Tag Taiwan
The main attraction in Xitou is the Forest Recreation Area, a large park full of trails that let you see nature without the hassle of actually having to go to a forest. We went there after breakfast this morning and I found it a little bit too civilized for my taste, I would prefer a real forest over this one. However, there were a few spots that made me appreciate the place more, chief of which was the Sky Walk, a metal walkway high up among the treetops that lets you experience the forest from a different perspective.
Pretty cool
Several years ago Yini went to a mountain trail in Nantou county called Sky Ladder, but since she was with a friend who was not so used to mountaineering, they had to turn back after just a short distance. Ever since I heard about it, I’ve wanted to go but I haven’t had a chance until now. Yesterday evening me and Yini drove down to a small town on the outskirts of Taizhong. After a night in a motel there, we continued to Zhushan township and the sky ladder trail this morning. Perhaps I had too high expectations because the … Read the rest
The water envelopes me in its warmth, steam rising up from its surface, mingling with the mists that swirl around the surrounding mountains. Little cascades of water are thrown into the air wherever the the rain drops hit the otherwise smooth surface of the pool. The rain falls on my head and shoulders, little spikes of cold mixing in with the heat of the water, the feeling is quite sublime – total relaxation.… Read the rest
This weekend is the Tomb Sweeping Day, which essentially just means we have four days off in a row. Renegade wife and I are making the most of it by traveling around and enjoying ourselves.
We started off lightly yesterday by driving out to a small amusement park just outside Hsinchu city. The park itself is small, old and pretty lame, except for a few really well executed optical illusions:
This tilted house is by far the best, I actually got a little bit motion sick just by … Read the rest
Just as it was getting more and more like spring it seems winter made a comeback because this week has been cold and rainy. Tired of coming home wet and and miserable, I suggested we go south for the weekend. Said and done, as soon as I got off work Friday, we got our bags, hopped on a high speed train south and went to the southern city Kaohsiung.
Yesterday we woke up fairly early, had a tasty breakfast, rented a scooter then headed out to explore the city. When we went to Taidong a few months ago, we spotted … Read the rest
The rope in my hand is taut, pulling me forward. My board skips across the surface of the pond, leaving a wake gurgling and splashing behind it. I’m surfing towards the setting sun, it hangs low over far away green hills, streaking the grey green water with lustrous gold; my right hand stretched out behind me, the fingers forming the rock and roll sign of the devil. I let out a scream of exhilaration, it’s a perfect moment.… Read the rest
Today we went on a small roadtrip up into the mountains. The goal was a newly opened section of road that is supposedly similar to the central belt road, which is the road that snakes across the central mountain range from west to east. We went by various smaller country roads rather than the highway and around two in the afternoon we turned up into the mountains. The road we followed was narrow and bumpy and we wound our way upwards and then, as we came around a bend, a large sloping field of white, blossoming plum trees opened up … Read the rest
Taiwan’s government was nice enough to give us a nice long four day weekend to kick off the new year. Me and Renegade Wife spent new years day being lazy at home, which felt really good. The other three days we’ve been travelling around both here and there and had a pretty good time.
We started with a trip up to Xiaowulai in the mountains, where there are plenty of waterfalls and suspension bridges.
view on the way up
First view of the waterfall
A smaller waterfall
Looking down at the big waterfall from above 
The main waterfall from
Recently my good friend’s father passed away in cancer (my condolences Kai) so on Saturday me and Yini headed south to meet him up and comfort him in these hard times. We arrived in his hometown of Tianzhong in the evening and spent a couple of hours with him. Knowing that he felt comparatively good, we said good bye and went out to find a hotel. We ended up in a kind of motel where I promptly burned my lip on the what looked like a drinking fountain but turned out to be a hot water dispenser. Not the nicest … Read the rest
This weekend the wife and I decided to go for a mini vacation in Miaoli. We started right before lunch, took my motorcycle and went south out of the city. Before long we were entering the mountains and drove along a winding road through lush green landscapes. The road was so perfect for a motorbike ride, I just kept going along and soon enough we reached our hotel.
After checking in we went out again to explore the mountains some more, stopping here and there whenever we found something interesting. Here are a couple of pictures taken during our exploration.… Read the rest