Down in Tainan

Taiwan cycle, Day 9

2010-04-10T11:25:00.025+08:00

Jilong to Hsinchu
Not much can be said about this day expect it was wet, windy and cold, definitely a bad combination!
The northern part of Taiwan looked bleak and miserable under a grey sky. All we wanted to do was hit the most northern point of Taiwan and then as quick as possible make our way south.
Unlike its southern counterpart that everybody knew, the most northern point of Taiwan was a mystery to most people, everybody seemed to have a different opinion as to where it was or no idea at all. After riding for a long time, unsure of which place it was, we decided that this spot with an old stone bridge seemed as good a place as any to declare as the northern point.

With the obligatory picture taken we quickly rode our way to the western side of Taiwan, we were desperately looking forward to having the wind with us. We cycled through the busy port of Danshui and over its big bridges, cycled along the north western coast, passed a huge nuclear power station and through many nondescript towns.
And yet even though the wind's direction did begin to change, the cold and the rain persisted, the only place that offered respite were the 7/11s.

So by the time we reached Hsinchu (well, a small town near there) we were fed up. We found a love hotel as there was no other place to stay. (On a small side note, the love hotel was amazing, great service, private garage, breakfast, a comfy bed and reasonable priced!)
After discussing it a great deal, we decided to call it a day and get a train home to Tainan. Yes, we didn't complete the loop, but that didn't really matter. I had a fantastic time cycling around (part of) Taiwan with Adrian and Andrea, saw some amazing sights and made a lot of great memories.

However, this was not the end of the trip, even though we didn't complete the loop in one go, a few weeks later we came back to Hsinchu (when it wasn't raining, or cold or windy) and did the final leg, which will be the last post of the trip.

Day 8

2010-04-10T11:25:00.016+08:00

Fulong to Jilong

We had high hopes for this day, we wanted to do a big cycle and get over to the western side of Taiwan so that we could finally have the wind behind us. That didn't happen. What did happen was the complete opposite.
When we left the hotel in the early morning, it was (still) raining and cold. Looking at the map there were two routes to Jilong, one along the coast, and one through the countryside. The coastal road looked a little longer and we figured the wind and rain would be worse, so we chose the country road. I knew the country road was going to be hilly as I had been in this area before, but we figured we had been on higher mountains, so it wasn't going to be a big problem.
At first the journey wasn't so bad, even though it was raining, the countryside and small villages were really quite picturesque.
Leaving the small villages, the road began to ascend, but not too far up I stopped at a police station to get some water. When I enquired about the water machine, the policeman barely took a look at me and waved me to the back of the room. He was too busy keeping the electric heater and TV safe from crime whilst reclined on the sofa, he made multitasking look so easy. I left the station with a slight pang of jealousy.

We continued cycling up, and up, and up. We couldn't see how far the road went as it was hidden in cloud, but we knew that Jilong must be near as the distance on the map was quite short. Jilong was near, there was only one problem, there was a very big mountain between us and it. The higher we went, the wind got stronger, the air got colder, and the rain got wetter! Soon we were lost in cloud. It didn't help that we wore sandals and no gloves; our hands and feet were freezing. When we reached the peak, we seemed to be the only ~~idiots~~ people up there. It really felt like we were atop a huge mountain. However, we were glad we were at the peak as we could now go down.
Going down didn't help, it actually made us feel a lot worse. The cold wind bit our hands, feet and faces a lot stronger.
After cycling a few minutes downhill, out of nowhere civilisation hit us with a bang. We found ourselves at the entrance of Jiufen old street, which was thronged with hundreds of tourists, all wanting to do what we wanted to do, get off the mountain!! There was an 7/11 at the entrance of the old street, so we all ran inside to devour whatever hot food there was. We could barely hold our drinks our hands felt so numb.
There were no gloves for sale at the 7/11, so we decided to buy some socks and use them as gloves. At the 7, we discussed what the plan was for the rest of the day. We were all cold, wet and eager to get warmer. So we decided to call it a day and go to the nearest city (Jilong) and get a hotel. Leaving the mountain was easier said than done, taxis, buses, scooters and us were all fighting for a space on the narrow road.

When we arrived in Jilong we checked out few hotels before we found one that was neither fully booked nor too expensive (thank you Chinese New Year!). After settling down, showering, and putting on warmer clothes, we headed out to get some food.
And yet even in warmer clothes, the cold rainy dampness of Jilong still managed to seep through our clothes and into our bones. I tried to do some sightseeing as Jilong seems like an interesting city with lots of cool alleys to explore, yet the bad weather sent me back to the hotel and has put me off from EVER going there again. I'm sorry Jilong, you had your chance and you blew it!

Taiwan Cycle, Day 7

2010-04-10T11:24:00.015+08:00

Nan'Ao to Fulong

I think the weather in this trip can be classed into days. The first three days were pretty hot and sunny. The next three days were cloudy and windy but generally dry. And then from day seven onwards the weather turned ugly. Along with the ever present wind, it was now rainy, cold and damp. And as you can see by the few photos I took, none of us really felt like stopping to take pictures.

Still, there were some interesting things in this leg of the trip.

After eating a measly breakfast consisting of a banana wrapped in toast, we left Nan'ao in the dark. We stopped off in Su'Ao to get a bigger breakfast. We didn't hang around as the town was ugly. The only thing that is memorable about this place was a dog that kept falling asleep standing up.
Cycling further north we passed a huge nuclear reactor that had a small town near it which probably served the people who worked in the plant. We stopped off here to get some lunch, big mistake! The food was mediocre and the restaurant was empty save us and three other people; a drunk girl, a guy making cat noises and a very old lady who looked like she wanted to die because she was stuck with those two. I am sure that living near a huge reactor is bad for the health.

As we were reaching the north eastern point, we stopped off to ask for directions to Fulong. A lady told us that there was an old railway tunnel somewhere behind us. So we could either cycle 5km around the cape, or take the 1km tunnel that cuts through the mountains straight to Fulong. The tunnel closed at 5pm and we only had 10min to find it. The tunnel couldn't be seen from the roadside, so we frantically rushed up and down small roads to find it. Thankfully we did.

By the time we reached Fulong it was getting late. yet we were still able to find a hotel. Two things about this hotel stick out, firstly, the shower door was frosted glass, so if you stepped too close to the door while showering, shapes could be made out!! And secondly, the room was so damp that water droplets were forming on the ceiling. Still, it was relatively cheap and the lady who ran it was very nice.

After eating dinner, Adrian and Andrea went back to the hotel room and I took a walk around the town to take some pictures. There was a small lantern exhibit in the middle of the park which was really amazing. Yet even the lanterns couldn't keep me out for long, the rain and wind soon drove me back into the hotel.

Taiwan Cycle, Day 6

2010-03-30T07:28:00.014+08:00

Hualian county to Nan 'Ao

This was the first official day of the Chinese New Year holiday. The night before seemed to be one huge party on the streets, with firecrackers going off throughout the night.
With the start of Chinese New Year, this meant that everybody would be leaving their homes to go to their family home, so the roads were going to be busy. Luckily, because we were going north, the traffic was quite light as most Taiwanese work up north but their homes are in the south, so at least the traffic would be going in the opposite direction.

A very early start in Hualian, and yes, I am holding toothpaste and a toothbrush in the photo. I forgot to pack them away.

This turned out to be one of the best mornings, the skies were clear and the sun was out. It was pity it stay like that the whole day!

