As we continued our journey south we reached the Tropic of Cancer marker. This marks the most northern place where the sun can be directly overhead. We found accommodation inland, I noticed the road was named King Kong and vaguely wondered if there would be a Giant Gorilla lurking. In Chinese it appears to mean a lot of different things including ‘gold’ and ’empty place!’ It was dark when we reached the BnB and it wasn’t clear enough to enjoy the night sky, although there was hardly any light pollution. The sound of frogs was abundant though, along with biting insects but, thank god, no large primates.
The next day after homemade dumplings and fresh fruit we had a walk along the King Kong scenic route. I really enjoyed that, just being out in the air!
Our host the night before had mentioned a special Taiwan foot massage and no he wasn’t offering his services before you jump to conclusions. He said it was famous in this area. A Swiss missionary Father Joseph had developed the foot massage for health (like reflexology).
Well needless to say when we stopped for coffee later and saw this massage was on offer nearby we took the opportunity. As we sat back and enjoyed the view from the windows, our feet were soaked and we read on a card that the different areas of the foot relate to other areas in the body. Hmph! It was not relaxing at all and at times quite painful! Apparently I have problems in every part of my body and particularly my backside, the masseur even asked if the Taiwan food was an issue for me! Hmm not convinced!
Around this part of the journey we visited some more caves but, these were all managed with cemented floors and steps to reach the higher ones. The climb up was hot but, interesting to me because the caves that are now 50 to 60 meters up the rock face. These were at one time on the shore, showing the Island is being pushed upwards constantly. Apparently human artifacts in the caves suggest people inhabited it when the island was just poking out of the sea! At the top was a cave that had become a temple. The smell was so bad, urine and something else (ammonia?) that Tatjana had a physical pain in her head. There was a man, maybe a monk/hermit and Formosan Rock Macaques, (presumably being fed here). We didn’t linger because the smell was so terrible.
As the journey progressed I began to think maybe the Tawainese had developed a rather strange sense of fun. We drove up into the hills to what was described as a Sky Mirror. Cars and even buses were heading up the little lanes and the parking was a premium. What a disappointment, it was a farm water tank that presumably reflected beautifully in some lights. I didn’t even take a picture but Tatjana did!
How Bizarre! If you want to see what the hype is about the link is here:
Then there was an avenue of palm trees, miserable looking and not very long that was also meant to be something special!
What was more interesting to me was the neglected park behind it! There was no information about it at all.
We stopped at some point to have flying fish for lunch. That was peculiar too, in that it was just the crisp cooked fish and nothing else, eaten from waxed paper. It was delicious though!
As we got further South the landscape became drier and the trees were different. The mountains were lower too! It had a Mediterranean feel!
We travelled into the area of Kenting which is a National Park. The Mediterranean feel persisted.
This area is also home to a Nuclear Power Station that we skirted.
We came to a seaside village with a huge hotel that we walked through to get to the beach area! White sand in-between clumps of what looked like rock but are actually dead coral. Before you think global warming, it’s not. Its because the Island is lifting out of the sea, stranding the coral.
Further along was another interesting area! Even getting to it was fascinating. There was a carpark and the security guy was a bit odd, the language barrier didn’t help, we didn’t understand the question even when it was in English, “Are you staying or are you visiting?” We said visiting. Anyway before we could reach the coastline we came across what looked like a deserted traditional village! Actually it is an education facility and you can book to stay, we didn’t know! We walked along to coast to the rock formation called the ‘frogs head’, it was closed!
As you can see the sun was setting and now the race to reach the most Southerly point began.
We parked at a lonely spot and marched along a path to the most Southerly point just in time before it got dark! Due South of this point are the Philippines!
Next, my suspicion is confirmed that Island life gives you a peculiar sense of humour!
The Travelling Bee 
Nice dumplings girls!! 😉 That hermit crab is so cute, like a Jamaican Rastafarian
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