Discover Taiwan - the treasure island

Here's some links for travel in Taiwan:

Taiwan tourism bureau
Taiwan Map
Taiwan Festivals
Tastes of Taiwan

Transportation
Taiwan Railway Administration - train schedule

Places to visit
Green Island
Taroko National Park
Yushan National Park
Shei-Pa National Park
North Coast & Guanyinshan National Scenic Area
Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area
Maolin National Scenic Area
Siraya National Scenic Area
Orchid Island (Lanyu)
Penghu County
Liji Lunar World
Yehliu Park
Longdong South Ocean Park
Danshuei Old Street
National Palace Museum
Taipei 101

Accommodation recommendation
Accommodations around Hualien and Taroko
Grand Formosa Taroko (Tien-Xian)
Hotel Bayview (Chishingtarn Coast Scenic Area)
Rainbow hotel (Jiben)
Shiacarl B&B - English version coming soon! (Green Island)
Burgary hotel - Chinese (Taipei)

The crusade for a Christian military

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/05/0082488

They had commissioned the Special Forces interpreter, an Iraqi from Texas, to paint a legend across their Bradley’s armor, in giant red Arabic script.

“What’s it mean?” asked Humphrey.

“Jesus killed Mohammed,” one of the men told him. The soldiers guffawed. JESUS KILLED MOHAMMED was about to cruise into the Iraqi night.

The Bradley, a tracked “tank killer” armed with a cannon and missiles—to most eyes, indistinguishable from a tank itself—rolled out. The Iraqi interpreter took to the roof, bullhorn in hand. The sun was setting. Humphrey heard the keen of the call to prayer, then the crackle of the bullhorn with the interpreter answering—in Arabic, then in English for the troops, insulting the prophet. Humphrey’s men loved it. “They were young guys, you know?” says Humphrey. “They were scared.” A Special Forces officer stood next to the interpreter—“a big, tall, blond, grinning type,” says Humphrey.

“Jesus kill Mohammed!” chanted the interpreter. “Jesus kill Mohammed!”

A head emerged from a window to answer, somebody fired on the roof, and the Special Forces man directed a response from an MK-19 grenade launcher. “Boom,” remembers Humphrey. The head and the window and the wall around it disappeared.

Qu'est-ce qu'un BBS?

Hier, j'ai été obligé d'expliquer à mes collègues de travail c'était quoi un BBS (Bulletin Board System)!

Ils étaient complètement étonnés d'entendre qu'il y avait dans les années 80 et jusqu'au milieu des années 1990 des (centaines dans la région de Montréal) ordinateurs connectés à une banque de modems (4-32) auxquels les utilisateurs se connectaient de la maison. Ils étaient aussi sceptiques d'entendre que ces BBS offraient des services de forums de discussions, de téléchargement de fichiers, de jeux et de chats avec des limites de temps (1 heure) enfin que plusieurs personnes puissent se connecter à tour de rôle.

Un des deux, un nouveau stagiaire d'origine Chinoise avait entendu parlé du terme BBS en Chine à son université - mais pour lui c'était un serveur un Internet auxquel les étudiants se connectaient pour échanger.

Je pense que je suis trop vieux... Moi et Min Lin on a commencé notre relation sur le babillard électronique du Cégep du Vieux Montréal. J'étais aussi un sysop (system operator) du système et j'en profitait pour donner du temps d'extra à ma blonde ;-).

Taiwan May 2009 2 weeks travel Costs for 2 persons

After reading posts about our trip in Taiwan and looking at our nice pictures, I think lots of people are curious to know how much did the trip cost?

Here's the breakdown (Taiwanese dollars, conversion at the end):

Note: we stayed 2 nights at my brother's apartment in Taipei.

The total cost excluding round-trip airfare is US$1725.62 (1901.76$CAD), round trip plane ticket San Fran-Taipei is US$865 per person, so the real total is $3455.62 for 2 persons 2 weeks travel in Taiwan. It is possible to reduce the cost if you travel in low season (probably March-April and October-November), airfare can be 30% to 40% cheaper and if you don't mind staying at cheaper accommodations, you can save another 20% to 30%.

