Days 42 and 43, July 13 and 14, 2009

I have put these two together in forward chronological order, because I think it makes more sense to read them this way. It was two consecutive days of walking, so this order captures that feeling better.

Day 42: Jaleshui to Kending

I arrived at Jaleshui, famous for its rock formations, around lunchtime on Monday, after the usual multi-modal transport thing. I got changed into my walking duds near the beach, then went to quickly check out the little surfer zone that has evolved near it, with cheap hotels, restaurants and surf shops.


Surfers in and out of the water

Back at the beach, I admired the fine view, but discovered that a deep river blocked progress. I’d been to this beach before, which has a river that flows up to it and often r drains under the sand, allowing people to walk uninterrupted along the beach. But it had been raining had a few days before, and water levels were high. So, I made my way back to the road, crossed over the highway bridge, and then found a small track running back to the beach. At the beach, I saw a stranded ship on the rocks at Jaleshui. It was the Colombo Queen, an oil tanker. It was small for what you might normally think of as an oil tanker, but was not really a small ship, being about 497 tons in weight and about 60 meters long. It seems that wind and current often contrive to run ships aground in that area.Unfortunately, I could only see the ship when it was out of range of my camera.

She's not shy!

Groovy houses in Gangqian

Rotting dolphin

I continued on through a small town called Gangqian, which was interesting enough, and then followed the road until the beach was walkable again. In the distance, I could see the big radar ball at Longpan, and the cliffs below it. In the foreground, there was a lot of sand, sloping up to the road high above. On one beach I passed the rotting remains of a cetacean, some kind of dolphin or small whale, which was putrefying nicely, and had clouds of flies buzzing around it. Thankfully the wind was fresh and I didn’t smell it.

Sandy slope

Curious cattle

Cow country!

Below the big radar ball there is a moderately steep slope covered largely in spiky succulents, interspersed with grass and mud. The tough plants in the area are probably the only things that can survive the cattle that range freely on the slope. These buffalo type cattle are not hard to find, and evidence of them is impossible to miss: muddy trails with hoof marks and huge cow pies!

I kept close to the coast at first, as it had a well-worn trail, and passed two small groups of cattle: one, a group of juveniles, and then later, a smaller group of adults. The juveniles were nervous but seemed very curious about me. The adults just wanted to be left alone.

After about 20 minutes by the seaside in cow land, the coast-hugging trail became impassable, and I had to climb upslope in hope of a better route. Sometimes it was easy, but at other times very frustrating. But I did learn one basic rule: follow the cow tracks! The beasts had penetrated the entire area so it was by following their network of routes through the thick and prickly vegetation that progress could be made. The only problem was that the cows were bigger, lower, and thicker-skinned than I am, so sometimes the way forward was not that comfortable.

In any case, an hour or so of determined slogging through this prickly plant and cow shit labyrinth brought me tired, sweaty and a bit bloodied out to the other side!

Cows have been here

Cow pies and mushrooms

The radar station at Longpan

Trails in cow land

A bright local fruit

Not such a great trail for people

Old stone hut

Colorful church

God's soccer ball

The southernmost point in Taiwan

I passed an abandoned building, and came to a beautiful small bay. The sun was approaching the horizon, so I didn’t linger, but followed a small track uphill, coming eventually to a small aboriginal village, with brightly painted buildings. I went through this to the main road, and then kept walking towards Erluanbi. Soon I was there, and took a small forest road to the island’s southernmost point. Along it, I saw some crabs, one of which showed an interesting defensive feature. When he saw me, he took a fallen leaf – which matched his color perfectly – in one claw and put it over himself, hiding very effectively. He did this in less than half a second, a very fast and deft move - too fast to capture with my camera! I stared at him and he moved off into the forest, seemingly aware that I had not lost sight of him, despite his camouflage.

At the southern tip, all was serene: lovely coral rock stretching to the ocean, cool blue post-sunset sky, a nice breeze, a lively ocean. I walked back to the road, and decided to hoof it to Kending. It was dark but I followed the ocean where I could. One beach had amazingly bright white sand, which made seeing very easy, even well after sunset! Then a fish port, then Sail Rock, and eventually Kending! The beer at Smokey Joe’s was nice and cold.

The Erluanbi lighthouse at sunset

Day 43: Kending to Nanwan

Morning waves on the coral beach east of Xiaowan

I was up at the crack of 10 the next morning. Outside, I could see the last remnants of rainfall falling from the sky onto the shiny streets. I got packed, and went to have some brekkie. Then, I went to the area just east of Xiaowan Beach, and took a cattle track to the coral coast.

A good way to keep firewood dry

Xiaowan beach


Dawan beach

Then, I checked out Dawan Beach, which in times past was closed to the non-paying public. There were lovely big waves sweeping in. I went back to the main road, as I couldn’t continue along the beach because the part directly in front of the Chateau Hotel is still private. I went back to the road and the journey west.

Sharp Peak rises above the town of Kending

One of the sites for the movie Cape No. 7


It soon got hot, and although the seacoast was lovely, I sweated like a pig in a sauna. After a few hours, I stumbled into Nanwan. The beach was hopping with parents and their kids on summer vacation! I took a shady break under a fruit tree, although buzzed by flies gorging on rotting fallen fruit. Then I took a bus back home.