Author RenegadeTourist
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything because it’s been too cold and wet to really go anywhere. Last weekend however, it was nice and sunny so Yini and I took the opportunity to go out with the motorcycle. We rode east out of the city, passed through the little town of queerly painted houses that we visited last year, and on to the Five Fingers Mountains.
At a small temple we found an fairly steep little walking trail that we followed. It was a bit of a struggle for Yini and I got pretty tired as well but … Read the rest
We have stumbled upon this place more or less at random. We only stopped at the reservoir for a quick rest before going home, but impulsively decided to circumnavigate the lake, just for fun. And here, on the small road around it, we found this place, a Christian graveyard. The steep hillside is terraced in numerous levels, kind of like the spectator gallery at a sports arena but instead of seats, there are walkways lined with graves; rows and rows of what looks like sarcophagi with slab headstones at one end. Then only difference between them is the color of … Read the rest
I’m standing in a garden on a kind of a raised dais looking out over the street. Or, I say street but it’s more like a long stretched park of meticulously planted greenery, slate rimmed ponds, and plenty of fountains. Both sides of the park come pedestrian boulevard are lined with futuristic looking office blocks, with facades of brushed aluminum and glass. It’s like something out of a sci-fi movie; an off world paradise for the rich full of luxury and high-tech gadgets, with the rest of humanity stuck on the burnt out wasteland that the earth has become. However, … Read the rest
I should have written about this earlier but I kept forgetting, so a little late, here goes:
As Chinese New Year drew closer, we finished up the work in Switzerland and planned to go back home. I however, did not go back to Taiwan. Instead I took a short flight north to Sweden were I met up with Yini at the airport. A few hours later, my parents came to pick us up and we drove north. Since we started fairly late, we slept one night in Gävle about two hours north of Stockholm. The next day we continued up … Read the rest
The world outside the window is bleak and grey. The bare tree trunks form grey shadows against the milky white sky, the thin branches radiating skywards like so many fingers. The buildings in the distance look deserted, like empty shells. We pass over some water but it is inky black, not a ripple on the surface, with sheets of broken ice floating dismally by the edge. The ground, clear of snow and ice despite the season is either a naked soil black or covered in sickly yellow grass. The dead world outside mirrors the emptiness inside me, a desolation of … Read the rest
We have just passed through the clouds, and so too, apparently, has the sun. For when you leave the colorful sunrise behind and come down beneath the cloud cover, you kind of expect the day to be dreary and grey. What a surprise then to be greeted, as you leave the layer of mist behind, by a brilliant, dazzling golden light that fills up the otherwise dismal world with warmth and brightness. A fleeting moment of bliss that dissipates as the golden glow fades.… Read the rest
Today I woke up bright and early, and after a hearty breakfast, headed out in the slopes.
I spent the morning exploring different parts of the system than yesterday, and found plenty of untouched powder just a short distance from the main track. The weather was good, only light clouds scudding across the sky and I had plenty of fun.
Just before lunch I stopped off at the local igloo village. The igloo was not quite as impressive as the ice hotel in Jokkmokk but still pretty good. I also checked out the nearby snow mobile park, but it was … Read the rest
The view from up here is magnificent; all around in the distance the stupendous mountains of the Swiss Alps, snow-clad broken tips and bare cliff faces. The sky is overcast but lively and and on the horizon, just above the mountain tops, is a gap in the clouds showing a strip of azure blue. The weather however is bad, my provisional winter clothes that have worked well so far, are insufficient to withstand the cold. The wind blows icy needles into my face that sting my eyes and my hands quickly turn to frozen lumps. I cannot remain here. No … Read the rest
My company has sent me to Switzerland to do some work on a machine. So far I have mostly just seen the factory where the machine is, and a bit of local sightseeing in the small town where I live, so not very much to write about.
A bit of local tourism in Badsäckingen
Now that it is weekend however, I took the chance to go skiing. I took an early morning train from my little town near Basel to Engelberg. There I dropped my bags at the hotel, a pretty shoddy military barracks style of dormitory hostel, then went … Read the rest
Yini had to go back home and work but us five boys continued our exploration of Taiwan’s east coast. Our train arrived in Hualien on Sunday evening, we found a hotel a stone’s throw from the train station, then went out for dinner and bought a few strange snacks to share in the hotel room.
On Monday morning we rented a couple of scooters, then rode out of town to famous tourist destination Taroko Gorge. Axel and I have been there before, but the spectacular lime stone cliffs, rivers and waterfalls make it well worth another visit.
Collecting a map … Read the rest