Skylar's Travels: 一步一脚印，发现新台湾 (Day 7)

Go-karting, paintball in 垦丁 and back in 台北

The next morning, after having a good night's sleep, we packed our luggages and bags before leaving 垦丁 in the afternoon. We would be going back to 高雄 for transit and straight back to 台北。After depositing our stuff at HI counter, we set off for breakfast and some fun-filled activities.

Last pictures of HI on our way out:

Geese found outside the hostel:

Waiting for public bus outside the hostel:

A cabby stopped by and he's willing to bring us around 垦丁 the whole morning for a fee at NT300 (about S$15)which was pretty ok. The cabby took us to the go-kart area at a distance away from HI.

The go-kart track:

It was pretty fun riding the go-kart round the track. Although the track doesn't look too big, it was pretty thrilling at certain points when you made too sharp turns at high speed. The car itself was very easy to manoeuver, but minor mishaps can happen. Like me crashing into the tyres and causing them to overturn onto the next track, and luckily i was able to brake in time to avoid crashing at a high speed. And LW and DC colliding into each other, and causing one of them to turn in opposite direction. Overall, it was a very fun experience!

A group photo of us after our round:

LW being funny:

Some individual shots:

We left the go-kart area and went off for some paintball game. On the way, we saw beautiful scenery by the beachside and thus we requested the cabby driver to stop for us to take some photos.

A stone that reminds me of some Hollywood actor (Jack Nicholson?):

One of my favourite photos taken for the whole trip:

Lotsa greenery found on the coast:

Weather looked very gloomy then. Lucky it did not rain:

Image of 大尖山 captured on the other side of the mountain:

After taking some very nice shots, we went to a secluded area for paintball game. It was pretty much like a war game, and we divided ourselves into guys vs girls groups, vying against each other.

Pictures taken before we started the game:

The instructor, also a 少数民族, taught us how to use the gun, such as how to load the paint darts into the gun, check the safety valve, how to aim etc. We were allowed to practise at the shooting ground before we went onto the actual "battlefield". There were 3 rounds to our game. Each of us were given 100 paint darts before we start. The first round was at the grounds with boxes stacked as "shields" for us to hide behind while aiming to get the opponent group. After 10 minutes or so, the girls emerged as winner for the first round, as we had less paint stains than the guys, hehe.

In the second round, we moved to the forest area, and the girls played the role as defenders and the guys were the attackers. The aim was to secure our flag pole, and to try to get down as many opponents as possible. Here, when somebody was shot, he/she must leave the battle immediately. It was more fun here as we had a great laugh getting the guys down while hidden. But we lost in the end after LW managed to get the flag.

In the third round, it was fair play, and we were no longer grouped. The aim was to shoot at anyone you see, and we would play until all our darts were used up. I think most of the time my gun acted as my shield also as i notice that my gun was smattered with paint all over after the game. Some of us also sustained minor bruises on our limbs where we were "shot" at. I felt the power of the shots were rather great, and seemed very real.

We left the place and went for some lunch. We spent the last hour or so walking along 垦丁大街 and having some dessert before we went back to HI.

After that was a sad journey back to 高雄, as we had all truly enjoyed our stay in 垦丁, and wished we had more time to explore the area. the same private bus that brought us to 垦丁 came to fetch us from HI, and we spent a couple of hours on the bus chatting about miscellaneous stuff. After reaching 高雄左营 station, we bought tickets to travel back to 台北 via 高铁。The trip took us about 1 hour plus as well.

By the time we reached 台北 it was about 7 pm and we checked into Hostelling International Taipei for the last night in 台湾. After unpacking out stuff and bathing, we went out to meet LW's taiwan friend for dinner and some catching up. She had also helped us to buy some 黄梨酥 from a famous old store in taiwan. We went to a ramen shop for dinner/supper, me and HM shared some grilled fish as we were not very hungry. It was funny to see WL eating a bowl of 麻辣 ramen as his whole face was red after finishing his bowl. I think the 麻辣 level was only medium, and it was really spicy already, what more the most spicy one!

We went for some 泡泡茶 at a 茶馆 nearby. it was quite relaxing having drinks and chit-chatting with friends. LW's taiwan friend was amazed at the places we've visited over the past few days, and she had commented that she had never been to 垦丁 before, keke.

Some pictures taken: