Day 4 (Baisha Bay-Aquarium-Night Market):
On Day 4, we were already tired of previous days’ travel and so we got up a little late and had a good breakfast at the shop located just below our hotel. At about 10 a.m, we started to Baisha bay (white sand beach). It took us 30 min to reach where a board saying the names of Hollywood movies shot at this place welcomed us. We saw a lot of tents before entering the beach. It seemed like a good camping area and I added it to my bucket list to try camping here some day. We then proceeded to the beach, a very short walk. The sand here is whiter compared to other beaches of Taiwan and so it is called “White sand bay”. The beach was really beautiful and the colour of the water was vibrant blue . The clean blue colour of the water along with the white sand of the beach made the place look soothing. There are activities like banana boat, water skiing, sand biking etc., We ordered some drinks and just enjoyed the beach view for sometime. Later, we played at the beach. The water was very clean and it was fun playing in the beach. Swimming is also allowed. Later, we proceeded to visit Kenting aquarium, about 20 min from baisha bay by road.
The Kenting aquarium welcomed us with a huge fish-shaped building. We puchased tickets (Adult:450, Student:250, car:50) and entered the aquarium. There is a pool with whale statues at the entrance. Honestly, I felt I had wasted the money at the sight of this pool. But the actual entrance is to the left side about 200m far. A similar artificial pool with whale statues lies at the entrance. That’s where you enter the aquarium. It is quite large with 4 sections: 1. Waters of Taiwan, 2: Coral Kingdom, 3:Waters of the world, 4: Polar region. We started with waters of Taiwan, where the ocean life around Taiwan is explained. Apart from the beauty, one can learn a lot about marine life here. Waters of taiwan is so-so with super large fish tanks and wall sized tanks. Once you enter the coral kingdom, you will feel the real beauty of underwater life. One will be amazed to learn about coral reef ecosystem. With is diverse colour and structure, coral reefs will never fail to attract anyone. As you proceed, the tunnel tanks appear which is a truly wonderful experience. There are two large tunnels with marine creatures floating above your head. That’s awesome!
After the tunnels comes the sunken ship, where a sunken ship is renovated to create an actual effect of a sunken ship and many aquaric animals are featured all over the two decks of the ship. We got out of the building to go to the next place and was attracted so much by the sea-view that we stopped for a while to enjoy the view and later went on to another building to visit the wates f the world section. This part xplains how different oceans of the world formed, how the marine animals evolved over time and various underwater tunnels with large whales. There is a big fish tank which is three floor high – the main attraction of waters of the world. The Polar region sections. Kept at near-zero degrees featured penguins. Not just one or two but a loot of them. I have seen so many penguins all at one place for the first time. One needs atleast 4-5 hours to spend at aquarium to fully understand and have a visual tour of marine life. I realized how I dint know a thing about marine life at all when I came across so much information in this aquarium. This is a must-visit place in Kenting.
It was late evening and we stopped at 24 hour beach of Kenting, the south bay recreation area which was on the way to our hotel. It is much commercialized place at the center of the town with a lot of shops, food court lining the beach. There is a big gallery on top of the food court. If you want to visit a beach after the day turns dark, then this is the best place. Later, we came back to our room and rested for a while before we hit on the kenting night market for our dinner. Kenting night market is really a long one, about 1.5 km long! Like any other night market of Taiwan, one can find tons of food shops, footwear shops and clothes. Apart from that, I found many shops selling beach sandals, beach dresses and coolers. Grilled fish is a must-try! Apart from that there is nothing special about this market. But if its your first time to visit a night market in Taiwan, then you will love it. For others who have been to Taipei night markets, this is not very attractive. After dinner, we walked back to our room.
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