Want to have an unforgettable trip? What are you waiting for? Start planning your trip to Taiwan! ;-)

My Tracks Taiwan

Android My Tracks recorded GPS information for our Taiwan trip:


View Tracks: Taiwan May 2009 in a larger map

Egg standing up on Dragon boat day

Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 12:25:08 +0800

Lucky year!

Actually, my niece Jessica made an egg standing up by
12:25 and it was still up until 22:00.
Maybe getting lucky by doing this is true, because the
same night my niece won the First Price at Dragon boat
festival organized by our community!

Je suis sur StreetView / I'm on StreetView!

View Larger Map

Je suis dans la pyramide! J'ai posté ça l'été dernier mais l'image n'était plus valide. J'ai vérifié que je suis encore là...

I'm in the pyramid! I had posted that last summer but the image wasn't valid anymore but I'm still there ;-).

No room for bigots

http://www.newint.org/features/2009/05/01/no-room-for-bigots/

As for the much-derided Muslims (580,000 in the 2001 census, but now estimated at 750,000) – they are a satisfied lot, according to a poll done for the Trudeau Foundation in Montreal. They register higher levels of pride in Canada than the population at large. They are less likely than Muslims in Britain, France, Germany or Spain to feel that their fellow citizens are hostile to Islam. They did cite discrimination as a problem, but ‘the thing Muslims least like about Canada is the cold weather’, just like all other immigrant groups.

Burgary hotel 寶格利時尚旅館, Ximen, Taipei, Taiwan

The Burgary hotel 寶格利時尚旅館 is just next the busy Ximen area on the busy Zhonghua road.

Ximen is ideal for shopping, food an ideal to catch a movie with its numerous movie theaters (we saw Star Trek on a large Imax screen).

The rooms are expensive (3680NT$ or around 120$US), the entrance is unimpressive, the free breakfast is the worse we've had. The bed is so-so, better then the plywood hardness in other hotels, although we would have hoped for better and more sheets.

Where the Burgary really shine is in the bathroom with an enormous bubble bath with colored lighting effect and nice shower with a standard showerhead and a rain type overhead showerhead. Next to the bath is a TV screen.

Overall, a good experience and we would come back for a night or two to be in the happening area.

Olympia bakery, Taipei, Taiwan

Olympia bakery (3 places in Taipei, including one is Ximen) has surprisingly good cream puffs for 30NT$ (1US$) each. They are also very filling so you can't really eat more then one. Another surprise are the dim sum who are tasty and fresh.

Olympia (http://www.olympiafoods.com.tw)

Baiyang trail 白楊步道, Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園, Taiwan

A few minutes walk in the hot sun from the Grand Formosa hotel was the Baiyang trail 白楊步道.

From the start, Min Lin was worried when we had to walk a few hundreds meters in a straight tunnel where the light at the other end was only a dot.

She got more worried when we got to a curved tunnel where we couldn't see the light until we walked to the curve a few meters in.

But she got really worried when we had to walk a few meters in yet another tunnel in total darkness! That last experience was exactly like being blind even with our eyes wide open, the convenient rail our only guide.

Dragging Min Lin through it all was worth it for the sights of the roaring canyon river on one side of a rope bridge (limit 10 persons) and waterfalls on the other. Absolutely gorgeous!

In addition, the trail ends with the water curtain tunnel, where a river flows fed by water leaking abundantly from the ceiling. If you go through, be ready to get wet and watch out for the frogs.

All of this is framed by vegetation covered cliffs, huge boulders at the bottom of the canyon and mountains peaking through the clouds. It is also an easy trail, apart from the scary tunnels. A flashlight is recommend except if you like to have your significant other hold on tight to yourself...

Grand Formosa Taroko Western Restaurant, Taiwan

The decor is wood and a large slab of rock next to which are placed the various salad dish. Two more islands have most of the meat dishes and a chef speciality area. Tucked in a corner the desserts are layed out.

