(upbeat music)
- Hello, my name is Amanda and
I am one of the video ambassadors for
The International TEFL Academy.
So I teach English online full-time
and I move around Southeast Asia.
So right now, I am currently standing on the beach
in Da Nang, Vietnam, which is a
couple of blocks from my apartment, luckily.
But I just moved to Vietnam from Taiwan
and I was living in a city called
Kaohsiung in Taiwan for about one month.
So this video is going to show you
my top things to do in Kaohsiung.
Alright, hi guys we are coming to you from Kaohsiung.
So we've been here about three weeks now
and we have done a ton of traveling.
So we wanted to show and tell you guys
the top six things to do in Kaohsiung.
Before I mention the top six things, I will say,
if you are coming to Taiwan and just doing
a whole Taiwan trip, you can do all of these things
in a matter of, uh, maybe three days.
Maybe more comfortably four to five.
But I really wouldn't recommend
staying in Southern Taiwan any more than that.
There's so, so much more to do in the North,
in the surrounding areas of Taipei and Taipei itself.
So with that, let's get started.
- Okay, so number one is Monkey Mountain.
Monkey Mountain is a really cool place
to just go for a hike, and I would probably say
we saw more monkeys then we thought we would.
- Oh my god, so many.
We ended up hiking for like almost three hours
and it was actually a pretty decent little hike.
(walking, wind blowing)
Okay so there are monkeys everywhere on the path.
And we thought like, 'oh Monkey Mountain
maybe there's a few monkeys, hope we see one'.
No, they are literally everywhere and
they are huge and they just sit on the path here.
Okay, so the number two thing to do in Kaohsiung
is the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas.
These are one of my favorite things to do here.
This was actually one of the things that we'd
seen pictures of like on Instagram and blogs
and stuff and were like, 'oh my gosh,
where is that, I have to go there'.
Definitely, definitely worth visiting
even if you're just like passing through Kaohsiung.
Okay so we're at Lotus Pond, so excited,
I have been waiting for these.
(Oriental music)
So to get to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas
we have to go like on this zig-zaggy path.
(Oriental music)
- So number three would be Ruifeng Night Market.
There's actually another night market here
that I think a lot of people go to.
It starts with an 'L' and is
called the tourist night market.
This one is way more local, it's a little bit bigger,
and it has one of my favorite layouts
of a night market I've ever been to.
Plus it has some of our favorite foods,
which we are going to show you now.
Which we are going to show you now.
- This is like a Taiwanese sausage
and wrapped in glutenous rice, and then this one
has some really good like herbs and everything.
Brown sugar boba balls and then they soak the syrup
all on the side and pour the milk in.
So we've got a like potato swirl and we got sea salt on it.
(street noise)
Okay, number four is Fo Guan Shan Monastery
and Buddha Museum.
So, besides the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas
this would be my absolute, absolute
must do if you're coming to Taiwan.
- Yeah, this list is no ranked, by the way,
these are in no particular order.
- Yeah.
- Because this would probably be my number one.
- This would be my number one, for sure.
We actually spent almost an entire day there.
You could make it a little bit quicker
but there is a huge, huge campus
for the big Buddha and then there's also, next to it,
a huge, huge campus for the Monastery.
So lots and lots to explore and we'll just
let the pictures and videos do the talking.
(soft Oriental music, birds chirping)
Wow, this is so cool.
So I don't know if you can fully see,
but these pagodas here, on the side of them are just
all of these boxes with mini Buddhas carved into them.
(upbeat music)
- Number five is Kenting Beach.
So Kenting Beach is actually also a National Park
at the Southern point of Taiwan.
It's known for having really amazing beaches
and some really cool hikes all around.
- Alright so we just got to Kenting and it's so windy here.
We're only here for about 24 hours though
so the best thing to do is rent a scooter
and you can drive up the coast
and there's a bunch of stuff to see.
(wind)
(street noise and wind)
Alright so I just got some fried chicken,
I'm so excited it has onion and scallions on it
and all the fried chicken in Taiwan
is made with potato starch so it's gluten free.
The sixth thing to do in Kaohsiung is Cijin Island
and this is the closest thing to do to Kaohsiung.
So it's this little bitty island, honestly it looks
like a football field away from the mainland.
But it's super easy to get to, you can just
take a ferry over there and everyone rents bikes
when you go over to the island.
And so there's a few different little art installations
throughout the island that are fun to go see and there is
a lighthouse and a fort and just some pretty scenery.
You can even bring your swimsuit
and go enjoy the beach as well.
So yeah, we'll show you that one.
- I mean look, air conditioners on the side of the building?
Nope, just a really long turtle.
- That's so cute.
(background noise)
Okay so we just got off the ferry and rented our bicycles.
Great view of the island and then
this over there is Kaohsiung.
(waves crashing)
Okay, so I hope you liked seeing some of
our favorite things to do in Kaohsiung.
I hope this is going to help you plan your trip to Taiwan.
Or maybe you just like seeing a little bit
about what it looks like here.
So keep watching for more videos
and don't forget to subscribe.
Thanks, see you later!
Thanks for watching, my name is Amanda
and I'm one of your ITA video ambassadors
for Southeast Asia.
See you later!
(upbeat music)