Spring Scream Dog
Trip Start
Apr 25, 2006
1
Trip End
Jun 20, 2006
Kenting, Taiwan
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Every year there is a music festival over 10 days down in Kenting, a beach on the southern tip of the island. About 5 stages are set up in a national park, and you can camp nearby if you don't mind being baked like a ham when the tropical 9am sun rolls around. A cute beach town is a walk or a hitchhike down the hill, and so it's a weekend of beaching, dancing, baking, and just general frolicking merriment. The crowd is made up of a mix of foreigners and the fringe folk of Taiwan, who are always a good time. It's a pretty conservative culture, so the kids who rebel are mad freaks for sure.
This year I head down on my own at 3am from Taichung. Didn't sleep so well on the bumpy ass bus down, and arrived in a daze at 8am. A Taiwanese guy helped me set up tent, but it was already too hot to sleep. Miss Jen and her man James found me laying beside my tent and we went down to the beach under a fabulously shady umbrella. The artsy crowd on the beach were so loud and obnoxious compared to normal, it was like a breath of fresh air.
Went back up in the evening and enjoyed some music in the bamboo shelter set up in the middle of the park. Very cool design. That night I happened to pass Boston Paul when he was in need of someone to film the band Boogie Chillin' for him, and helped him with that amd Milk. Before Milk, I saw this hilarious Japanese ska band with a woman in a bunny suit playing sax, a guy with kitten ears and a kilt on guitar, and a fat man in a fro, a diaper, and Elvis sunglasses on keys. Beauty. One person kept lifting his dog to watch, while another held her stuffed shark aloft the entire show. Afterward I met her and she said her name is Sharkey. Thus, the shark.
The highlight of the weekend for me was the Saturday night drum circle by the campsite. Very chill atmosphere with fire dancers, aborigional singers, and a sense of unity in the enjoyment of it all. After a timeless night, Paul and I walked to the center of the site to watch the sunrise, and I had a short but contented sleep.
Next day, Kristy and I took scooters down to the beach where Christine was after partying overnight on the beach. We had breakfast and head to a nicer beach, Bai Sha, a short drive away. When we returned we came across Greg, who had been asked to drive a nice motorcycle back to Kaohshiung and was loving the errand as an end to an obviously good few days.
I was well tuckered out by now, but stayed for a few more bands. On the way down I tagged along with a cool group of chicks heading back to Taichung. We were all knackered. I slept on the bus, got home and passed out for 10 hours. It was a fine weekend.
All of this is available in photo format at:
http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=41337398/a=10204462_10204462/t_=10204462
If you care to see last years photos they are here:
"http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=21755704/a=10204462_10204462/t_=10204462"
And if you want a slightly better piece of writing describing the whole thing, you can check out an article I wrote last year here:
http://www.fareastaudio.com/archives/05/04/more_on_taiwans_spring_scream_by_news.php