After this picture, the mountains on one side of the valley began to grow smaller the closer we got to Hualian city; the East Rift valley road was coming to an end.
By the time we reached Hualian city, it was getting time for lunch. We found a bakery and got some cakes. The sugar rush was greatly appreciated.
Once we left Hualian, the only road we could take to go further north was the coastal road. I had heard a lot about this part of the coastal road; the Hualian to Su 'Ao section is a narrow two lane road that skirts along high cliffs, up and down hills, and through numerous tunnels. It was going to be an exciting leg!

One of the tourism information signs along the road went into the history of this road, I won't go on too much about it, but it did say that many people had died in the process of constructing the road. It's incredible that they were able to build a road along here, the rock is hard and the cliffs are steep.

At certain points along the road, we had to cycle through tunnels. At first, this caused us some confusion as at the entrance of the tunnels, it said no bikes allowed. Well, firstly, if no bikes are allowed, how could we go on with no other road available, and secondly, I don't think any of us were prepared to turn around. So we decided to ignore the signs and cycle through.
The tunnels were really exciting,

The line you see in the photo below is the road we had to cycle up, and it didn't just stop at the end of the photo. When the road turned the corner, it just kept going up and up. However, before cycling up, there was a tiny town at the base of the road which was full of people all grateful that there was a place were one could eat, rest, go to toilet, etc. We took advantage of a small shop to buy some drinks and sweets for the road ahead.

The clouds above me are a sign of the rain that was to come.

And with the start of the rain the plastic raincoats come out.

Taiwan Cycle, Day 5

2010-03-27T22:02:00.017+08:00

Today's entry takes place mostly in Taidong County. As we had cycled the Coastal road on a previous occasion, we now wanted to try the East Rift Valley road which connects Taidong city to Hualian city.
The East Rift Valley seemed to be where most of the produce for Taiwan is grown, we cycled by numerous rice, bamboo, corn and other vegetable fields.

As the name suggests, the East Rift valley takes us through the centre two mountain ranges. However, thankfully the road is mostly flat.

When you are hungry, there is no need to go into a 7/11 for a snack, there are plenty of roadside stalls that sell delicious fresh food. We bought some corn from this woman, who as I got talking to her, found out she was from Vietnam. She then offered us free of charge some sugar cane because as she put it 'we were all foreigners here'. Very nice lady, and very nice sugar cane!

Police stations are great, they offer free water, bike pump, and bicycle repair kit. And if you have a tent, you can camp on their grounds and use their shower and toilet facilities for free! These polic e men had to take pictures of each cyclist who used their station, so we decided to use this opportunity to also get a photo of them for our collection.

Taiwan Cycle, Day 4

2010-03-23T08:57:00.004+08:00

Now this will be a very short post.

When we began cycling, two things were immediately apparent. Firstly, the sun was gone, hidden behind cloud. This was a kind of blessing as it made the day a lot cooler. However, it also meant that sometime later in the week, the rain would come.
And secondly, we were riding into the wind, and we would be riding into it all the way north. We knew before we began the trip that the wind on the east coast would be against us, but I don't think none of us realised how hard it would be.

So, with the wind pushing against us and tired muscles that hadn't fully recovered from the previous day's cycle, we were only able to cycle a measly 30km. We reached Taidong city and gave up for the day.
We stayed in a hotel that we had stayed in the previous year. We all got showered and changed, found a curry restaurant, did some fruit shopping, and then headed back to the hotel to rest up.

These two pictures are photos of the destruction caused by Typhoon Morakot. The river had burst its banks and destroyed or swept away homes and part of a bridge. It is easy to forget that although the typhoon is over, the clean up operation takes months to complete.

This fruit is a mystery to me, the translation of it is 'Buddha head', but it kind of resembles chirimoya/custard apple. Whatever it is, it's delicious, and they are a local speciality in Taidong County.

Taidong city

Taidong is famous for producing the best fruit in Taiwan. A walk down 'Fruit street' is something to be seen, countless varieties of tropical fruits on sale.

Taiwan cycle, Day 3

2010-03-22T10:33:00.013+08:00

Kenting to Dawu, or 'from the southern point to the eastern coast'.
This was one long day, so long that I'll keep the writing part short.

We left the hotel before sunrise to make the most of cool air as it quickly got hot after sunrise.
First stop of the day was the southern most point of Taiwan which strangely enough was full of mosquitoes. Thankfully, I have learnt to NEVER leave the house without my repellent.

Cycling on, we passed by some cliffs that gave an amazing view of the surrounding area.

My favourite part of the day, second breakfast. After eating 'first breakfast' in our hotel room (fruit, yoghurt, cereal), by the time 8/9am rolled by I needed something a little more substantial, so a stop at breakfast shop for a tuna sandwiches with egg and a tea was essential!

Cycling through the hills we passed some great sights, plus we also came across this great looking lizard that you can see more of in the video.

The midday heat was just too much to take, so at first we hid in this little pagoda and chewed on some snacks. However, hunger was urging us on, so we cycled on through the heat to stumble upon an amazing little restaurant in the middle of nowhere that catered for cyclists!!

The manager told us that from her restaurant onwards, it was going to be a long uphill journey to reach the cross-island highway. She wasn't wrong.

We popped into the shop next to the restaurant to buy some snacks for the uphill journey where I was surprised to see an Axolotl kept as a pet.

The journey uphill was tough and hot and humid. However, the views were worth the toil.

Finally, after hours of going uphill, we reached the end of the 199 which connects to the cross-island highway. The rest area that was offered didn't really look particularly inviting nor open.

The moths were about the size of my hand, insects here are just bigger! Then one last photo from the top of the mountain before the journey down to the east coast.

And after a long day's ride there is nothing better than a filling and delicious meal.

I think I kept this write up quite brief! Quite the opposite of the video!

Taiwan cycle, Day 2

2010-03-03T23:33:00.011+08:00

Chaozhou to Kenting

This day was going to be a much simpler journey as we just had to follow the one road all the way to Kenting.
We set off quite early in order to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures.

As we cycled towards Kenting, each town we passed produced/sold a local product that is best suited for the area. There is the onion town, water caltrop town, squid town and in the photo below you can see hundreds of wax apple trees. Each town has many stalls each selling the same produce, so it's hard to imagine that people make a profit when the other twenty people next to you are all selling the same food.

By the time it was midday, the roads were much emptier as people were hiding from the sun. We also felt that was a good idea as the heat had become unbearable. The county of Pingdong is well known as being the hottest and sunniest in Taiwan, the winters are quite mild here and its pretty much possible to swim all year round.
We found a nice spot near a hotel that was along the beach to hide out in.

The nearer we got to Kenting, the smaller the mountains became and the closer the road got to the sea. We took a few breaks were we could find shelter as although the worst of the sun was gone, it was still pretty hot.

When we arrived into Kenting, I was approached by a woman on a scooter who offered a 'very beautiful room'. At first I just told her no thanks as Kenting is full of hotels so it is always a good idea to just go from hotel to hotel and check out the prices, plus, I wasn't in the mood to be pressured into a room. However, she approached me again and really emphasised that the room was 'very beautiful'. So i caved in and followed her.
Well, when we entered the room we were all pleasantly surprised, the room was amazing, three large beds, a wide screen plasma TV, they allowed us to put our bikes in the room, and they even washed our clothes, all for the bargain price of $1,200 or $400 a person (that's £8 a person!). Bargain!! A few days later and we would have had to pay around $7000 (around £140 in total!)