The staff is very accomodating and prompt, offering us good seats and are quick at picking up the steady stream of dishes.

The desserts are all delicious and include a mango mousse, an angel cake, fruitcake and more. There is also some watermelon and if you want to go French style you can get some of the tasty smoked gouda cheese in addition to a Min Lin's favorite, matcha (green tea) ice cream. The chef was nice enough to bring an extra plate of cheese when we scavenged the last piece.

Wait you'll say, what about the main dishes? Sadly, they are all messed up in their own special way with an uniform abuse of pepper in all dishes. The supposedly French style onion soup is an insult to France and even the spaghetti ranks as the worse I've had.

The buffet food is 590NT$ plus a 10% service charge. We recommend stuffing yourself on the afternoon tea (250NT$) and going for some stinky tofu next door for dinner.

Grand Formosa Taroko 天祥晶華度假酒店, Tien-Xiang 天祥, Taiwan

Ma-Lu-Su? ("How are you?" in the language of the Atayal, a local aboriginal mountain tribe)

Nested in the mountains and only reachable by an half hour drive in the sinuous and narrow roads through the tall mountains is the Grand Formosa Taroko hotel 天祥晶華度假酒店.

Years ago, the Japaneses during the occupation were the first to turn the region from a dangerous mountain path hanging dangerously on the cliff of the mountains to a tourists destination.

Now, tour buses of mostly Taiwaneses and mainlanders with a few westerners and Japaneses sprinkled throughout negotiate a not much larger road, stopping to admire the beautiful sights of the high, jungle covered mountains and bare cliffs that drop to the rivers.

Some, like us, stop at the amazingly affordable five stars hotel Grand Formosa Taroko with all the modern facilities in the middle of it all. Two restaurants (one western style buffet and one chinese style), indoor and outdoor (roof) swimming pools, spa facilities and a gamut of entertainment choices (ping pong, billiards, video games, bowling). The dinner buffet looks delicious although expensive even by the standards in North America.

You can get a room with a view on the courtyard or overlooking the river and cliff outside. We switched to the second choice so we could run naked in the room with the windows opened.

At night, huge insects (including an enormous wasp that made it in the room) are attracted to the light and land on our window. A bat profits of this by flying again and again next to our window to eat them.

The rooms are decorated tastefully with some inspirations from the mountain tribes while the friendly employees wear uniforms with slight additions that reminds us of traditional aboriginal tribes.

Amazing, if not slightly nauseating, that this mountainous and remote area went from tribes getting necessities from nature to hydroelectric dams to the comforts found in any large city of the world in the span of less than 75 years with the help of a few generations of murdered natives or exploited labor.

All of this so that I can make a call sitting on the toilet by using the convenient phone handset there or watch HBO while lounging on the bed...

Thank you doesn't seem enough.

The only thing left to do then is to complain about how hard the bed is, how the hotel corridors are smelly and how few towels there are.

S-Wa-Yai Da Da! (goodbye in Atayal)

Hike in mysterious valley, Shakadang trail 砂卡礑步道, Taroko National park 太魯閣國家公園, Taiwan

The staff at the hotel Taroko warmed up to us and we warmed up to them. We were going to leave for the next hotel but they convinced us to try at least one trail, the Shakadang trail 砂卡礑步道.

So after breakfast (fried egg sandwich) we did a 8 km hike through the 1 km tunnel that goes to the "mysterious valley", then following a trail built into one cliff and finally the mostly dried river bed with just enough water for miniature waterfalls and small fishes.

There are a few aboriginal people still living in the valley and they grow a kind of vegetable consumed for its leafs in addition to raising a few chickens.

We then came back to Taroko village and had lunch, mostly gathered from the local 7 Eleven store.

Hotel Taroko 太魯閣旅店, Taroko village 太魯閣, Taiwan

Taroko village 太魯閣 is the entrance of Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園, but we found that it is a scary and deserted place at night: gangs of 12 years old holding sticks roving at night (we only survived those when we said we were Canadians), mean dogs on leashes that jump at you to push you off the sidewalks, a 7 Eleven kept at freezing temperature and a series of abandoned and probably haunted houses that dot its main street.

