Take Us to the Beach

We woke up Thursday morning in Kaohsiung, ready for some warm weather. I hit up the trail along Love River for a run, and ran through some really cool artsy areas.

Ok, I love this.

Old railroad yard. Now wide open space, great trail, and art.

A laborer.

Seen on my run.

A rice worker.

You know we enjoyed our breakfast buffet at the hotel. 

And then, we hopped in a taxi for the hourlong ride to Donggang. What's in Donggang? The Donggang Ferry Terminal, which gets you on a ferry to Liuqiu Island, which was the next stop on our trip. 

Liuqiu Island is a 25-minute ferry ride away from Donggang; it's a beautiful coral island with 3,000 sea turtles. And it has some of the best snorkeling in Taiwan. It does not have any banks, nor ATMs that can be accessed by tourists. So, when you visit Liuqiu, you pay cash for everything. 

The kids were very excited to get to the beach. Taylor kept checking the weather app for the best UV times and Wyatt just wanted to get in the water.

When we arrived to Liuqiu, we had to figure out how to get around. The island's kinda big...you need some sort of wheels to get from place to place, beach to beach. Not too far from the port, we saw a scooter rental shop. Two scooters later, we were on our way to our bed and breakfast, the Oceanic Pearl. 

Tim receiving scooter instructions.

Me and my guy/backseat driver.

The kind woman at the front desk of the Oceanic Pearl (she must be the owner) checked us in and gave us an orientation to Liuqiu Island from her phone's translation app. She showed us to our room and told us how to put the A/C on (which was great because it was literally so hot). 

Taylor was jonesing to get to the beach, but the rest of us wanted lunch. We compromised and hit up a 7-Eleven, originally to pick up a couple of towels (bath towels for the win), but also to grab some fruit and food for me and Taylor. After 7-Eleven, we scootered to the famous Vase Rock, the most iconic tourist attraction on Liuqiu. Taylor and I plopped down on the (very small and rocky) beach while Tim and Wyatt went off in search of real food. 

It looks like a flower vase, all right.

Reunited an hour later, we decided to explore a different, hopefully less rocky beach. The kids both vied to ride with Tim. Imagine that...they don't trust my scootering skills. For the record, I haven't crashed yet. ;)

We made our way on over to Gebon Bay, which was a gorgeous, small, sandy beach. All of us went swimming and enjoyed the warm water.

Tim, Taylor, and Wyatt (doing a handstand) in the water.

Family selfie at Gebon Beach.

From there, we scootered to Secret Beach, which is definitely no longer a secret. This beach is nestled along the Houshi Fringing Reef; it's the best place to snorkel on the island because of all the animal life underwater. We hung out there for a bit and then moved along.

We next visited Beauty Beach. It was, indeed, a beauty. While we walked along this small beach, we saw a sea turtle. We also saw a guy who had been spearfishing come out of the water with a couple of fishy catches.

Hangin' at Beauty Beach.

Can you spot the sea turtle?!

Leaving the beach and heading back to our scooters.

After Beauty Beach, we drove to Shanfu Fishing Harbor, where there was a great swimming spot. While the kids swam, Tim walked around a bit and I fell asleep (the beach life is just so exhausting...). At 5:30pm, we packed up our 7-Eleven towels and headed back to the Oceanic Pearl. Our post-beach showers felt amazing -- and the prospect of dinner sounded even more amazing.

On his Maps app, Tim found a restaurant called Hard Rock in one of the Liuqiu villages; when we arrived, there was a sign on the door that said, "Our day off is today." We backtracked and landed at a place called Five BBQ. The vibe was college dining hall mixed with camping and the smell was incredible. It was a BBQ buffet, so you chose the food you wanted from the buffet (and you were warned not to waste food; in fact, the restaurant could fine you if you did), and then you grilled at your table. It was so fun and the food was delicious. That meal was also our most expensive one in Taiwan thus far (seriously, everything is cheap here!).

Dinner at the BBQ joint.

We scootered back to our B&B and crashed in bed. Wouldn't you know -- our mattresses were medium firmness!

p.s. -- We got to hear Taiwan's famous musical garbage trucks on our way to dinner! These garbage trucks have become a cultural phenomenon. In place since the 1960s, the trucks drive around playing music, sometimes Beethoven. When residents hear the music, they know they need to come outside with their garbage. This is why Taiwan is so clean! And probably why we can't find trash cans anywhere... Those trucks run five days a week.