After showering and relaxing for a bit, we headed out to join the throngs of people that were slowly walking up and down the high-street looking at the night market. We had no plan to do the same, we were hungry! We headed into a very nice Thai restaurant and feasted ourselves till we couldn't eat any more. Once we had our fill, we began to browse the stalls until we had enough and sleep began to take over.

Cycling around Taiwan - Day 1: Tainan to Kaohsiung County

2010-02-20T23:07:00.022+08:00

This is going to be the start of a few entries about a cycle trip around the whole of Taiwan I did with Adrian and Andrea during Chinese New Year.
This had been something all three of us had been wanting to do for a long time as we had heard many positive reviews about the experience.
Before we left, we headed over to the Giant bicycle shop a couple of times to make sure our bikes were ready and we had all the equipment needed. So with a much lighter wallet (two inner tubes, one new tire, one bike light, a shirt and a bike pouch) we began our journey.

We had set ourselves a target of at least 100km a day, so the first leg of the journey was to get somewhere south of Kaohsiung city.
The journey between Tainan city and Kaohsiung is not very nice, its all pretty grim and industrial. The heat and the car fumes didn't make the journey any more pleasant!! So the aim was to just get past that as quick as possible.
By the time we got to Kaohsiung were were all getting a little hungry, so we stopped at what looked like a reasonable looking noodle shop and we all ate RaMen (Japanese noodle soup with other bits thrown in) with some fruit tea to go along with it!!

With lunch finished, it was time to get through Kaohsiung city. This took some time as we had to navigate through lots of busy streets with lots of traffic lights. However, I really like cycling through cities, even though there is a lot of traffic, they are buzzing with action and I like looking at all the building and shops (although this can also be kind of dangerous). And Kaohsiung city is a particularly nice city with wide, tree lined boulevards and modern buildings, plus, they have been making a big effort to create cycle lanes.

Once out of Kaohsiung city, the scenery starts to pick up and the traffic dies down. However, there is still a bit of road construction going on.

With the sun getting hotter, it was time for another break at a 7/11. And I am a huge fan of these places, the range of services they offer is amazing, from fresh brewed coffee to bike service stations, they are just great!!

We had planned to use the number 17 road to go directly to Kenting (at the southern tip of Taiwan). However, a bridge had collapsed (I'm assuming from last year's typhoon), so we had to make a detour inland to another bridge via a not very nice chemical/industrial park. The smell was not nice so we tried to get out of there as quick as possible. As this was not the planned route, we had t o stop a few times to check the map.

Once that was passed, it was time for a quick break at a petrol station. The men's urinals at petrol stations are usually like this, although there have been some without any doors.

As we were nearing our 100km target we decided to head for Chaozhou (Pindong County), so these are some of the shots along the way.

As we entered Chaozhou we pulled over to get some tea. While there, I asked the shop girl if she knew of any hotels in the area. Luckily, she did, and as she was just about to finish her shift, she personally took us there.

The hotel seemed quite dated, but the rooms were clean, so that was good enough for us.
After showering and changing into clean clothes, we walked into town to get some dinner.
We spotted some spring rolls which looked amazing, so we all ordered vegetarian ones. However, they ended up being a let down as the cook had added large amounts of sugar into them (why????!!!!)

Still peckish, we headed into a simple noodle/dumpling place where I ate a beef roll. That beef roll was my downfall as for the following few days I was was feeling the ramifications of it being badly cooked!! Adrian had suggested that this journey be called 'Toilets of Taiwan', there were that many toilets stops!

Here is a video of some of the sights from the first day

I also should point out that Adrian will also be doing a blog about this sometime soon, although his will probably include a lot more information. So click on his website Sesquipedaustralian (on the right of this page).

Yet another weekend in...

2010-02-01T21:10:00.011+08:00

Xiao Liu Qiu!!

How many times have I been here?!! Four, five? I don't know, but what I do know is that I still really like it. This trip is from November of last year, but only just got round to posting it.
This time I was accompanied by Lee and Natalia, which made the trip a lot more interesting as English, Chinese and Spanish were being spoken throughout the weekend.

Lee and Natalia

A fisherman had just brought in his load from the sea, so we took a peak to see what he had. He had quite a range of tropical fish, and also this fish with a long beak/nose which I have never seen before.

He also caught a very long and still breathing eel.

A flower that only blooms at night

Wedding

2010-01-19T07:41:00.005+08:00

At the end of this month, I will be attending my first wedding. Even though I have heard that some weddings can be somewhat rushed (go in, ceremony, congratulate the couple, eat, leave!) I am looking forward to this one as it is going to be a little different.
The groom, whom I take Tai Chi lessons with, is a Taiwanese guy who grew up in Japan. He recently returned to Taiwan to study Chinese, so we both communicate using our limited knowledge of Chinese. The bride is Taiwanese and so the wedding will have a mix of Japanese and Taiwanese guests. I also know that YiMin (the groom) has invited some of his class mates from Chinese class to come along, so it is going to be really interesting to see what language we use to communicate with each other.

I got really excited when I received the invitation with my Chinese name on it. The first three characters are my name and the last two mean 'Mister'

New Year Hike

2010-01-07T10:30:00.032+08:00

It seems strange that already a year has passed so quickly as last year's trip to Maolin still feels so recent. I have almost completed my fourth year here in Taiwan, and I was only meant to come here for one!

So to this trip, with the Joy girls, Noria and Elsie (from my previous job) we arranged to go on a trip to a hot spring. The guide we had is the same one as from when we went River tracing last summer. His website has lots outdoor trips, unfortunately it's all in Chinese!

We had planned to go to a hot spring in Taidong, but a couple of days before we set off, I got a call from Elsie who told me that the guide had told her that the spring we planned to go to had been destroyed and that we were now going to a hot spring in Hualian. However, to get to this hot spring we had to cross a river several times. The guide assured us that the water level would be knee deep, but it was best to put all of our clothes in plastic bags before packing them into our backpacks.

So on New Year's eve, after going to a Japanese restaurant with a couple of friends, and then straight onto a barbecue restaurant with a different group of friends, and then onto bar to see another group of friends, I went home at 1am to wake up at 4am.

So this is Noria, me and Elsie getting our ride at 4.30am. After a 6 or 7 hour journey to Hualian we begin to prepare for the hike.

With the other members of the group. As you can see, everyone except the two other guys were wearing long trousers.

At this point I must have realised that the water level was going to be more than knee high!

As many hikers go to this hot spring, they had set up ropes which proved really helpful when having to fight the current. As you can tell from my face, the water was cold, but it didn't deter any of us.

Being tall does have it advantages! Everyone was getting soaked, but I stayed dry waist-up.

Once we crossed the river the views really became amazing and made getting cold and wet worthwhile.

At this section, the current was particularly fast flowing. The guide told us it was best to jump in, but we were all rather hesitant as this was a lot deeper than waist deep and none of us really felt like getting soaked further as the sun was beginning to set and so there would be no chance to dry off.

This is Elsie crossing

And then Noria, who was not at all happy as she had gotten immersed up to her neck!!

After this section, there was another two hours of hiking, but none of us could really be bothered to take out our cameras, all we wanted to do was to change out of our wet clothes and eat some food.

So, skipping ahead, we reached the camping area which was a rocky section by the river. So first thing we had to do was to clear the area of rocks to set up our tent. We managed to get every rock out except this pointy one, which was far too deep and large to be moved.
Once our tent was up, we changed clothes and got ready to eat some delicious warm food. I was pleasantly surprised that our guides were able to cook up a feast which was delicious.