The hotel Taroko 太魯閣旅店 staff is unwelcoming this late at night, almost requiring torture to extract tidbits of information while a dog keeps barking menacingly outside.

Our inquiries about using the bicycles are met with veiled threats that we will be run over on the pathless streets of Taroko. We discovered later that this isn't strictly true; there are some bike paths.

We took the most expensive room and ended up with a bed with the firmness of plywood. The shower is so badly designed that the hook to hold the shower head is aligned with and two feets from the sink.

A little sign in the shower warns that we have to let the water run for 5 minutes to get hot water. In actuality, this is more like 15 minutes - I had time enough to brush my teeth and take a full (cold) shower including an hair shampoo before the hot water came on, wasting probably the equivalent of an Olympic size pool. I can assume that the environment won't be an hot issue during the next political elections. Min Lin in the meantime was trying to get the issue resolved with the front desk but only got accusations that we didn't let the water run for long enough...

The restaurant across the street has a good wild (and by wild they mean farm raised) boar dish. However they probably couldn't serve a vegetarian dish if their life depended on it as they gave Min Lin noodles with bits of meat in it.

The next day is a different story. We must admit it is still a good, new, clean hotel well located next to a national park with a view on the nearby river and mountains. And the front desk woman finally cracks a smile while the manager gets up and is actually helpful. Sadly, they still give us misinformation and we end up too early at the visitor center as we were told it opened at 7:30 instead of 8:30.

Départ de Shiacarl 夏卡爾, Green Island, Taiwan

Shiacarl près des montagnes sur l'ile verte attends,
Au large de la côte est de Taiwan dans le vent ,
Pour les petits bateaux de pêche sur l'eau,
Pour les nages parmis poissons colorés et les coraux,
Pour les marches dans les sentiers de randonnées
Pour les baignades dans les eaux thermales salées,
Mais surtout pour l'hospitalité,
De nos hôtes à Shiacarl toujours gaies,
Le savoir de l'ile du grand frère,
Le sourire de la blonde du grand frère,
Et l'attention du petit frère du grand frère,
Nous sers d'un merveilleux pied a terre,
La bouffe est bonne surtout autour du feu de camp,
Pour manger calmars, maïs et poissons volants.

5th day on Green Island, Taiwan

That morning we moved back from the other B&B to Shiacarl, taking our two carry-ons and two backpacks on the scooter for the 1mn ride (they are basically next to each other).

After another delicious breakfast, we went to the "cow head", a rock formation on the north east tip of the island that looks like a cow. I can't say I see it but they've conveniently also added a cow skull to the scenery. There are also remnants there of various abandoned fortifications, although I wonder who built it and why.

We drove back through the town (another shaved ice) back to Shiacarl and I went out for more snorkeling where I got a slight sunburn on my back.

We had lunch in town at the Seaweed Meatball restaurant and the owner (Tino) invited us to come back that night for a neat experience.

So we drove again at 6pm that night. The activity was to walk around the littoral and pick up various form of wildlife: crabs and shellfish. We also saw a big "sea rabbit" that emits a red cloud when disturbed in addition to many sea cucumbers and corals. Pretty neat! We could also see a big thunderstorm over the ocean west of the island but luckily we only got a few drops.

4th day on Green Island

After breakfast at Shiacarl, we went hiking in the ancient across the mountain trail. We saw many lizards taking in the sun in the trail and scurrying into the bushes when we came by, except for two that took an aggressive stance when we were coming down the mountain - probably frustrated at having their sunbathing interrupted all the time. We also saw a deer (a smaller kind then the Sika deer) and a big shiny salamander in addition to many butterflied.

We had to checkout from Shiacarl since they did not have a room for us on Saturday night, so we moved to an hotel in the same village. As most buildings in Taiwan, the exterior looks of older buildings is awful but the actual room was nice, although the mattress was a lot firmer than I'm used to. Still, a very good alternative 20% to 30% less expensive than Shiacarl, although you don't get the same personalized experience and there is no breakfast.

