To spare my
phone battery, I wrote the following on the back of a map of Kenting I printed
out before my departure. A place I would eventually not go to. You start with a
travel plan in mind but after all the advice and suggestions from locals, also taking
in consideration the weather and your travel buddies, the plan can change a few
times before and even during your trip. You will need to make choices between
destinations, skip attractions and end up in places and see things you did not
plan to. If you cannot handle this kind of changes; you better book the Chinese
14-days around Taiwan bus tour.
I skipped
Kenting and went straight to Kaohsiung, a city that wasn't part of my initial
travel plan. I ended up going there because I just visited Orchid Island which
is very similar to Kenting in the following way: A lot of beaches, so great
sunsets and sunrises and both great places to dive. Since I experienced all of
that during my 2.5 days stay on Orchid Island, I happily exchanged Kenting for Kaohsiung,
the 2nd biggest city of Taiwan. When comparing Kaohsiung to Taipei,
I would say it is clearly less populated/busy and a couple degrees warmer than
Taipei. Kaohsiung is the place where you take a boat on the love river and
enjoy the city view at night, also the place where the national park is just a
walk away from the river where you are literally walking with apes and of
course a place where you can enjoy great and cheap seafood dishes. I was on my
way there, so this was the introduction I got from my local friends.
I said John’s
family goodbye and see you soon at the train station where our ways would separate.
They would head back to Taipei whereas I would take the train to Kaohsiung. Well
on time, I relaxed a bit in the station main area which wasn't big at all but
cosy enough and headed to the platform 10 minutes before the train would arrive.
While standing there with my huge back pack, waiting for the train to arrive, a man approached me...
He started talking to me, asking me where I come from and what I am doing in
Taiwan. His English was very good so it was easy to communicate. I told him
about my travel plans while he explained that he was working for the Taiwanese embassy
in the Netherlands. He’s Taiwanese from origin but after living 6 years in the
Netherlands, his Dutch was perfect. We continued our conversation in Dutch (I
think). He told me that his recent move to Taiwan has been a hard time for him
adjusting to the heat and humidity again but he was also happy to be back ‘home’.
He was on his way to a city close enough to Kaohsiung where he was going to
visit a military base. He was on a mission that involved guiding a few Dutch
journalists who were working on an article that involved much research into the
different military bases of Taiwan. He took the train alone because the
journalists were fine driving there by car. He told me that he has always been
amazed by the independence and courage of young Dutch women backpacking on
their own, finding their way and all. Even though I am not Dutch, I understood
his compliment and thanked him for it. Eventually, he ended up sitting in front
of me but he was so tired that he fell asleep when the train started moving.
It's these kind of encounters that make travelling alone so worth it. The fact is, wherever you go, you always have the choice to be as alone as you want to be. When you are feeling alone, open yourself up, dare to approach strangers, and turn them into your travel companions. Even if it's just for 5 minutes, it's another chat, another story to tell, another moment to share...
It's these kind of encounters that make travelling alone so worth it. The fact is, wherever you go, you always have the choice to be as alone as you want to be. When you are feeling alone, open yourself up, dare to approach strangers, and turn them into your travel companions. Even if it's just for 5 minutes, it's another chat, another story to tell, another moment to share...
During my trip, travelling
by train and bus often gave me the opportunity to catch up on my writing and so I did.