And after eating, I headed off to put my feet in the hot spring. Even though the water was hot, I wasn't in the mood to get wet again that day.
The area was covered in these tiny frogs which had no trouble dealing with the hot water from the springs.

After warming our feet, we headed to our tent to get some deserved sleep. However, that was not to be, right next to us a bunch of guys had set up a dining area for themselves and they had plans to stay up till past 1am (as one guy so kindly told us!). Thankfully, Elsie had brought some sleeping pills which worked magically. They worked so well, that we didn't feel an earthquake, nor did we really acknowledge a big crashing sound of a boulder falling down a few feet from our tent. We heard some commotion outside, but we really were too out of it to care.

The next morning, while waiting for breakfast to be cooked up, we all warmed our feet again in the hot spring.

The plan for the second day was to do a bit of river tracing and then to return to camp and chill out in the hot springs.
As we set off, we found that further up the river there was another hot spring, so we had a quick break in that spring. Actually, the whole area seemed to be one giant hot spring. People were digging their own holes which quickly filled up with hot water.

The following pictures are taken while making our way up the river.

And of course, lots of group shot are mandatory!

And these are our guides.

As this was a very picturesque area, everyone was busy taking photos. At this point I decided to have a quick lie down, before rejoining in the picture taking marathon.

Back at camp and time for lunch.

After getting cold and wet from the river tracing, we

So after bathing in the hot spring for a few hours, it was back to bed (more sleeping pills) and then an early start to go home. I don't think any of us took any pictures going back as we just wanted to get back to the car.

These pictures were taking once we had reached the car.

Wu Shan Tou

2009-12-10T11:36:00.007+08:00

This entry is a mish-mash of two cycling trips to the same place. Wu Shan Tou, otherwise known as Corral Lake (no idea why?) is a nice cycling distance from Tainan. So with the Adrians (Adrian and Andrea) we packed out packed our bags, loaded our bikes and headed off for the weekend.
The scenery along the way is not beautiful, but it is interesting. There are plenty of fish farms to be seen, but i find them to desolate. Cycling through small towns is a lot more enjoyable (even though traffic can be annoying) as they have a lot of character. Only once you get near Corral lake does the scenery become mountainous, before that, it is pretty much flat.

For snacks, nothing beats 7/11 for convenience and reliability, but when you want something a little more filling, it is always hard to know which place to eat at when you are in a new town (as there are always so many!)

The new 'Welcome to Taiwan' advertisement!!

There is a replica of Beijing's Temple of Heaven which is just very, very random. Inside seems to be some sort of tourist information area.

Back for August

2009-10-04T17:28:00.011+08:00

Wow, I have been slacking with my updates. I began to make this blog back in October, but have only just gotten round to publishing it now (December!) There are a few more updates coming, hopefully they will be done before the new year.

So as the title says, I went back to the UK in August for a month, and while I was there I even managed to squeeze in a few days in Italy to hang out with my sister.

These shots are taken are from and around Caorle (just north of Venice).

Fishing huts and then the brightly coloured homes Caorle is known for.

The town centre

And a few shots from around Venice

And now back in the UK.

My mum celebrated her birthday on one of the days during August, so friends and family came round for a barbecue.

Christian is practising his potion making ability.

While the grownups stay inside, the young 'ish' stay outside

Family and friends

And then over to my cousin's home who lives in Hereford, ...

who then took us on a speedy tour of Wales.

Devil's Bridge

New Quay, Wales

And then back in England.
Hereford Cathedral

Yes, I am sure there is a lot more to say about this trip, but I think I just prefer to show the photos rather than type a great deal of stuff.

River tracing

2009-09-10T23:31:00.013+08:00

River tracing is a sport in which you traverse up a river to get to a certain point, in our case, Liang Shan (cool mountain) waterfall.
My previous workmates had arranged the trip and so they asked me to come along. And so I asked the Andrews plus the sister who was visiting at the time to join.

At the start of the trip, I think the second photo looks a lot more true to nature.

We started at a pool in the river where the guide let us slide down some of the rapids. It was kind of bumpy and rocky so it wasn't as much fun as it seems.

Whilst making our way up the river, we came across a section that needed one person to give the others a 'push up'. I was chosen and normally I wouldn't mind. However, pushing up meant that I had to push from their bums, so what is the correct way to push Taiwanese girls (including your ex-boss) up if you haven't met them before???!!!

I had tried to push from various different places, but in the end, pushing their bums up was the best way. I am not too sure if the reaction of the girl in the second picture is that of surprise or embarrassment.

Wet and slightly cold, the warm noodles were greatly welcomed!

And the end of our hike was 'liang shan waterfall' which I think the guide said was around 30 metres tall. As it had rained in the days before, the waterfall was in full force which made it impressive to look at, but extremely hard to get close to, and even harder to climb up.

My gloves can just be made out from behind the downpour. Being there was pretty much the closest I will ever experience to being in a washing machine!

And then it was one last photo to finish off the trip.

2009 World Games

2009-08-16T19:12:00.010+08:00

China had the Olympics, but Taiwan had the 'World Games'!!!!!
And this is where everyone says 'What's that?!' I wasn't too sure either before, so I had to look it up, and what I found out was, the World Games hold all the competitions that are not yet ratified by the Olympics, but might be in the future. So, sports such as skydiving, rock climbing, fin swimming, tug of war, all have a place in the World Games.
And, as the games were being held in the next city down from Tainan, my friends and I figured this was too good an opportunity to miss.

Kaohsiung, and then the guys at the sumo arena

The sumo wrestling included both men's and women's competition. It was an open class competition, which means that all weights could fight each other, which is why you can see some big guys against slimmer guys. Not always did the bigger fighters win, as some were knocked out by smaller, faster adversaries. However, in the end, bigger was better!
First, the ladies category

and after the women's, .... the men's.

Some of the weight classes

At the 'Flying Dragon' stadium we watched "Ultimate" (Frisbee). At first, it was hard to get into the whole excitement of the game as I had never watched it before, so it was really hard to cheer for a team when you don't know what's going on e.g. Was that a point? However, by the end of the day, I really got into it and it turned out to be my favourite event to watch as the sport had a really laid back feel to it.
The first match we watched was the British one, and as it seemed that I was the only British guy in the stadium that was cheering for them, at the end of the game one the players came over to thank my friends and me. Even though team GB lost, they made a fan by showing their appreciation!

Ultimate disc

The wavy stadium cover, which looks great, but unfortunately does little to protect you from the rain and the heat (which Taiwan has lots of!!)

Another sport we watched were gymnastics, which included acrobatics, tandem trampolining, and run-and-jump-on-trampoline-twice-and-spin-and-flip (although this may not be its official name). I must say that these were the least enjoyable of the games as they seemed kind of repetitive to the untrained eye. However, I did really enjoy the acrobatics thanks to its 'unintentional humor' (blades of glory-esq), and the skill and strength of the guys!

Acrobatics

Tandem trampolining and the 'other sport'

Cycling the East Coast

2009-06-30T19:19:00.013+08:00

Wow, this is a blog I should have posted a few months ago, to be more precise, Dragon Boat festival (which I think was May!).