Talking about hospitality, our hosts at Shiacarl invited us to BBQ! The food involved is much different than in north America... We had flying fish (salted and whole), sausage, squid, chicken tail, slices of pork, fish soup (I had an entire small fish floating in my bowl) and corn.

That day, we've also tried out the shaved ice downtown which is ice with red beans, tofu, seaweed, condensed milk and a few other ingredients that are very refreshing.

Google on the road

[This is in no way official or approved by my employer].

I'm biased but Google online apps and the HTC/T-Mobile/Google G1 running the Android stack (with Linux OS) have been very useful on this trip. Any wireless access point as provided in most hotels (and even in the Green Island B&B!) turns the G1 in a portable computer.

The qwerty keyboard makes blogging and sending out emails practical at a reasonable speed that would not be possible with an onscreen keyboard. Writing these blog posts to share our trip with you is an activity I like to do while waiting for Min Lin to finish up whatever she is doing or waiting for meals.

I found the best way to blog on the road is to use the blogspot email-to-blog functionality. Using drafts on the Android email clients makes it possible to write my thoughts and observations offline to queue them for sending the next time I have net access.

The pictures taken with the built-in camera are low quality which makes them perfect as a preview to the pics taken with my "real" digicam. Email pics attachments to the email to blog are automatically converted. This is an awesome feature which is actually a lot easier than creating a blog post, transferring pics and uploading them.

Since we did not make reservations ahead, Min Lin researched and made reservations on the road and even paid for rooms on secure sites.

Of course, Google search engine has been useful to look things like "jellyfish sting taiwan" to figure out if I was going to die or not.

Some Android apps are awesomely useful too on a trip. I've fallen in love with My Tracks, which uses the built-in GPS (yes, a real GPS!) to record any kind of travel from hiking to train rides. It provides statistics (such as average speed and moving average speed), elevation profile and of course the recorded path on a map. You can also share the tracks, although that doesn't currently work with the OS version I have installed.

There is also the Sky Map application that uses the GPS, compass and accelerometer to show celestial bodies and constellations names. Hold it up at night with a starry sky in the background and you can finally put a name on those shiny things in the sky!

The future is here and it's useful! I think that there is a lot of potential here.

Third day on Green Island

After going to the hot spring, we slept a little and afterward I went snorkeling. I got in my mind to try picking up some of the plastic trash floating around. When I got to what I thought was a blue piece of plastic, I got a strange burning sensation between my fingers... Jellyfish! My whole right arm was numb. I put some vinegar on it but one of the B&B owner told me that pee was more effective so I tried that in the shower. I was worried it would get worse (some jellyfish are so poisonous that they are deadly) but the pain went away by noon.

We went downtown to get some gas for the scooter and taste the shaved ice. We then went back, had a beer and a while later bit returned to the water for some snorkeling together. Among other things, I saw an impressive lion fish.

After dinner, we went to a special night tour of the island with one of the host. We looked at the stars, a family of Sika deer, brown and green stick insects (the later is a protected specie) and the memorial to the five hundreds political prisoners or so during the Kuomingtang dictatorship.

Our last stop was to get some stinky tofu downtown...

Shiacarl Cafe 夏卡爾, Green Island, Taiwan

The B&B also doubles as a small cafe for serving guests and outside customers. The eating area is nicely decorated with relaxing music and a soothing ocean breeze.

Our hosts and hostess Selena all take turn cooking and luckily for us they also make the best food on the island, although they quite humble about it.

While the downtown is bland or excessively bizarre, their food strike the right balance between original and good taste. Of particular note is the fruit salad that is common to most of her dishes. They are also accommodating of their mixed carnivorous and vegetarian guests, serving versions of both for any dishes to me and Min Lin. the vegetarian version is also not an inferior version of the meat dish, but delicious in its own way.

I love the fact that we don't have to choose the dishes; we just tell them when we want to eat and the dishes are served, a pleasant surprise everytime.

