HengChun 恆春 & Kenting 墾丁 (Day 1)

Escapade to "Eternal Spring Town 恆春", the southernmost township in Taiwan

First time wake up so early in Taiwan, 0600 19 Nov 2011... Get myself ready and cycle to nearest KMRT station SiZiWan O1 西子灣 and take MRT to Kaohsiung train station R11 高雄車站. Get down MRT and walk straight to Ptbus station 屏東汽車客運 which is beside Kuo-Kuang station 國光客運 and near to Main train station. Buy return ticket to HengChun 恆春 cost 500NT$ which is open return (return any day and time). One way ticket cost 278NT$. 

Board bus 9188 which use highway 88 and is faster. Journey take around 2hours. Along the highway 88 will see betel nut farm along the road  

Bus stop outside 7/11 store at Heng Chun and have no idea where to walk and walk aimlessly following most crowded area... which is wet market!! 

Luckily this small town have well directed sign board. First walk to the west gate 西門 where Cape no. 7 海角七號 is filmed, on the scene when the tour bus not able to pass through the gate. 

Plan to walk a circle from west gate - north gate - east gate - south gate - check in hostel. As walking toward north gate but can't locate it but arrive at east gate 東門 first. 

View of Heng Chun old street...

Then come to the north gate 北門... Can you see the moon??

look closely... its 1000 and the moon is still clearly visible... lol... The north gate is located in a rural area and facing mountain.

Then finally to the south gate... basically a roundabout is built around it so this gate is actually in the middle of the road.

Wanna check-in hostel but its not open and call the owner and she say she will not open till noon so she ask me to rent a scooter across the road at Witchery Ider Cafe 魔力点子 (same like malaysia and singapore one... its franchise)... 

so rent a scooter for 700NT$ for 2days else 400NT$/day. it is highly recommend to rent a scooter to ride around Heng Chun and Kenting as all the tourist attraction are located far away and by taking bus is highly not recommended as only have one local bus service by Ptbus, http://www.ptbus.com.tw/

First stop is at Longluan Lake 龍鑾潭 (free entrance)... this is a nature center where migratory bird will 'pit stop' or rest during the harsh winter up north at China or Russia... it has a big observatory building with many many spotting scope provided free to observe birds. 

The scenery here is just marvelous and speechless with grass, lake, mountain and clear sky view...  

 

The next stop is Guan Shan 關山 (free entrance)... is best for sunset and aerial view of the area. Climb up the hill overlook the sea and there is a temple beside it.  

Coastal view from top of Guan Shan...  

Ride southward and arrive at Baisha 白沙... sandy white beach with lots of water sport activities and umbrella rental is available...

There are restaurant and pub by the beach where foods and drinks can be purchase... there are many caravan type room for rent by the beach.

Further down south is Maobitou Park 貓鼻頭公園 (entrance fees)... does it look like cat?? i dont see it... 

Then further away is Houbihu 後壁湖... where many angler fishing sea water fish can be seen. Even thought it is clearly written reserve zone but no one seems to bother  

Acrophobia or people who fear of height should avoid near the cliff or bank as it face straight down to water and splashing water. 

From Houbihu can get a few clear nice shot of the nuclear power plant and wind power plant nearby. 

Houbihu fish market is where all the fisherman will land their catch of the day and sell it to middle man or by bidding. Fishes here are so fresh that you can see their lively and crystal clear eye. 

This sword fish weight 150kg!! have to be lift by crane from the fishing boat. 

 Fishing boat with harpoon to catch sword fish.

Few step away from the fish market is where all the yacht will stop and farther away is the wind power turbine station.. 

As the sun is setting down and my scooter petrol had run low and blinking at 'E' i start to worry as the nearest petrol station will be at Kenting 墾丁 which is around 8km away. I quickly ride the scooter up and downhill to the petrol station.

 

After feeding my little scooter with petrol its time for me to grab some food from Kenting night market which is open every night. 

 

After having my dinner at night market then ride back to Heng Chun which is 15km away to check-in my hostel. My accommodation will be The Surf Shack. After having a bath and rest for awhile. I am out again, now to Chuhuo 出火 which means releasing fire.  

The fire which is fueled by natural gas that rises through cracked mudstone under the earth’s surface. It can be seen year-round and are best-viewed during the dry seasons and at night. 

At the area there will be vendor selling fireworks, drinks, foods, popcorn, eggs... popcorn and eggs can be cook with the fire :) 

My Day 1 trip by scooter from Hengchun to Kenting... Total distance traveled is around 50km.

Overall route :

Kaohsiung 高雄 - HengChun 恆春 (A) - Longluan Lake 龍鑾潭 (B) - Guan Shan 關山 (C) - Baisha 白沙 (D) - Maobitou Park 貓鼻頭公園  (E) - Houbihu 後壁湖 (F) - Kenting 墾丁 (G) - Chuhuo 出火