Kenting with a Chance of Rain

Kenting was a small beach town. It’s made of three areas connected by one road. The main street was the surrounded by the other two areas, meant for people who wanted to stay away from the hectic main area. You won’t get lost here. And actually, you may run across the same people over and over again like us. We met a Dutch couple and bumped into them every time we were on main street. Granted, there’s only one main street. And it was the off season.

There were enough people to keep the streets busy though.

Unfortunately, the weather was being unpredictable. At times, it was perfect and other times, we found ourselves driving through the rain. Pretty nerve racking when the rain droplets are pelting your face. But it makes for some nice time lapse footage. We made the best of it. Visiting other parts of Kenting, including a quiet picturesque beach on the other side. Oh how I wanted to stay longer. But alas, it was time to continue our journey.

One of the bad things about going in the off season was that buses don’t run regularly. Shop keepers were kind enough to let us know and offer their transportation services of $300NTD back into Hengchun. As messed up as they were, it did cross my mind to hire them as we sat there for an hour next to the bus sign saying they operate every 15 minutes. Tempting, but luckily Vicky decided to try something out. She got up and simply stuck out her thumb. That’s right, she’s going to try and hitch hike. And by try, I meant would. Within minutes, this kind couple from Pingtung stopped and gave us a ride in a sweet Hybrid Lexus. And to demonstrate how kind Southern Taiwanese people were, not only did they take us into Hengchun, they took us all the way to Fengliao! So I have to mention them in this post because they did so much. Helped us out of a predicament. Cut our travel time ten fold. And gave us a real life account of how wonderful the people of Taiwan are. Thanks again!

Food:
This was a place for fresh seafood! Look for restaurants with fish tanks outside and take your pick. Prices would be higher than the local places but what you get in return was quality seafood. Can’t say much for the sauces they whip it up with, but the textures of fish, shrimp, crabs, and clams rank up there with top restaurants back in the states. Below are some of the dishes we had:

If you wander into old town Hengchun, I’d recommend finding the local places. Yeah, luck would be useful, but in our case, it was good judgement. We were looking at the menu of a nice looking place whose prices shouted “tourist trap.” And with the zero number of patrons inside, it pretty much confirmed it. But next door, behind some blue metal curtains were people slurping down noodles on flimsy plastic chairs and communal metal tables. It was a great meal

My appetite for night markets started to come back, in case you noticed I was getting tired of it. The main street was basically a night market at night. Being the street food snob that I have now become, there wasn’t anything that stood out as spectacular here. Didn’t read up on any must eats either. Tonight was for other street food I see. I finally got to try was that hot dog that looked like a hot dog stuffed inside a hot dog. Oh my. I was braced for a heart attack. But nope, it’s actually a rice sausage and was it so good!

Getting Around:
By bus would be the way we would have traveled if it weren’t the off season. But in the area, I’d recommend traveling by scooter. Car traffic was light and scooters are the most convenient to stop at all the shops. Also, for us, traveling light and by train, get the scooter around the train station. Or else you’d be waiting for at least two buses to get back to the station. And forget about taxis. They’re scarce and overpriced.

Overall Feel:

I’ll predicate my statement by saying I love beach towns. This one’s definitely commercialized but still small enough to enjoy. Plus if you’re adventurous, there are other parts in the area to see. The wind can make it hard to scooter to the other parts. Still, good to have options. But I’d have to say I wouldn’t like this place during the busy season.

Costs:
$250NTD bus ride to Kenting (2.5 hours)
$1800NTD night at the ocean facing hotel
$2300NTD fresh seafood feast on the main street of Kenting
$150NTD local shop lunch feast in Hengchun
$400NTD day scooter rental