So my usual partners in crime (the Adrians) and I decided to go cycling for three days to the east coast!.
Getting there was probably the hardest part of the whole journey, as we don't have cars, we had to rely on public transport. Getting to Taipei was the hardest part, it involved having to dismantle and re-mantle our into large black bin bags several times (why didn't we think of cycling bags, I don't know!) and then carry them around Taipei in the middle of the night.
Anyway, we got a hotel, and then at the crack of dawn we got up and made our way to the train station. Luckily, the first train to Hualian had a special bicycle compartment, we bought the tick es and made our was to the ticket gate, where the gate man told he didn't think we would be allowed to bring road bikes on the train (the one with the bike compartment!), only folding bicycles were allowed. Anyway, after proving that when dismantled, our bikes were small, did he let us go through, only to find a whole group of guys with road bikes waiting at the platform!!

On the train, only two of our tickets had seats, so the Andrews took them and I sat in the bike compartment which was actually a lot of fun as I got to hang out with the other cyclists.

Arriving at Hualian, we discovered that Adrian's bike had a problem, so before we could start our adventure, we had to get that fixed. Once fixed, off we went.
The first road we went on was neither the coastal road (11) nor the East rift valley road (9). Instead, we had heard that there was a smaller, less used road between them, the 193.
This was a great choice, hardly any traffic, a few challenging hills and lots of farm and country scenery. At then end of the first day, we stayed at Fongbin, at the only hotel (is that too good a word to use?!) in town.

Day 1 - The middle road

Adrian and Andrea with their bikes!

Countryside along the 193 (which had some rest stops specifically for cyclists)

First Andrea...and the Adrian

The bath of the hotel in Fongbin (note the red bowl used to splash water on myself!)

Day 2 - The East coast Highway

After cycling along the mountains, we decided we wanted to see some sea, so we took the coastal road, and what a good choice it was, clear blue skies, a cool breeze and amazing ocean/mountain views!
As the previous night we stayed in a hotel, this night we wanted to go camping.
Along the coastal highway, there are quite a few camping stops, unfortunately, the majority are not marked on maps. We cycled a long way that day and asked quite a few people (most were not sure), but after talking to a policeman, we discovered that some police stations had campsites behind them.

Looking very happy to be by the sea

Group shot!

My can of 'P', and Adrian drinking my 'P'. He really did love my 'P'

A very big beetle (Taiwan is home to many species of beetles), this one is called a 天牛 (tian niu), but have no idea what that is in English.

One thing you think you would be sure to pack on a trip is underwear. I forgot! So, I had to buy some of 7/11's very handy/horrific/snug/tight/70's porno/thin/ pants. I was grateful that I had a chance to change into some clean underwear, but still, wearing these did disturb me somewhat!

We didn't find a campsite till well in the dark!

Day 3 - The road to Taidong

After waking up, and putting away our tents, it was time to check our bikes and make them ready for the road again. On the way to Taidong, we made a little detour to a beach.

As we neared Taidong, the excitement of reaching our goal was fading, and the reality that we would be back in Tainan the next day began to sink in.
Still, we made the most of our last night in Taidong, ate sushi, went fruit shopping and even watched the new Star Trek film (which was surprisingly fun). A very relaxed way to spend our last night.

Another weekend on Xiao Liu Qiu

2009-06-08T21:47:00.006+08:00

This is my third time to the island

There is definitely something about this little island that keeps bringing me back, it is becoming one of my favourite places in Taiwan. It is my third time to the island and on this occasion I was joined by Adrian, Andrea and Leza.

At first glance Xiao Liu Qiu just seems like a pretty little island with nice views, clean beaches and some odd attractions (and just for those reasons it is worth coming). And that is the most common impression I have found people have when I have asked around. However, there is just so much more going on here. All you have to do is dip your head in the water and you will see some great marine life. Just by walking two metres into the shore we spotted a huge sea snake/eel. We are not too sure as to what it was as we were to scared to get a good close up of it.

From my last trip here, we met a guide who has kayaks and could take us around the island to check out some of the better snorkelling areas. But as we were rushed that time, we didn’t really go that far. So this time I really wanted to get a few hours of kayaking around. As it turned out, we didn’t go that far this time either, but not because we didn’t try, it was just that the tide was too strong. Every time we jumped out of the kayaks to snorkel, the tide just kept pulling us back. However, (and this is the main reason why I like this island so much) we did spot sea turtles swimming beneath us!!! It is just such a rush being able to see them metres away. I think we spotted five in total which our guide thought was extremely lucky.

Judging by the photos, it doesn’t seem we did much, but that is mainly because we spent a lot of the time in the water. I just wish I could have gotten my hands on an underwater camera!!

Leaving Dong Gang port. And a couple of shots on the ferry

A great coral beach.

It was around this shoreline we spotted the sea snake/eel.

After going kayaking, the only thing we were in the mood for was lying down and resting.

The last photo of the day before the scooter ride home. (Andrea, Adrian, Leza and me)

Next blog, cycling the east coast.

Betel nut farming

2009-04-12T18:45:00.002+08:00

This is from a day trip to my friends’ plot of land in Pindong where they are growing betel nut trees (to harvest betel nut) and a few banana trees. My job was to help clean up the land, which was left in a pretty bad state by the previous caretaker. Thousands of rubbish bags that have been left to rot under the soil need to be removed and too many banana trees that are taking over the land.

Banana tree leaves are huge!!

The husky doing what it can to cool itself down.

The gang taking a lunch break

And sunset over the land

New Year break in Maolin

2009-02-08T18:05:00.009+08:00

Pictures from a long weekend spent in Maolin, south Taiwan.

Great weather and fantastic mountain views all around.

The group

Maolin is also home to the second largest butterfly migration in the world, thousands of purple butterflies fly from north Taiwan to the warmer south. From what we had heard and read in books, we were expecting to see thousands of butterflies, but our timing was off by a couple of weeks and so, if you walked around the valley and looked at one area, you would see as many as in my first picture. However, someone had kindly rounded up a few and put them in a 'viewing cage' so you can take a closer look.

At night, all the moths came out, including this one that looked like a bird.

Strolling through a quiet road at night, we thought we were by ourselves, but when I saw a leaf hanging in the middle of the road I wondered how that could be, it was then that we shone our torches above our heads and realised that there were hundreds of huge spider webs (and equally big spiders) going from one side of the road to the other. It was just luck that I hadn't run into one!

Taipei

2009-01-04T13:22:00.006+08:00

Estas son las fotos de un fin de semana en Diciembre que fui a Taipei junto con Andrea, Adrian y Laura para competir en un maraton. Sin embargo, no tuve buena suerte, estuve resfriado. Tambien nos reunimos con Daniel y Irene, viejos amigos que vivian en Tainan. Juntos fuimos por paseos por Taipei.

Laura, Adrian Y Andrea

Adrian, Andrea and Dan. Irene

Taipei 101 por la mañana

Lost in the crowd

Weekend to Alishan

2008-11-22T17:43:00.009+08:00

This was a short weekend trip that I went on with a handful of workmates to Alishan (Ali mountain).
We drove scooters up to the mountain as the alpine train was broken, which turned out to work in our favour as it was a beautiful day, so we could take our time enjoying the ride up!

Alishan is famous for its sunrise and gets crowded on the weekends with people wanting to take part in watching the sun rise over the mountains. However, in complete contrast to Saturday, Sunday was a horrible cold and rainy day, so the sun was hidden behind the clouds during the sunrise.

So even though much could not be done on the Sunday, it was still nice to get out of town and have a change of scenery.

Taking a coffee break up in the mountains

The view up to Alishan

Sunset

Interesting menu!!

1. The sunrise was hidden by the clouds

Buying some local tea before going home

1. Spotted an eagle flying closely above our heads. 2. Sunset at home

Marathon!

2008-11-18T10:08:00.007+08:00

Well, half a marathon, which is still a long way, 21km or so.

