Down South

We had a 3-day excursion to Taiwan's southern part, with my friend Vivian from Yuli. She's originally from Pingtung county, and took a lot of pleasure in showing us around the area.

We also got a taste of aboriginal culture. Vivian is from the Paiwan tribe. Near her village is a cultural and educational area opened by the government.

There we saw a museum, shops and some performances.

We even had an English-speaking tour guide! She was a university student on winter vacation who was volunteering at the center.


Later we stopped to see some fresh mangoes growing. Can't eat them quite yet!


The next day we headed to Kenting National Park, and spent the morning at the aquarium there.

Just before seeing this sculpture of a giant squid, we were entertained by an ice cream vendor. He did tricks with the ice cream as he was scooping it and giving it to customers.

After a delicious lunch and some shopping, it was time to hit the beach! Actually I didn't go down b/c I wasn't feeling too confident about trying to walk on sand.


But Dad and Zak had a great time playing in the water.


And Mom even got a little wet (though not intentionally) when a wave came up and hit their feet just before this picture was taken!

It was starting to get overcast and cool, and we had a 4.5 hour trip ahead of us, so we headed back to Yuli shortly after that, all feeling like we could have spent an extra day there.

After reaching the southern tip of Taiwan just past the halfway point in our trip, it was time to make our way back.... more in a couple of days!