I arrived in Kenting, Taiwan to a sweltering temperature along with a stifling humidity. No worries, and although I didn’t know where my hostel was it turned out that I only had to walk about two miles with my two packs in an estimated temperature of about ninety-four degrees. It’s all good. :) I wasn’t really in Kenting the city, but in Hengchun City in the territory/state of Kenting. Kenting is like the resort place in Taiwan with lots of small shops and cafes all catering to the tourists that arrive to enjoy the many beaches.

Hengchun was nice. It was a small city about 10 km away from Kenting, that is trying to be the next best thing to Kenting so there is kind of a touristy feel to it. I was booked for three nights and seriously thought about staying longer. As noted above, it was very hot and humid and at times it was uncomfortably hot which made me think that I’d look for somewhere else. The hostel was situated at the end of a road right next to a small jungle. It was comfortable and laid back so I was enjoying my time there.

The second day there I decided to rent a scooter so I could actually explore Kenting and the many beaches that were nearby. I slathered as much sunscreen my skin could absorb, donned my helmet, and fired up the scooter and in no time I was whizzing down the road on my way. Did I mention it was hot?

I didn’t stop too many times, but I stopped to take photos a few times and even stopped to dip my toes into the ocean at a small deserted beach just off the highway. In general it was a good time, but would have been great if the sun hadn’t been so intense.

I was on my small adventure for about six hours and was ready to call it a day when I pulled up to the hostel. I felt good, like I had accomplished something memorable so about the only thing left to do was to take a break in the shade. I set my backpack on a table in the courtyard outside my room and heard a hiss or maybe it was a growl on my left. It was one of those sounds that is loaded with danger and kind of startled me, I stepped back and looked over to see about two meters away from me a black cobra with it’s hood flared out looking at me but also trying to move the rest of his body away from me as well. I kind of froze for a second, not sure what to do. I knew that I wasn’t really in a lot of danger because the snake was trying to get away, but on the other hand, it was a cobra…in the wild. I looked around and saw a guy sitting on a couch through an open window and asked/urged him to come over. I had to tell him to hurry and when he got outside all that was left of the snake to see was its tail disappearing behind a sheet of plywood. I asked if he had seen it, but since his English wasn’t very good I’m not sure of his response.

Later I talked to the guy that works at the hostel to tell him about the cobra, and his answer was, “I’ve never heard that before.” What? I mean, What?! I don’t know if he didn’t believe me or just didn’t care, but his lack of concern was disturbing. I couldn’t sit down for a couple of hours, partly because of adrenaline and partly because I was worried that the cobra would come back.

Although my encounter with the cobra was unsettling I wasn’t ready to leave Hengchun yet, it was only when my computer started to have problems. The battery wouldn’t charge and I was kind of starting to panic that I would be unable to use it. So at the end of the third night I headed back to Taipei to see if I could fix it or to find out what exactly was wrong.