It all started a few months ago when my friend Andrea talked me into taking part in a marathon. So three or four times times a week (depending if I woke up on time), we would get up and train at 6am. It was tough at first, but thankfully, we got better.

The marathon was set in Taroko gorge, and is said to be the only marathon in a gorge.
I was looking forward to the run as I would be running amongst fantastic scenery, but I knew it was going to be tough as it contained lots of uphill parts. Unfortunately, the city I live in is as flat as can be, so we couldn't put in much hill training.

A local friend had relatives who lived near the gorge, so we stayed in a great aboriginal village in the mountains. The hosts gave us a tour of their village, introduced me to as many people as possible, and even talked us into a sing-a-long! (Thakfully Adrian saved the day and did most of the singing)

The race day was great, I'm sure there were over 8000 people that took part, which just made the whole thing buzz with excitement.
When it came to the finish line, Andrea and I had thought about ways of distracting each other so that the other would come behind (a little push, a leg out, or a funny comment). However, when the finish line appeared, we were both just so happy to have made it that far that we did not care who came in front, and so we crossed the line together.

The whole experience was fantastic and so now I am training for my next marathon which is going to be held on December 21st in Taipei.

Oh, and my time for the Taroko race was 02:34:37, position number 1736. One in front of Andrea, hahaha!!

And thaks to Adrian for taking photos of the race!

To see the whole results click here

1. Hualian 2. Adrian and Andrea with our host (whose name I never found out!)

Getting ready for the race

At the start of the race

And at the finish line

1. The Andrews, myself and the host. 2. And the view from his home.

The train ride home

The views from the train along the east coast

Getting near Taipei

Lanyu - Last day

2008-10-30T21:06:00.005+08:00

The last day on the island was fantastic, as most of the sites had been seen, we spent what time we had left relaxing at a coffee shop, going for a walk and taking photos.

Having fun by the sea

Fishing boats

Flying fish is one of the local delicacies, along with dried fish.

Another crater, a lot smaller, but much nicer.

When queuing for the ferry, there was no line, everybody was spread out. Once the boat came in sight, everybody bunched together trying to guess where the boat would stop. Elsie and Noria were the lucky ones who correctly guessed where the plank to get on the boat would be placed. These girls endured all the pushing and shoving from the crowd, they held hands so that no one could push in front and thanks to their efforts we got the best seats on the boat! So this is their victory photo!

Group shots of us on the ferry going back home

Lanyu Island - Day 2

2008-10-20T00:42:00.006+08:00

Day two was just super busy, in the morning we (and about a hundred other tourists) hiked along a trail up to an extinct volcano crater. The hike was pretty easy, but very slippery, looking back, I don't think I should have worn my croc shoes!!

After that, a spot of lunch and then off around the island on the scooters. Now my scooter had a problem, it seemed to be going through the fuel very quickly. The boss lady just told me that the gauge was broken and that all i needed to do was to just shake the scooter about.
The views from around the island are great, cliffs, green grass fields, mountains, strange rocks. It took the best part of a day to go round the whole place.

We also stopped by an aboriginal village where the aboriginals live in underground homes. As the island gets a lot of bad weather, the underground homes are able to better deal with the strong winds and earthquakes. Taking photos is quite an issue as the locals don't like having their photos taken. We asked if we could take a couple of shots of the homes which they had no problem agreeing to. However, a group of other guys were taking photos and they got into an argument with the locals.

Anyway, as we were driving along the island, my scooter stopped working. What was the problem, no petrol. The fuel gauge was perfectly fine, the scooter just had some sort of leak somewhere! So the others drove across the island to the only petrol station and filled up some bottles.
Emergency over, we got back on the scooters and drove home. Then it was time for some delicious dinner at a seafood restaurant!

Going up to the crater

The crater used to be dry, but lots of rain has filled it up.

Checking my fuel level, i didn't believe the scooter boss.

Great cliff views

The grass lands. It is so rare to see an open space like this here in Taiwan.

2. The island was full of wild goats

Underground homes

Coastline

1. I think the name of this rock is 'Virgin rock' 2. Is supposed to be a dragon but looks more like a tiger.

1. Giving my scooter a push start. 2. Rescue comes

1. Filling up 2. A spot of shopping at the night market.

Dinner time was so good. I think this plate is sea mushrooms, never heard of them before, but they taste great!

Lanyu island prt1

2008-10-19T13:28:00.005+08:00

Double ten day finally arrived, one of the few national holidays in Taiwan. My ex-workmates from Joy cram school and I had been wanting to go on a trip together for a while, so together with them and a couple of guys who live in my neighbourhood, we all headed off to Lanyu island.
Lanyu is not an easy place to get to, there are only a few flights on a tiny plane (12 people or so) each day which are booked months ahead, and the boat ride there is notorious for being rough!
This scares off many of the tourists which means that the island is still quite untouched.

1. An early start to get to the port. 2. Joy girls at the port

1. Arriving in Lanyu 2. Brunch!

1. My scooter had to be the expensive one!

1. At a local school

Posing with the girls

Pacific ocean

The only group shot!

1. Back at the hotel/church

Shots from a beach bar

2. Doing my best to try and translate, and failing!

Hiking with the General

2008-07-27T13:22:00.004+08:00

A while I was invited to go hiking with a guy who is called the General. He was a General in the air force and now that he has retired he spends his weekends hiking. The Taiwanese guys told me this hike was an easy one, the western guys told me otherwise. It might be easy for them, but for us it would be hell. And hell it was. I have hiked a few places in China and here in Taiwan, but this was by far the toughest one I have ever done. The sights were amazing, but the length and the uphill return hike just killed us.

Before the hiking, we were taken to a few of the sights in a village near the hike route.

A very random old catholic church hidden in a small village

The General had these orange socks, and I didn't, which worried me as he obviously knew something I didn't. I would soon find out what they were for!

The start: Our aim was to hike to an aboriginal village

Break time

This guy hiked the whole way barefoot!

Remember the orange socks, well they protect you from leeches. This leech latched onto my leg, but fortunately he hadn't been there long, as he still still seemed quite small.

The General told us that when we reached the village, we could buy a few cold beers. That thought kept us going. However, when we got there, the place was deserted.

After an hour rest, we turned round and made our way back

Hiking back took a long time, and night began to fall.

Finally back at one of the guy's home, his wife cooked up a feast for us.

Xiao Liu Qiu

2008-06-21T15:54:00.006+08:00

Summer is coming so that means longer days and and great weather to go and about during the weekends.
So off I went with a group of friends to the island of Xialiuqui. I have been there before, but that was in winter, so now that it was summer, everything looked new and green.

We did not do much in terms of sightseeing as we spent a lot of the time down at the beach snorkeling. Saw lots of cool fish and a sea snake. But the highlight was rowing a kayak along the sea and spotting a sea turtle a few metres up ahead.

At night, we had a great barbecue and then, the owners of the cabin site invited us to write on and release a sky lantern. Sky lanterns are really popular here, they are huge lanters on which you write a wish on. Then, when they are lit up with fire, they float up into the sky.

Getting on the ferry

The cabins in which we stayed in

I am one of those black heads in the water!

A storm was coming

Sky lanterns

2 large beds for 6 people!

2/28 Holiday

2008-04-05T15:09:00.005+08:00

As some may know, I went back to the UK for three fantastic weeks. However, as I left my camera there, I won't be uploading new photos any time soon.
I hate not having a camera, but if I want to look on the bright side of things, I guess this means it is time to go camera shopping!!