Jhaorih saltwater hot spring 朝日溫泉, Green Island, Taiwan

5 minutes drive away from the hotel there is an ocean side hot spring where the saltwater is heated by the underground magma - one of the only three saltwater hot spring in the world where this experience is available.

The resort was called Jhaorih saltwater hot spring (rising sun) 朝日溫泉 during the Japanese occupation, so it is not entirely surprising that rush hour is 5am, just before sunrise. Tradition demands to sit down on the lukewarm water next to the reef where waves crash noisily, although not loud enough to cover the loud discussions of the Taiwanese that made the stop too.

Interestingly, a few hours later the resort is practically empty and me and Min Lin were left almost alone to enjoy the beautiful view and the hot water jets.

Real Snorkeling (2nd day on Green Island), Taiwan

Yesterday, we went out to the small port that is just across the street from the hotel. I dove in while Min Lin was looking and walking on the littoral.

Just there, below the surface, fishes and coral abound. I saw one of those strange tube like trumpet fish and a small moray hunting in the crevisses that took a cobra like pose when it saw me. There were also huge urchins, their spiky exterior sticking to the walls. The most beautiful was a fiery orange fish, but all the rainbows colors were there on fish of all sizes and stripes.

When I came out of the water, Min Lin reported happily that even the small ponds that she walked along were filled with wildlife such as crabs, fishes jumping from one small reservoir to the other, colorful babies of the bigger ones we see in the water.

Around the island (second day), Green Island, Taiwan

We had breakfast at the B&B, Shiacarl. It was pretty tasty although I did not like the sausage so I gave the second piece to the dog mascot (tooto) and he seem to rather enjoy it. That dog is an expert at begging food from guests!

The B&B is owned by a very nice and welcoming family that invested a lot of money in achieving their dream of an island job, quitting their jobs to come here. They have 6 rooms (4 for 2p, 2 for 4p) for rent in addition to rooms for more frequent guests. A sign of their philosophy: no TV in rooms! They find the guests being dismayed at that fact very amusing too...

We then went for a scooter ride to go around the entire 20 km loop around the island from 8am to noon with an half hour stop for lunch in the downtown area.

Of course, this includes a few stops along the way to admire the sights. There is a wonderful observation point perched on top of a rock that looks down on two rock formations; one is called the sleeping beauty and the other the dog and they both look like they are described. We also drove down sea level in the location of an old native village and the largest arch on the island. We then went by a Buddhist temple in an underground cave. We also spent some time in the visitor center getting information and sending postcards.

For lunch, I had Sika deer meat (chewy and gamy) while Min Lin ate some fried rice. We drank ibiscus and prune juice, similar to what we had at the dragon restaurant.

Snorkeling around Green Island, Taiwan

One set of differences in cultures is what they fear and what they don't. Japaneses will gladly eat fugu (pufferfish) that could kill them but fearful of foreigners. Germans will be happy to get comatose drunk but fear slipping back into militarism. Californians (not a nationality but still pretty distinct) will do all kind of extreme sports but fear being in the wrong school districts.

Taiwaneses will happily speed at 80 km/h on an old decrepit scooter without an helmet but fear water. This is especially strange for a people living on an island, but Min Lin says learning to swim was never much of a priority when they were children. This explains why Taiwaneses visiting the island have so easily assimilated the fear that swimming alone means you could be dragged by underwater currents all the way to Okinawa...

Instead of educating people, having people sign non-responsibility releases or doing proper management of areas to ensure people swim safely, Taiwan decided instead that you needed a certified instructor to hold your hand. It is just coincidence that it also keeps the local snorkeling businesses going too...

So it is all decked out with a swimsuit, a lifejacket and holding to one of 8 lifesavers strung together in a group of 25 other persons that I lived my first snorkeling experience on Green Island. Not only did I feel ridiculous and insulted, but the sense of adventure and discovery is gone. The experience is as artificial as floating on top of an aquarium.

Yes, of course, the fishes are colorful, varied and bountiful. They've gotten into the habit of eating all the bread that tourism gives them so they gather in the area.

