my life I wore so much sunscreen that my white skin is nearly the same color as it was in the winter- that's after spending a week in a tropical country! Guess I've decided that cancer is not the way I want to go out.

As you might imagine, I did almost nothing last week, as it was really too hot to move much during the day (unless it was out of the ocean and into a shady cafe). The beaches in the main town are run by the eight year old urchins of the hotel gangsters. The urchins patrol the beaches on atv's and try to charge tourists exorbitant fees for using the beaches. That kind of sucks, but after one day, you can easily avoid them and at night, the beaches are totally empty and may be even more pleasant than they are during the day. Especially since it is past the urchins' bed times.

I've just run out of steam.... I did have more to say, but more bad news has reached me via telephone, and I'm distracted... more later. maybe.