The thunderstorms we'd struggled for so long to avoid returned with a vengeance as we waited at Guangzhou airport. Boarding delayed by an hour, we sat on the runway for a further hour fearing a repeat of the fiasco in Hangzhou before a brief respite in the weather allowed us to take off a mere 2 hours late. Fortunately luggage collection at the other end was speedy and our cab ride into Taipei equally so. On arrival we went for a quick walk around a nearby night market, stopping for a few local snacks.

The next morning we headed to Taipei 101 to check out the city views. The second tallest building in the world (the tallest until a couple of years ago) promised spectacular views but it was a bit of a misty day so it disappointed slightly. It probably wasn't worth the hefty admission fee...even for the ice-cream beer floats they made up there. Plans to visit some local hot springs turned into an afternoon nap and in the evening we visited another night market. This one was in Shillin, towards the north of the city, and had a much greater choice of local delicacies. Amongst other things I had a dumpling-roll thing filled with some kind of hot meat stew and a whole squid, deep fried and diced to order.

The following morning we boarded a bullet train and headed to Kaohsiung for 3 days on the southern coast. The harbour city was a bit of mixed bag. Cijin Island, a short ferry ride away, was a disappointing beach town - with dirty beaches and littered water, the only thing memorable being a giant plastic crab guarding the sand...we didn't stay long! The port area itself and Love River were nice to walk around although the 'highlights' of Banana Pier and Fishermans Wharf didn't offer much in the way of things to do. After an exhausting day walking around in the blistering heat, Sizihwan Bay was a great place to watch the sun set with a few beers from the local 7eleven.

The hostel was near Taiwans second tallest building(Tower 85) and we attempted to go up to the observatory one day but were told it was temporarily shut due to the earthquake! That was news to us. We'd assumed the minute of swaying we experienced in our room earlier was something to do with the construction site next door, not the tremors of an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale!

The hostel neighbourhood was quiet so evenings weren't lively but we did manage to find an interesting restaurant nearby. Similar to the place in Hangzhou where we cooked our own food at the table, this one was an all-you-can-eat BBQ with small grills in the middle of the table. We ordered all kinds of meat - garlic chicken, pepper beef, salted boar, ginger pork and whole shrimp, to name a few - and some token veg and stuffed ourselves, finishing with toasted marshmallows. On the way out we passed a couple of freezers of Haagen-Daz which we hadn't realised was also included. Not wanting to miss out, we helped ourselves and scoffed a bowl as we stood on the stairs...the waitresses did not look impressed!

Whilst down South, we took the opportunity to visit Kenting National Park, a popular holiday destination a few hours away, with supposedly great beaches. We wanted to make an early start so the day before we headed to the bus terminal to scope out the route. As I approached the tiny information office, a door slid open to reveal 2 wizened old crones chinwagging the afternoon away. I figured it was unlikely theyd understand me or appreciate the interruption but my best confused-foreigner impression seemed to work nonetheless. Understanding the word 'kenting' the elder of the two ladies hauled herself up to join me outside and gave me exact instructions where to go...in Mandarin. Given my obvious confusion she then seemingly gave me up as a lost cause and wandered off to chat to other passengers waiting nearby. Just as I was about to walk off she returned having recruited a local who could speak English and translate directions for her. Nice people these Taiwanese!

The journey to Kenting was no less confusing. Two and a half hours into a two hour journey we were convinced we'd somehow taken the wrong bus. We asked the driver (who had already checked our tickets on boarding) and he bizarrely confirmed we were heading to the wrong place! About to step off but still unconvinced I turned in desperation to the remaining passengers and asked if anyone spoke English. Fortunately a couple of guys sitting nearby understood and were heading to the same place as us so told us to stay on...much to the confusion of the driver! Half an hour later we arrived. It wasn't quite the paradise we were expecting and the beaches were packed but it was a nice place to spend the afternoon relaxing. Sadly there was no snorkelling but the sea was nice and warm and perfect for swimming. We'd packed a few clothes in case we fancied staying but got the bus back early evening.

There was a great night market in Kaohsiung. Less touristy than others we'd been too, with rows of food stalls tightly crammed together, it's hustle and bustle gave it a strictly local vibe. Accordingly, the food was some of the best street food we'd tasted. I'd planned on snacking on as many different foods as possible but after chicken skewers, dumplings, sushi and spicy rice wrapped in chicken, I spied a stall serving sizzling platters of steak on sweet and sour noodles, topped with a fried egg. Despite the amount of food I'd already eaten, I couldn't resist and ordered a dish of that too!

On our final day in Taiwan we caught the bullet train north back to Taipei. After a quick look around Ximen, the district we were staying in, we went to the zoo for the afternoon. In the evening we headed to a few more night markets. The area itself was pretty seedy and the night markets were uninspiring compared to those we'd seen already but it was interesting to walk down Snake Alley - a street of restaurants infamous for skinning and chopping up snakes to be used in 'special' local dishes. Some of the restaurants had glass cages out front containing huge snakes but since there was no skinning or gutting going on I wasn't sure how much of that was just for show. That is until I walked past one place and watched as the owner casually strolled to a row of wooden hutches, stuck in his hand, pulled out a 5ft snake, bashed its head on the floor a couple of times to knock it out and then headed to the kitchen with it! Not surprisingly I wasn't even remotely tempted to order anything from there...