Anyway, this post is about the 2/28 holiday in Taiwan which happened a couple of days before I left for the UK.
My workmates asked me to join them on a day trip to have a 'special' barbecue. I was told I should wear old clothes.

I was under the impression this would be held at some exciting location in the countryside, but as always, never assume anything here. The barbecue area was a brown dusty soil patch with a few 'basic' shelters to give us some shade from the sun. My first impression was not good!

As soon I go there it was down to work. We had to:
1. dig a hole 2. pick up rocks 3. smash up wood 4. build a rock mountain 5. put the wood in it and burn it till the rocks get hot 6. put the food in the rock mountain and then break the rock mountain down 7. bury the food and rocks 8. wait for three-4 hours.

After all that work I was hungry, and waiting for four hours for the food to cook was too long of a wait. Thankfully, my coworkers had foreseen this and also brought with them a barbecue.

The barbecue location may have been a bit of a dive, bur fortunately, we were surrounded by fields of flowers. And of course, lots of pretty flower + taiwanese girls = an hour photo shoot!

By the time we were done with the photos, it was time to dig up the food. Even though the food was wrapped in tin foil, dirt still got in, so a lot of the food had to first be dipped into a bucked of water to clean it. Someone had also cooked a whole chicken, which we ate by tearing chunks of it apart with our hands as no one had a knife!

So overall spending time with my coworkers and taking part in this experience was a lot of fun. Eating the food was not!

1. Digging the hole 2. The rock mountain oven

1. Eating bbq while waiting for the food to cook.

Sunflower field

2. Digging up the food

The end result - lots of dirty food!

'Hiking' in TaTaJia

2008-02-03T11:03:00.003+08:00

The 'Tai Chi' guys asked me to go with them on a hiking trip in the mountains. We took all of our camp gear and I was specifically told to bring lots of warm clothes as it could get very cold up in the mountains.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, it rained all day, so instead of camping we slept on mats in the tourist information centre. And instead of hiking, it was more like a 'paseo' on raised platforms. The guys did not want to go on a long hike as it was 'so' cold. To me it felt like a normal winters day in the UK!
So even though I did not do any hiking, it was still nice to get out of the city and into the countryside and breathe some fresh air. And it is always fun to hang out with the Tai Chi guys.

How i hated those umbrellas!

We also made a detour to drink some tea

The cloudy view

Cooking dinner in the cold wind and rain.

I can even study Chinese when I use the urinals.
The tai chi guys

A tree that is over 2000 years old

Beware, bears!

Taken whilst 'strolling' in the forest

Finished Book 1

2008-01-27T17:25:00.000+08:00

Finally, after about a year and a half, I have finished the 487 pages of my Chinese course book. That is about 1000 new words, around 850 characters and lots of grammar patterns.
It took longer than I wanted to, but by going slow, I feel that I know the grammar and the vocabulary quite well.
This book has not been my only source of learning, so I know more than the above. However, it is the backbone of my studies, so I am glad to have finished it.

Now to Book 2!

Joy Girls

2008-01-13T17:32:00.000+08:00

These are my workmates with whom I work with at Joy School. Working at a cram school is not really something I enjoy (last year's kindergarten was a dream job compared to this place), but if I want to study Chinese, then for the moment, this is the best place to be.
I am not really keen on the boss nor the kids, but the one thing that I really enjoy about working here is my workmates.
These girls have made working here so much fun, plus, through them, I have learned so much about Chinese and Taiwanese culture.

As I am the only foreign teacher at the school, the girls talk most of the time in Chinese, which is a great help for me as I get to listen and learn so much. It has really helped that I can understand 'some' of what they talk about as it means we can quite often joke to each other in either language. And they love to read my Chinese homework and pass comments "Your characters looks as though they were written by a five year old" Great help!

One of the best things about these girls is that they like to eat. Everyday, we order in all kinds of dishes, from Guandong stir fry to Vietnamese noodles to Taiwanese local snacks. The other day, I was sat in the office surrounding by them chewing on chicken feet.
And because we all like to eat, we often go to restaurants and night markets in search of good food.
With their help, I have now started to phone restaurants and order the food or tea. The first time I ordered food I told the person to deliver the food to 'JiaYi'. When I got off the line, the girls were all laughing. Apparently, I had told the woman on the phone to deliver the food to JiaYi county (which is north of Tainan), not to JiaYing (Joy) school.

These pictures were taken at Area restaurant.

Kites in Anping

2007-12-08T15:53:00.001+08:00

Photos from the local park which on the weekend is packed with kite fliers.

Michele in Taiwan (The last part)

2007-11-11T10:43:00.001+08:00

Well, after our whirlwind trip of Taiwan, it was time for us to head back home and relax for a day before she left.
On the six hour train ride from Taidong to Tainan Michele made a little friend who did not speak a drop of English. However, the kid wasn't even a little bit shy and even called Michele A-yi (aunt). Thankfully, Michele spent the whole six hours entertaining him leaving me to rest for a bit.

When we got back home, the ladies from 'Beautiful and Breakfast' invited us to eat hot pot. I was really glad they were taking us for hot pot meal as firstly, Michele would be eating something typically Chinese, and secondly, the hot pot restaurant is a really expensive one.
I was happy with my beef hot pot, but because Michele does not eat red meat, she chose the fish hot pot. And what a lot of fish she had! One of the highlights of the meal was when Michele asked me:
'What's this?' pointing to some squishy thing.
So I asked my friends in Chinese, to which they replied in Chinese 'Fish skin'
So to Michele I said 'It's a type of squid thing'
I had to look away when she began eating the skin!

On the train

Views from the train

At the hot pot restaurant

Michele in Taiwan prt 6 Taidong and Green Island

2007-10-30T22:30:00.001+08:00

Taidong and Green Island were the last places we visited on our holiday. I had already been to both of them last year, but unlike last time (rain, rain and more rain) we had blue skies.
I had wanted to go to Lanyu Island, but there just seemed no way to get there on that day. The plane was fully booked, and when I inquired at the port for the next ferry there, I was told 'No boat', 'do you mean this morning or today?' 'No boat' 'Tomorrow?' 'No boat', 'right, thanks for your help!'
So, off we went to Green Island, which had many ferries going there!

The views from the train whilst traveling down to Taidong

Relaxing at a beach in Taidong

1. Water running up hill - I am down hill, but the water is going up.
2. On the ferry to Green Island

Around Green Island

Snorkeling

The fantastic salt water hot spring

Swimming caps are a must in Taiwan!

Somebody still needs a lesson on how to use flash!

1. Tired and hot 2. The Pacific ocean

Leaving Green Island

Michele en Taiwan 5 (Hualian y alrededor)

2007-10-27T11:32:00.002+08:00

Viajamos siempre por primera clase

Taroko Gorge. He estado yá aqui, pero porque es el lugar más famoso de Taiwan, tuve que llevar mi hermana allí. Las vistas son las mismas, pero la experiencia es diferente.

El león, enfrente y detrás

Pueden verla en el puente?

Este lugar tiene sus peligros, especialmente después de un typhoon

Una pagoda en las montañas.

White water rafting en el rio Xiugulan Xi

Gracias al typhoon, el río fluía rápidamente.

Michele in Taiwan (prt 4) Shi Fen Waterfall and Jiufen town

2007-10-11T22:48:00.001+08:00

Shifen Railway station

More reflections

Shifen is a small railway town up in the mountains

One of its many swingbridges

An annoyingly placed cable hangs in the centre of the photo

Focusing on something, but what?...