This creates a Disney like experience and a crowd pleaser that will make the experience very enjoyable for first timers.... But I can't seem to get out that the freedom, romance and sense of wonder is missing compared to our experiences on the French Riviera. I'm also wondering how long this will last with hundreds of tourism stepping awkwardly on coral - it seems that the instructors responsibilities don't include educating people to protect the wildlife, although it is forbidden to take anything away (60K NT$).

Just make sure that if you want that freedom you bring some kind of internationally recognized certification...

Transportation on Green Island, Taiwan

After our ride to the hotel, we decided to go to the downtown area. The island is surrounded by a 20 km road that creates a ring between the mountains and the ocean. From the hotel, the downtown area is 8 km away.

The best way to get around is the scooter: it is energy efficient, well suited to the nice weather and the narrow road and was probably easier to bring to the island by boat too.

The problem is that I don't have my permit and Min Lin's doesn't like to drive... Well, at least we thought it would be a problem because I was handed the keys to a scooter without any questions!

So off I went driving my first real motorized vehicle on the narrow and weaving roads of the island, Min Lin sitting behind me and squeezing me, reminding us from a typical scene from a romantic Chinese movie. The scooter tops out at 80 km/h as I discovered on a few straight stretches.

Luckily, there are very few other visitors to the island right now, because Taiwanese drive as crazy as in Taipei - zig zagging between other scooters and pedestrian at high speed. We seem to be also the only ones wearing an helmet even if the law requires it!

That night, it was also my first time (like everything else on a motor vehicle) driving in the dark. There is no light provided on the road but apart from a few near misses where we almost drove into the water, we made it back safely.

For some weird reason, Min Lin walks away from my rides feeling stressed...

The trip to Green island 綠島, Taiwan

We got a ride from the hotel to the port of Taitung. There, pushy group guides tried to cut in line until Min Lin got real miffed and started shouting. For some strange reason, Taiwaneses here think I'm Japanese and that it gives them the right to walk all over me until Min Lin gives them crap in the Taiwanese dialect.

The 50 minutes boat trip was uneventful apart from the exocets flying away from the boat, a glimpse at a dolphin (according to Min Lin) and the sight of a few passengers getting sick.

We got a ride from the B&B owner in the back of his two seats Pronto truck. I don't think he made any allowance for trying safer either! Strangely, reckless and fun motor vehicle behavior is not matched with any flexibility in water sports; every tourism must be part of a group.

Arriving at the Shiacarl B&B 夏卡爾民宿, the room we got is quite nice; wooden floors in a 3 stories building with a strict rule not to walk in the room with shoes on; a good Japanese tradition. Our room has a view on the ocean and the jungle near the south-east tip of the island.

Dragon water tea house, Jiben, Taiwan

After the hot spring cooked eggs, we decided to keep walking towards the Jiben royal hotel. We saw another family of monkeys on the side of the road. They are easy to spot because they get very noisy (like Taiwanese tour groups) and jump from branch to branch when someone walks by.

Our plan was to either find a restaurant or call up the one that was advertising free pick up. However, we then found a sign indicating that the restaurant was 600m away so we decided to walk... uphill.

550m... 500m... was this such a good idea?... 400m... 300m... maybe we should have called them?...200m... the farmer that we had seen coming up earlier with a bag of vegetables is now coming back down with a quizzical face... 100m... we've worked up quite a sweat... 50m... an ugly old shed on the side of the road is not confidence inspiring... "you are almost there".... "just right around the bend"...

The vista opens up on the cloud covered mountains, an orchestra of singing birds, scratching insects, croaking frogs, howling monkeys and foliage dancing in the wind.

The restaurant is a bamboo patio built as an extension to a private home where 5 generations of the same Taiwanese family lived.

As dusk comes, we can see the lights of the nearby city, Taitung. A counter in the restaurant offers wood carved products, rare teas, a variety of body oils. The lady, somewhat surprised to see us without reservations, welcomes us and demoes a mint essential oil to help cold down our overheated bodies. She takes our order for dinner and two drinks (one from a flower and the other prune, both very strong).

