Cabin fever in Kenting: Summer 2017

The bus journey from Kaohsiung is about 3 hours and for the most part, uneventful.

We drove through Kenting as the bus station was on the far side, the whole town follows the main road and is about 400m long. I got off the bus and walked back to my hostel. I had booked into one of the only places in town, in the Kenting Space Capsule hostel. Most of the hostels in TaiWan are more like the Japanese capsule style, which i had been intrigued to try. By now though I was getting fed up of not being able to stand up in my room and spending the whole time either on or in the bed.

The space capsule was more of the same, but nicer. I described this one as being something that reminded me of a hobbit house. the room had a sliding door with space at the end of the mattress for bags and shoes. It was nice for a few hours but as this post goes on, my descent into madness becomes more and more obvious.

I left the hostel and wandered about for an explore and to find some food. The beach wasn't far away and I had noticed some smaller bar looking places on the front. Nothing is far in Kenting and everyone seems to know where everyone and everything is, getting lost obviously wasn't going to be an issue.

I get to bar, order and beer and settle in to watch the sunset. It is at this point I notice the beach is closed. I ask the waitress what is going on and if they will be opened again any time soon. She just smiles and says something about the typhoon that was expected sometime tomorrow. Perfect, I had arrived into the most famous beach area of Taiwan just before a storm that forced all the beaches closed.

As no-one seemed particularly worried or phased by the storm I didn't really think anything of it. I sat on the deck for a few hours and then headed back to the hostel. By the time I got back, they had taped the windows and stocked up on bottled water and instant noodles. I was sent to the local supermarket to do the same and told I most likely wouldn't be allowed to go out tomorrow.

I spent a total of two days in the hostel, going stir crazy. There were only three other people in the hostel, two American girls and a French girl. Between us we did our best to keep occupied but it really was dull. We watched whole seasons of TV shows and played hours and hours of cards. Eventually the staff came and found us with news that McDonalds across the street had reopened and they were going to order something. A 400y order was placed and we all sat on the floor in reception feasting on nuggets and chips. This was the most interesting and entertaining thing that happened in my whole trip to Kenting. Needless to say, I will most certainly be going back!

I was offered a  seat on the first bus out of town back to Kaohsiung which I jumped at. A few hours later I was dripping on the mat in a hostel in Kaohsiung. There was food other than instant noodles and McDonalds and other people to talk to, bliss.

Regardless of the slight hostage situation, Kenting looks beautiful and it will stay on the top of my 'to return to at a later date' list. fingers crossed for some better weather next time though.