Having wandered

So here's the breakdown of my trip around Taiwan:
Tuesday, 5 Feb 2008: Left Taipei and arrived in Tainan
Wednesday, 6 Feb: Left Tainan and arrived in Kaohsiung
Thursday, 7 Feb: Left Kaohsiung and arrived in Donggang
Thursday: Left Donggang and arrived on Liuqiu Island
Friday, 8 Feb: Left Liuqiu Island and arrived in Fangliao
Friday: Left Fangliao and arrived in Kenting National Park
Sunday, 10 Feb: Left Kenting and arrived in Taidong
Monday, 11 Feb: Left Taidong and arrived in Hualien
Tuesday, 12 Feb: Left Hualien and returned to Taipei

That's the short version, anyway. If I knew more HTML I'd make each day a link to my description of it below, but alas, I am lame. So here's a day by day of what I did on my way around the island. For photographic evidence (150 or so photos), go see flickr.

Tuesday:

I started a day later than I intended to, but it was okay, because it meant getting an earlier start than I otherwise might have. I hopped on the train for the four hour journey south to Tainan, arriving a little after 4 in the afternoon. I checked into a hotel near the train station, grabbed my guidebook and my camera, and took off to see some sights. I saw several interesting temples and got a quick crash course in modern Taiwanese religious practice.

Wednesday:

Woke up early to get a look at several more temples. Tainan has the highest density of Qing-dynasty era buildings (especially temples) of any city in Taiwan. The architecture is generally beautiful, and the astonishing opulence of some of the temples reflects the fervor of their patrons. Caught an early afternoon train south to Gaoxiong.

Upon arrival in Gaoxiong I hunted down a hotel and dropped my stuff off before catching a bus to the ferry pier. I took the ferry across Gaoxiong harbor to Cijin Island, just off the coast. Gaoxiong is one of the biggest container ports in the world, given how much stuff Taiwan produces for export, and it was fairly busy while I was there. Cijin island protects the harbor from storm damage, and plays host to a lighthouse and a gun battery in addition to a residential neighborhood. Both the lighthouse and the gun battery were constructed by the Dutch to protect their interests way back when. The lighthouse is still operational, but the gun battery has been turned into a publicly accessible point of historical interest. I spent a good couple of hours exploring it and taking pictures of its well-preserved remains before returning to Gaoxiong proper for dinner and sleep.



Thursday: I took a morning train from Gaoxiong to Donggang, a small fishing town on the southwest coast of Taiwan known for its annual tuna haul. Donggang is also known for having a big old temple dedicated to one of the ocean gods, two whom a boat full of goods is dedicated and burnt every 9 years. The gateway to the temple courtyard is enormous, and is plated nearly entirely in gold.



After checking out the temple scene (very busy thanks to Chinese New Year celebrations), I caught a 40-minute ferry to Liuqiu Island, a small coral islet off the southwest coast. Liuqiu is a lovely place, and I plan on returning. The whole island (~13 kilometers in circumference) is made of coral, and there are tons of neat caves and grottoes and cliffs all the way around it. Beautiful scenery. I spent the night there camping in a rented tent on the North cliffs at one of the better campgrounds in Taiwan (apparently).



Friday: Spent a little more time scootering around Liuqiu, checking things out before catching a noon ferry back to Donggang. From Donggang I caught a bus to Kenting town, which is at the center of Kenting National Park, which in turn covers most of the peninsula dangling off the southern tip of Taiwan. Kenting town is a crowded tourist burg that I found rather repulsive, so after obtaining a scooter I rode a few kilometers down the road to Sail Rock, a small strip of hotels and restaurants much quieter than Kenting town itself. Sail Rock is so named for a big coral boulder sitting just offshore of the town that is said to resemble the sail of a Chinese Junk. I found that it more closely resembled a profile view of Richard Nixon's head. So many people have noted the resemblance that the official sign describing the rock (at the roadside parking lot) has including it in the description.

Friday night was spent watching fireworks explode and drinking beer by the seaside. Lovely.

Saturday:

Saturday was a big day of exploration, as I saw pretty much the entirety of Kenting National Park by way of scooter. Amazing cliffs, sweeping views of mountains, ocean, rice paddies, and rolling grasslands, hundred-foot-tall sand dunes: I saw it all. As the afternoon wore on I paused at South point, at the very "bottom" of Taiwan, and watched the waves pound away at the coral. In the evening I crashed my scooter, dealt with it, and then rode out to Chuhuo (meaning, literally, "fire comes out"), a bunch of natural gas fires just kinda sitting around, burning by the side of the road. Very popular, lots of people crowding around with sparklers and popcorn. Kinda bizarre.

Sunday:

A lazy morning, finally. Slept in, returned my scooter, caught a bus to Fangliao, a lovely, sleepy little railway town just south of Pingdong. Ate lunch by the seaside while waiting for my train and just generally felt good about it. Took the train through some lovely mountain and coastal scenery all the way to Taidong. In Taidong I met up with my friend Niki, whose parents live there, and her friend and cousin. The four of us rode bikes through some of Taidong's numerous and beautiful parks, dipped our feet in the ocean, ate stinky tofu, and then went to the hot springs at Zhiben.

Monday: Woke up early, met up with Niki, and scootered over to the National Museum of Prehistory, where I learned more about the geological processes by which Taiwan was formed, human evolution in general, and some of the ins and outs of indigenous Taiwanese culture, both modern and prehistoric. A very good museum, with well-presented information and engaging exhibits.



After the museum, Niki dropped me off at the train station and I caught a train to Hualien. Again, I went through some absolutely amazing countryside: the Eastern Rift Valley is full of cliffs and volcanic mountains. Very rugged landscapes collapsing into rice paddies and small townships.



Once in Hualien I arranged a scooter and then promptly got lost, just like the last time I was in Hualien. The city must be built on a burial ground or something. It just throws my navigational mojo for a loop. I finally managed to get my bearings, after riding around in the cold rain for about an hour, and set up a night's lodging at a truly excellent hostel. Crashed after chatting with some other travelers for a while.

Tuesday: woke up early with a sweet goal in mind: scooter over to Taroko gorge, which I visited with Judith back in September, and take a dip in the hot springs there. The springs are supposed to be really amazing, welling up in the middle of a river with baths carved out of marble. Free and open to the public. Alas, after my hour and a half, freezing cold scooter ride, I discovered that the trails were closed due to landslide. Somewhat frustrated, I further bundled up, rode back to Hualien, and grabbed the next train back to Taipei.

So them's the facts, more or less. There are boundless details about my stay in each city, but I won't bore myself by recounting them in their mundane entirety unless asked specifically about one place or another. Check out the photos up on flickr for more of a sense of where I was and what I saw. It was a lovely trip!