The food is zen; simple but tasty, including a mountain vegetable in a light black bean sauce. Eating slowly while admiring the show that nature is putting on is very relaxing.

We soon take our leave, pay our dinner (700$NT total) and use the free ride back to the hotel...

Tonight in Rainbow Hotel 泓泉溫泉渡假村, Jiben, Taiwan

Another two hours by train and a taxi ride brought us in a remote area in the mountains with many hot springs resorts. We are staying at the Rainbow Hotel 泓泉溫泉渡假村 in Jiben hot spring area. Very basic accommodations since the hotel is pretty old. The facilities are small but have one major advantage compared to spa resorts; the water is naturally heated by geothermal energy and with a large quantity of minerals doesn't need chlorination.

We went for as small walk and saw a monkey. Apart from that the trail is again littered with all kinds of garbage, including an entire bath!

We then went for a walk in the hope of finding something better than the ghastly restaurant at the hotel. We found a place where you can buy and cook eggs in the boiling hot spring water - a Min Lin's favorite.

Second day at Hotel Bayview 七星潭渡假飯店, Hualien 花蓮, Taiwan

As planned, we woke up before sunrise and after taking a few pics of the sun over the ocean, we went for an hour and 30 minutes (15km) round trip bike ride. This time we went north instead of the south direction we took yesterday.

The bike path is as beautiful and well constructed as the other segment and 1km of the path goes through a botanical park, a fishing village, a cemetery while close to the military base.

The breakfast was also quite good with lots of vegetarian choices for Min Lin including congee and egg foo young. They also serve watermelon; this is a region specialty and it is considered the best in Taiwan. Not only that, but there is currently a watermelon festival going on.

All in all, we got a great deal for 2600$NT (80$USD) and we'll certainly remember room 507! I think it helps that the co-owner also lived in Argentina like Min Lin so they are being extra nice.

As far as now, the weather in mid-may is good too; although very hot at 30 celcius and is not as humid and we don't have much to worry about typhoon. But it is definitely a great idea to put all physical activities early in the morning and late in the evening.

Going to Chixintang 七星潭 (near Hualien 花蓮), Taiwan

Today, we took the train #2039 limited express from Taipei main station, car 9 seats 14 and 16 at noon. The trip duration was 3h and 8 minutes and the train started exactly on time and made it on time.

Was this an habit inherited from when Japan occupied Taiwan? Are the train on the mainland generally on time? It is depressing to compare this to the sorry state of public transportation and train transportation in North America.

One of the hotel owner took us from Hualien station to the hotel as we were one of the very few visitors that came without a car.

We were immediately impressed by the gorgeous blue and white exterior of the Bay View hotel 七星潭渡假飯店. All employees are very friendly and for once, the room was even better!

Located on the 5th and top floor, it has a superb view of the ocean as the name promised and the room setting is pretty close to the ideal we have for the dream apartment! It has a big bath, a spacious shower, a comfortable bed. The bathroom is surrounded by glass so it is possible to take a bath and admire the ocean view! To top it all NO STUPID CARPETING! Yeah!

The roof has also a lounge area and a jacuzzi that sadly wasn't working. The police will also not permit you to swim in the ocean due to the dangerous waves. I learned that when two of them came and told me to get out after I had some fun breaking the rule and feigning ignorance at the chinese only sign. I still had enough time to enjoy the experience of surprisingly warm water crashing into me a few times.

Since water is out, you have to fallback on the good and free bicycles and the wonderful 10 km coast bike trail. The mountains looking north are quite a sight. You also get a peek at the airforce base (with F16 galore) and the AA flak cannons. I can only imagine that this is possible with the recent detente in relationships with mainland China.

We are also looking forward to the sunrise tomorrow at 5:13 am which should be great since our view is due east.

A can't miss hotel on the east coast of Taiwan although the limited activities and food options probably mean you'll spend only one or two nights. Luckily the area is surrounded with sights and places to go. More in future posts.