Day 8: Kaohsiung to Kenting

Time: 7:42pm

Location: Kenting

Weather: cloudy 22C

My biggest cycling day in a while and I was so glad to have some company the whole way! Nick had said yesterday that he would ride with us partway but he ended up riding all the way to Kenting with us, again pointing out things along the way while letting us draft off him. Our Shenzhen friend was also a trooper with a massive amount of luggage on top of his little foldable bike. A bit outside of Kaohsiung today, we picked up another cycle tourist from Shanghai who rode with us the whole way. Today I saw more cyclists, some tourers others just day trippers, than any other day. From Kaohsiung we followed Highway 17 all the way, stopping at Donggang for lunch, which I'm well familar with, and making many subsequent 7-11 snack break. Although the weather wasn't the best, I got very excited with my first glimpses of the mountains and ocean side by side. Since Tainan, it has been a contiguous scene of houses and industry areas, and I couldn't wait to get to the naturally beautiful south and east parts of Taiwan. 

We finally got to Hengchun around 5:30pm, stopping first at Cape No. 7, used to be the home of a famous artist from Kenting, and then some much needed refueling of noodles and local specialty green bean shaved ice. We said goodbye to our Shanghai friend who was staying in Hengchun, and on the way down to Kenting, stopped at the south old gate. 

Down at Kenting Town, which is essentially a business strip along the main road, we are currently at a Starbucks planning where we are going to camp for the night. Stay tuned tomorrow for where we end up staying!