Today was supposed to be a beach day… emphasis on supposed to 😭 we rolled up all excited, sunscreened and everything, but because of a lil typhoon pulling up uninvited, we could only be on the actual sand for like 2 minutes before we had to dip. very rude. BUT shoutout to our 🐐 bus driver terry for saving the day with coconut drinks. They were so good i forgot the beach betrayal for like 20 minutes.
Since the beach said no, we rerouted to a cute little street in kenting and got to walk around + eat lunch for an hour. I ended up chilling in a 7/11 once it started raining and by the time I finished my food, the rain had cleared! during the walk i saw some cows just out and about 🐄 and met the sweetest soaked stray cat 😭 i wish i had something warm and dry to give her, poor baby.
Once the rain started back up, we hustled into the bus and made our way to the Eluanbi lighthouse! we climbed the hill to get there but omg the wind was UNREAL. It felt like a mini boss battle. Umbrellas were bending, people were leaning into the wind... rest in peace to the fallen umbrellas 💀
We got to see the lighthouse and learn about its wild history. Eluanbi is the southernmost point of Taiwan and has some backstory. Apparently, shipwrecks kept happening there in the 1800s and the Qing empire got dragged into drama with the U.S. and Japan over it. So they built this lighthouse (with help from a British diplomat and an English engineer) but the local indigenous tribes didn’t take kindly to outsiders blasting up their land, so the lighthouse ended up being fortified and armed with cannons and soldiers 😳 like what!! It's literally the only armed lighthouse on the island.
After lighthouse lore we hit up longpan park, which had GORGEOUS views of the sea below 🌊 and of course, the wind was still trying to snatch our wigs. Everyone's hair got messed up, but it was fun.
We finally got back on the bus around 4:45 and because of traffic, didn’t get back to the hotel until 7. I flopped into a chair and zombied out on my phone for a bit before heading out for dinner. met not one but two extremely friendly cats 🐾 they followed each other everywhere and refused to be apart. literal soulmates. I love them.
After all the wind, rain, and cat blessings, I'm finally in bed. fully horizontal. goodnight world 🌌
I didn't expect today to become a mini deep-dive into colonial politics, but Eluanbi lighthouse is full of hidden history. it’s not just a cute white tower it was literally a geopolitical move. In the 1800s, the reefs and currents near the southern tip of Taiwan caused a bunch of shipwrecks, and when foreign sailors died, their home countries blamed the Qing dynasty for not “controlling” local indigenous groups. The Qing government, under pressure, built the lighthouse not just to help ships navigate, but also to show the world, “hey, we’ve got this part of taiwan handled.” The lighthouse was both a safety measure and a symbol of control.
Plus, they didn’t stop at building the tower, they militarized it. It had cannons, rifle ports, a moat, barbed wire, and even its own tiny army. like… it was basically a light-up castle. This little beacon had such a complicated past involving colonial tension, indigenous resistance, and international pressure.
It made me think about how places that seem peaceful now often have messy, layered backstories. And it reminds me that Taiwan, as chill and cat-filled and night-markety as it is now, has had to navigate a lot of external influence while trying to hold onto its identity.
In a way, that’s what makes Taiwan so unique. the fusion of cultures, the blend of resilience and hospitality, the ability to adapt without losing soul. And as someone who grew up in a country that often paints itself as the center of the narrative, it’s rather humbling.
