Waiao Beach...Looks Like Hawaii, Drier Than BYU

Go here. 

Beach weekends are the best, especially when you're looking into the future (like me) and seeing no beach weekends. The Czech Republic is landlocked and cold, and will not be so inviting for tanning. Not like I tan anyway, so no huge issues.

Beachside temple of gorgeousness

We were luck enough to be recommended a tiny, unknown beach called Waiao  by some fellow teachers in Taipei. Somewhere between Taipei and Yilan, on the Pacific Ocean, is this tiny, black sand oasis that bears no closer resemblance to Hawaii than...Hawaii.

Hawaii? Only 3 hours from Taoyuan? How did we not know about this sooner?

Waiao is completely doable as a "show up and see how it goes" weekend trip. That's exactly what we did. First, we knocked on the doors of all of the surf shops to see if they had any vacancies, which they didn't, but they were more than helpful to direct us to other places. James wanted to stay in the Waiao Temple which is about 300NT a person (and in a temple!), but Chelsea and I were adamant about splurging and staying beachfront in the VIP room of the Waiao Beach House, which is run by Auntie Betty, who is fabulously accommodating and makes a full-on Taiwanese Breakfast (radish cake, dan bing, toast, sandwiches, fruit, coffee...holy crap it's AMAZING!). How to feel like an adult: Spend a night in a beach front hotel room in Waiao, and take a shower in the 8 person bathroom.

The beach nap, out of the sun!

Waiao is awesome because it's simple. You get off the slow-train onto a tropical, foreign platform. The station is nothing but a rickety ladder leading up to the tracks and down to the street, and the beach is directly across the street. And what do you do there? Lot's of people like to sit on surfboards and wait all day for the perfect wave, but if you're not a patient person, rent an umbrella, rent a boogie board and just chill. Look at the beautiful green hills and the parasailers coming down onto the beach. Look out at Turtle Mountain Island in the distance. Body surf in the gorgeous warm water. Wear lots of sunscreen.

And of course, the best lu rou fan I've ever had.

WARNING: Do you want your Waiao beach oasis weekend to include several to many beers? Well, it won't unless you like Taiwan beer in a can. It seems that there is no supermarket or 7-11 in Waiao, which means: no booze. Except for this fabulous Mom and Pop shop along the beach who sold us practically everything they have. So if you're going, and you want to pop a few can lids, bring your own from Taipei and then find some ice.

I am a lucky girl.

(And now you can be, too!)

Destination: Penghu!

Penghu: the Hawaii of Taiwan. Or is it the Hawaii of China? The Hawaii of Japan? Oh heck, it's an island (or collection of), it's tropical, it's hot, and I give this weekend destination 4 out of 5 GOLDEN CAITLIN APPROVAL CUPCAKES. I think it's time we moved on from stars and thumbs and embrace what really matters: baked goods.

And I thought Taiwan was all smokestacks and milk tea waste!

This weekend is Dragon Boat Festival weekend. The story goes that a depressed Chinese poet in exile jumped into a river and people tried to paddle out to save him, but alas: he was gone. This weekend, we celebrate the holiday of the suicidal poet, and we get Monday off!

James and I have been trying to get away for a while, so we booked tickets to Penghu last week, knowing that we would leave on Sunday morning and fly back Monday evening - a short trip, but long enough, and all we could find considering its a remote destination where you can only fly in and out (or ferry) from a select few origins in Taiwan.  

Penghu, we read, is famous for a few things: relaxing holiday destination for Taiwanese, sea turtles,  coral beaches, brown sugar cakes and cactus. Oh yeah, wild growing cactus that gets turned into juice, mochi, and of course, ice cream, which really is the best stuff going. It stands right next to Tucker's Zinfindel ice cream, at the top of my "You need at least a cone of this a day" list. How could we resist?

You need at least a cone of this a day.

Sunday morning: Bus to the airport at 6:00 AM. Arrive at the check in counter to check in early, only to find out that James had booked our tickets backwards and effectively, we had no tickets to Penghu on Sunday - we had a ticket to Penghu on Monday and a ticket to Taipei on Sunday. (James later admitted he forgot you put the name of your origin first on the website, then your destination. It doesn't help that everything except the price was in Chinese.) FREAK OUT!

But this is Asia, land of beautiful and helpful-English-speaking flight attendants, and they quickly switched our tickets to some empty seats and within five minutes, we had run to the terminal and sat down on the plane right before they closed the door. It wasn't until we were in the air that we realized we had no flight back, but it didn't really matter. 

A quick plug for Asian airlines: they rock. So far I have used Mandarin Airways and Tiger Airways and they have been helpful, adorable, on time, and always give free tea. You go, foreigners!

Back to the story: arrived in Penghu at 8:00 AM to a burning sunny day. We had booked a room at the Penghu Breeze (last second vacancy) and this included airport pickup. James got off the phone with our ride and exclaimed "Wow, she's awesome. She has such great English!" It turns out, the liason for the Breeze is Ginger, American customer service extraordinare, and she also drives a mean stick shift diesel van. We really got lucky. 

A quick and painless scooter rental later and we were out on the road. We cruised into downtown Magong and were pleasantly surprised with the lack of people and the abundance of old and beautiful Chinese buildings. (I'm not going to lie, I thought Taiwan might look like this everywhere, but out here in suburbia Taoyuan, I think everyone is determined to modernize in an ugly, funky way.) Magong is adorable. There's a big seaside park with a temple, play equipment, grass, and stairs into the ocean where everyone can swim together in the bay. 

How often do you get to stay in one of these?

Pressing on: we drove the main road. We passed everything. The big tree, the windmills, the famous cactus ice cream shop (not necessary, they are everywhere.) We had lunch in a side-of-the-road shop, because honestly, Penghu is not crawling with restaurants. They are far and few between, and if you see one, eat there. Because you will be hungry, like we were. 

It was when we checked into our awesome old guesthouse room on the beach that we noticed: whoops. 4 hours and 2 applications of sunscreen wasn't enough. We were annihilated. We did damage to our skin that only 12 year olds can manage. Oh well. Aloe is cheaper than sunscreen, but that doesn't excuse our behavior. Kids, wear sunscreen, a hat, and an overcoat in the Penghu sun. You'll thank me for it. 

And being so sunburnt didn't make the beach as much fun as it could have been, although it was still incredible. I have been to the Caribbean, Thailand, Mexico and Hawaii and I have never seen ocean water this clear or clean. I have never seen a beach so moderately populated on a holiday weekend. In essence, it was beautiful. Some pre-teens asked me to take a photo with them. Even on Penghu, we're still novelties. 

The night was fabulous. It's been months since James and I have been able to watch a sunset, drink a bottle of wine, and do absolutely nothing. Penghu is good for this. If only we hadn't had to jump on the first flight out the next morning, on stand-by, we would have done it again...and again!

The Jist:

Go to Penghu. Just do it. It's less than $4000NT round trip. It's less than an hour from Taipei, and if you have to do it in 24 hours like we did, still do it!

Advice: 

Bring sunscreen and put it on every hour.

Bring mosquito repellent, mosquito coils, mosquito outdoor spray, and a mosquito net. There are billions of them, and they want you to remember your stay.

Drink water...and then drink wine or beer. It's a tropical island!

Bon voyage!