Transplant yourself to Kenting, Taiwan’s Thailand

This was not the first time I had heard this advice regarding Kenting. On top of that, I love Thailand and we had some frequent flyer mileage waiting to be used; a flight to Bangkok would indeed be quicker than traveling by land to Taiwan’s southern tip; and it would, in our case at any rate, be cheaper.

Would it be better in terms of scenery, vibe and action? I figured that was a no-brainer; the Land of Smiles never disappoints; in fact, many teachers at my former buxiban refer to Thailand simply as “the answer” to most of their problems here. “Dude, Taipei got you down?” I can hear one of my former colleagues asking. “Thailand is always the answer.”

And yet I felt drawn to Kenting. It had been years since I took a trip down there and something told me that I would feel the vibe during the week, as opposed to the weekends, which I remember being similar to the Shilin (士林) Night Market with an ocean breeze. Furthermore, I wanted to see if it was possible to disprove my friend’s three points about Kenting being too far, to expensive, and too over-rated.

We started by taking the High Speed Railway from Taipei Main Station to Kaohsiung. After mingling with the other sophisticated travelers in the TMS departure lounge, we soon blasted off on a two-hour journey, roaring at lightning speeds through the tranquil west coast countryside.

The HSR is awesome. Clean, modern and almost as fast an airplane, we watched rice paddies, bamboo forests and small towns flash out the window as if through an old film reel. With nary an egret or magpie splattered on our glass, we arrived in Kaohsiung in what felt like minutes.

Seconds upon departing the train, we were approached by a van driver, who had us down in Kenting in a little over 2 hours. That’s Taipei to Kenting in 4 hours — quicker than the flight to Bangkok if you add in the time waiting in the airport. Check made.

Robert Storey, the former author of Lonely Planet Taiwan, wrote in the 1994 edition (the only one I have): “Kenting is Taiwan’s answer to Hawaii, the French Riviera and Australia’s Gold Coast” (p.226). Not exactly. And it is worth noting that Mr. Storey dared not include Siam on that comparison list.

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