1. A grasshopper. 2. This earthworm rolled down an embankment and onto the path in front of us and scared us all (Michele, a couple of Taiwanese girls and I) as we thought it was a snake

Shifen waterfall was in full flow as thankfully the typhoon from...

a few days ago dropped a lot of rain over Taiwan.

Jiufen town used to be a gold mine town that was forgotten about until a movie was filmed there, then the crowds came and resurrected the place. Its 'Old street' is lined with shops selling Chinese souvenirs, tea and delicious local snacks.

Making shoes

Enjoying the view from a tea shop

The views from Jiufen are great, I took many many pictures...

as the sun kept setting, the colours kept changing

Until finally it became night and the towns below lit up

Un paseo en Yangmingshan (Michele en Taiwan Prt 3)

2007-10-04T21:56:00.001+08:00

La excursíon comienza

1. YangMing montaña
2. Porque a los Taiwanes les gustan tan las escaleras? Despues de 15 minutos subiendolas, ya no podemos continuar más!

El paisaje

La montaña esta llena de ardillas y...

lagartos

La montaña es un volcán extinto

Una niebla comienza a cubrir la montaña

Una muchacha minúscula

1. Aunque caminamos para muchas horas, Michele todavía tenía energía
2. Finalmente, cansados por nuestra excursión, regresamos al hotel

Michele in Taipei pt2

2007-09-22T11:19:00.001+08:00

Well as the title suggests, our next stop after Tainan was Taipei. Getting there we used the High Speed Train which was just fantastic, no more 4.5 hours on a normal train, just 1.5!
Even though we spent a few days in Taipei, we only saw a bit of it, as we used the city as a base camp for setting off to areas around Taipei. As a matter of fact, we didn't see much of Taipei, only the CKS Memorial Hall, Taipei 101 and the shops of Ximending. I would have liked to have seen more of Taipei, but when you are on a two week time limit and you want to pack as much of the country in as possible, things need to be left out.
Still, I think Michele got a flavor of what Taipei is like, busy!

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial hall

It had just stopped raining when we had arrived,...

so lots of cool puddle reflection photos and...

great sunset colours

Unfortunately we couldn't go in due to repair work

Going to Ximending shopping area

If only it was not blurred!

Taipei 101

The lift's ceiling lights up to display a night sky

This time round, the views were much better, not so cloudy

A bit of photo editing went on in this (2) picture

Michele in Taiwan

2007-09-16T21:20:00.001+08:00

So a couple of weeks ago I had my first visit from a family member; my sister Michele. She came for a couple of weeks, so together, we toured the island.

It was great having my sister visit me, finally someone from back home would understand and get first hand experience of what life over here is like for me.
Watching my sister's reaction to life in Taiwan made me realise how much I take these things as normal, e.g. 'There are three people on a scooter!' 'He is not wearing a helmet!' 'He just came up to me, started to talk to me, and offered me a tour of the island?!' All to which I said 'Yep, that's usual'.

Unfortunately, when Michele first got here, the weather wasn't great, actually, it was awful. The day before she landed Taiwan was just hit by a Typhoon (Hurricane). Fortunately, but the time she had landed, the typhoon had passed over Taiwan, however, there was still a lot of rain.

First stop on the island tour was Tainan, the city I live in.

1. Michele arriving in Taiwan 2. Not so sunny

1. Helmet shopping 2. Around Anping

Michele even tried doing a spot of Tai Chi

1. My favorite - Prawn and pinapple with hundreds and thousands.
2. Michele at my local breakfast shop

1. A random site - the driving test centre. To get my license, I had to drive around that track once. 2. One of the old town gates

1. Playing Japanese drums 2. Anping harbour

1. Michele at the hairdressers

1. The little alley 2. Entering the Confucius temple

Around the Confucius temple

Get these ones out of the way

2007-09-08T13:59:00.001+08:00

Pues ya no he actualizado mi blog para algunas semanas.
He vuelto recientemente de mis vaciones por Taiwan, pero antes que subo esas fotos, quiero subir estas, porque ya he querido para un rato largo, pero nunca encuentre el tiempo para hacerlo.

Estas fotos son de la playa mas cerca de mi casa, en un Domingo por la tarde. Eso es cuando la playa es mas ocupada con gente, porque no temen los rayos del sol.

La playa de Anping

Madre e hijo

Dragon Boat Festival

2007-07-22T01:10:00.001+08:00

These are photos from the Dragon Boat festival last month. Chongming school was short of a few foreigners to make up a full boat. Luckily, one of my friends works at the school, so I was asked to pitch in.
As the team had been formed at a late stage, we had only three sessions in which to practice in. So we had to learn how to paddle and work as a team in a very short time.
What we lacked in experience we made up in enthusiasm, which was definitely needed, especially when the guy who sat in front of me repeatedly splashed the stinking brown Tainan river water in my face!

The race day was a lot of fun, lots of photos to pose for and a huge crowd lined along the bank of the river.
Unfortunately, we came second in our race (we were never going to beat a team from the USA who had flown into Taiwan just to take part in the race, that's dedication!). However, for overall time, we were third best which was nothing to be ashamed of.

The team - front and back

A quick practice before boarding the boat

Raising the paddles (I wasn't too sure why we did this, we were just told we had to)

This video is not from the race, but from the practice sessions before.

Cycling

2007-07-01T01:28:00.001+08:00

These pictures are all taken whilst cycling around the outskirts of Tainan, in a place called Sicao. The great thing about where I live is that if I want to head into the countryside, I do not have to cycle through the city, it's just on my doorstep. And the best time to see the surrounding countryside is during sunset; the temperature is a lot cooler, and the views are amazing.

Salt field village

Salt fields

Showing my workmates one of the wonders of Tainan - the really fat pig

I don't know which one I prefer

Beautiful but deadly; so many mosquitos!

Sicao temple

Sunset over the China straits

Night brings a cool respite, but also many mosquitos; swarms!

The photos have nothing to do with the above, but I have been wanting to post them for a long while, and if I don't do it now, I probably never will.

Temple statues

Taiwanese opera

A day with a dolphin

2007-05-13T17:21:00.000+08:00

Tainan is a strange city, it doesn't show you all that it has to offer easily. The main attractions are easy to find, however, the things that make it really interesting only appeared to me after a certain amount of time or when I had changed my perspective. For example, I recently bought a bicycle, and cycling around Tainan has allowed me to see things at a slower pace, so, I have discovered quite a few pockets of history tucked away in alleys. However, if I were riding my scooter, I would have probably not noticed these places as my vision would have needed to be fully aware of incoming 'blue trucks of death'.

So, what's all this got to do with a dolphin. Well, this is one Tainan's unknown secrets. It's the only one of its kind in Taiwan, a dolphin rescue centre. It's on the outskirts of the city, about a 15min drive away, yet, nobody knows about this place, not even most of the Taiwanese.
This dolphin is a 'Rough-toothed dolphin' which beached itself just north of Tainan. It's the 9th dolphin to have been rescued. When I asked about what had happened to the previous eight dolphins I was told they all had died. (At this point I had to look away and laugh, not good statistics for a rescue centre). However, I think Taiwan is new to this field of conservation, so the fact that it trying to help is a step in the right direction.
The centre were looking for people to help out with some of the manual work, so scrubbing the tanks clean was worth the effort just to get within touching distance of the dolphin. This was my first time to have ever seen a dolphin, so to see one in such close proximity was just fantastic. Getting to feed it fish was and added bonus!