I tried to go dolphin watching but my first attempt was foiled by a money-greedy taxi driver in Hualien (who I finally ditched although it meant I had to walk for 8 km in the heat after it had rained so it was very humid as well). The second time in Taitung (Taidong) was stopped by a sudden rainstorm that hit as the boat was leaving the harbor. When I finally got out on the ocean to see the dolphins the next day, I learned the very hard way that I get seasick. It was the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life and by the time we got out far enough into the ocean to see the dolphins and the whales I couldn't stand to open my eyes. Then there was the lovely police raid in Taitung just as I was chatting up a cute New Zealander and the huge dangerous waves when I went to visit the beaches of Kenting. And how could I forget about all of the rain.
After nine days I called it quits and headed home cutting my trip short by a full 7 days. I picked it up again for four more days, this time revisiting Kenting when it was nice (and the beaches really are gorgeous if you ignore the litter) and then to Kaohsiung where I was given tours of the city by a special friend. I met lots of great people like Louis, Stella and her three beautiful children, Uncle Dong (as in Taidong where I met him), Teresa, Andrew, Marco, Garth, Lindsey, Dempsey and Felice, and all (sorry if I forgot your name in this brief list) which made up for it and Taroko was more gorgeous than I had ever imagined, thus I took four rolls' worth of pictures in the day that I spent there. Please feel free to peruse my photos. The explanations appear when you let your pointer rest on the thumbnails.
