The Place of Many Names

 

Beauty Beach. 

    The place of many names: Xiao Liuqiu; Pingtung County; Lamey Island….there are more. We lie about 12 kilometers southwest of the Taiwan Mainland, about a 15 minute ferry ride. I left Tainan by city bus, 30 minutes to the High Speed Rail station. After a short ride on HSR I boarded the bus for the ferry terminal, this a one hour, comfortable jaunt south. The ferry dropped me at the little port area that is packed with places renting scooters. I decided to walk, 24 minutes in the heat to my hostel in the middle of the island. That tells you how small this place is. 

I found my digs with no trouble but when I got here there was no one to contact. My host wasn’t around but there were about a dozen elderly Chinese women who spoke no English. The grounds of this funky place are apparently also the headquarters of one of the myriad diving organizations on the island. As I passed their ‘office’ (just a flat concrete surface surrounded by surf boards and other water-fun tools) a guy gave me bare bones directions on how to find my bunk. Yesterday I got an Airbnb text from my host assigning me “lower bunk B” (hurrah). I found the door that the guy had indicated as my spot but it was locked. I knocked a couple times then tried some nearby doors but nothing was accessible. Yet again I was close to sanctuary without actually benefiting from my fifteen dollar/ investment. Finally a young Chinese guy materialized from my right and SLID the door open. It wasn’t locked, it just opened in a manner that thwarted the dumb Californian. 

It was hot here on the island, maybe not quite as hot as Tainan or Taipei, but still toasty. The bunkroom, once I moved inside, was, of course, freezing. Hostel guests in my experience like their spaces at nearly arctic temperatures. 

    After an hour’s rest I hoofed it back into the city that I’d traversed on my way to the hostel. I had developed a sore toe from all that walking in Tainan so I was limping almost as much as I was walking. This perambulating was getting old.

Venice Beach

Next morning after a shower I resumed torturing myself. . Someone told me the best beach hereabouts was “Beauty Beach”, so I headed that way. As always I fretted about getting too much sun, but this trip totaled less than 20 minutes so I figured skin cancer was not imminent. BB turned out to be delightful. The littoral was about 30 yards of white sand. Once in the water I tottered through another 20 yards of slick coral before reaching deeper water. There I partook of about 20 minutes of floating and general enjoyment of cool water. The downside of my constant dietary fasting is that I often lack energy. Thus my time at BB was brief but lovely. 

Once I summoned enough energy to hike back up to the main road I determined to end my mobility problems. I searched Google for ‘renting electric bikes’ which yielded a prospect. I endured one more 24 minute walk before I found the shop and procured a vehicle. That allowed me to explore the west coast of Lamey. I had noticed “Venice Beach” on the map so that was a definite target. I got there about 15 minutes before sunset. It seems to be a thing for people to gather on the west coast to take photos of the stunning sunsets.

More Venice Beach



And, as a bonus, the temperatures — for the first time in my visit to Taiwan — moderated. It was almost cool as the yellow orb dropped behind some low clouds. Just coasting along on my bike, taking in the sites, and bathing in the cool breezes was worth all the trouble of getting here. I resolved to ask my host (I finally met him Tuesday night) for two more nights in Xiao Liuqiu. 


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