Author RenegadeTourist
What's normally a small stream flowing lazily through an otherwise dry river bed has swelled with the rains of the latest typhoon to a wide, swift flowing river. Just a few meters from where I'm standing there's a kind of wier, consisting of a series of large concrete blocks, stretching across the river. Normally you'd be able to get across to the other side by jumping from block to block but today that's not possible. The entire wier has been turned into a waterfall, the concrete blocks engulfed in muddy brown water. Just below it, there's a massive standing wave, the water curling in on itself as it flows across the stones and concrete. A loud booming fills the air of this otherwise peaceful river valley. That even a relatively small typhoon can transform a river this much is a stark reminder of the truly awesome power of nature.
Lieutenant Wakefield entered the control room and took up her position at the communications station. From her position she could overview the entire room, and as she let her eyes sweep from left to right she could that the rest of her team was already in position at their designated stations. She checked her watch, it showed 6:51 am. "Alright people, nine minutes until go time," she announced, "beginning pre-startup checks." Continue reading
Shortly after I made my last post about the old military tunnels at Fengqi Sunset Trail, my friend Johan, who is a Youtuber, contacted me saying he wanted to make a video about the tunnels. My other friend David, who was the one to introduce me to the tunnels in the first place, said he would also like to join (you can find David's post here). Said and done, the three of us met up at the trail head and with Johan filming we made another foray into the tunnels. Continue reading about our underground adventure.
The idea for this post has been rattling around in the back of my mind for several years but it’s not until now that I have all the photos I need to write it. I’ve been living in Taiwan for eight years now and I’ve traveled a fair bit in east and south east Asia. What I’ve noticed is that there’s a huge variety in the vehicles on the roads in this part of the world compared to Europe. You see, in Europe, the types of vehicles you see are more or less limited to cars, trucks and buses, with … Read the rest
During the last several months I have gone on a number of outings, sometimes with my family, sometimes on my own, that for some reason or other have not been worth making separate posts about. In some cases it’s because I’ve already written about the place and I didn’t feel the need to add another post. In other cases it’s because there wasn’t enough interesting aspects to write a full post about. Whatever the reason, I’ve ended up with a bunch of photos that I would like to upload somewhere, but they don’t really fit on the blog. To remedy … Read the rest
When my friend posted a video of walking through a long, seemingly abandoned tunnel I immediately knew I would have to go there. I asked where it was and he sent me the location. From what I could understand, there was a big network of tunnels down there and I somehow got it into my head that I shouldn't just go there, but I should try to make a map. Despite a few of the tunnel branches being blocked, the place is still so big I had to go there twice to fully explore every part of the system. I did eventually end up with a map. It's not particularly accurate; it's not to scale and I only made some rough estimates of the twists and turns of the different passageways. I also didn't come up with a good way to add in slopes and stairs, so that's not included either. That said, every intersection is included, as is every exit and every dead end. If you go down into these tunnels you should be able to navigate using my map. Check out the map
Despite the name, this isn't actually a road. It's more like a hiking trail that's possible to ride with a motorcycle...Well, barely, the trail is so narrow the plants growing along the sides keep whipping my legs as I go along, and the ground is treacherous with patches of loose gravel interspersed with large rocks. I go bumping and skidding down the trail as it winds its way through the forest, my eyes focused on the ground in front of me, my mind fully concentrated on riding, my muscles almost vibrating as I'm constantly adjusting my course. I would like to go slow but I find it's easier to navigate this terrain if I keep the speed up, so I go fast as I dare, the forest flowing past me within arm's reach; it's simultaneously scary and exhilarating. Right here, right now, this is the feeling of adventure I always long for.
I’ve previously explored two abandoned hotels near Shimen Reservoir (read about them in Part 1 & Part 2). There is one more abandoned hotel near the reservoir that has been on my list of places to go explore but I haven’t been able to find the time. Last weekend, me and a friend decided to go to Buddha World which I have written about here. When we got there however, we discovered that the place was closed. Neither of us was really up for breaking in to a Buddhist temple, so we had to think of something else. … Read the rest