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Taiwan

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    • Taiwan & Hongkong
      Day 14

      Auf den Spuren der Holländer

      August 12, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Heute war unser Reiseziel Tainan, die älteste Stadt Taiwans. Tainan erreichten wir in einer Stunde mit dem Zug ab Kaohsiung. Da Tainan nur ein Zwischenstopp des heutigen Tages war, hatten wir nur 6 Stunden Zeit, um alles Wichtige anzusehen. Der Ursprung Tainans liegt in einer Festung, die durch die „Ost-Indien-Kompanie“ der Holländer im 17. Jahrhundert gebaut wurde. Taiwan wurde dadurch zum Handelsstützpunkt im fernen Osten.
      Wir machten uns sofort auf den Weg dieses sog. Fort Anping genauer anzuschauen. Gleich neben dem Fort war schon die nächste Sehenswürdigkeit, das „Anping Tree House“, ein ehemaliges Salzlager, das nun von der Natur zurückerobert wurde.
      Unser Weg führte uns weiter zu dem anderen Ende der ehemaligen Stadt Anping, an dem sich ein weiteres Fort befand. Dieses wurde jedoch nach der Machtergreifung Chinas in deren Stil umgebaut. Umgeben ist der Chikan-Tower durch einen wunderschön angelegten chinesischen Garten. Zum Abschluss besuchten wir noch eine Konfuzius-Tempelanlage, bevor wir unsere Reise nach Taichung fortsetzten.      Read more

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    • Taiwan & Hongkong
      Day 15

      Fahrradtour um den Sun-Moon-Lake

      August 13, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      Bei strömendem Regen machten wir uns heute morgen mit dem Bus auf den Weg zu dem zwei Stunden entfernten Sonne-Mond-See. Dies ist ein Stausee auf ca. 750m Höhe, welcher früher die Form eines Mondes und einer Sonne hatte.
      Mit wenig Hoffnung auf besseres Wetter, stiegen wir am See aus und mieteten uns trotz allem zwei Fahrräder. Und tatsächlich hatten wir Glück. Nach der ersten halben Stunde Nieselregen hatte der Wettergott Einsicht mit uns und es hörte auf. Später am Tag schaffte es sogar die Sonne durch und es wurde doch noch ein richtig schöner Tag. Wenn zwei Engel reisen...
      Aber nun zurück zu unserer Tour. Sie führte und einmal um den kompletten See herum. Die 33 Kilometer bewältigten wir dabei teils auf der Straße, teils auf eigens gebauten Fahrradwegen auf Stelzen direkt am See entlang. Um alle Sehenswürdigkeiten zu erreichen, mussten wir auch einige Höhenmeter nach oben strampeln. Dafür wurden wir dort stets mit einer tollen Aussicht belohnt. Unser erster Halt war der Wen Wu Tempel, der durch seine riesige mehrstöckige Anlage beeindruckte. Danach ging es weiter zu einer Plattform am See, die leider wieder einige Höhenmeter zu Fuß unterhalb der Straße lag. Nach einem weiteren Tempelstopp, ging es zum nächstgelegenen Punkt unserer Tour. Auf 950m Höhe stand eine prächtige Pagode. Nach weiteren 50m standen wir auf deren Spitze und hatten eine wunderschöne Aussicht über den kompletten See sowie die gegenüberliegende Berglandschaft.
      Auf dem weiteren Weg konnten wir die Auswirkungen des kürzlich durchgezogenenTaifuns deutlich sehen: heruntergefallene Äste und laubverdeckte Wege machten die Fahrt zwischenzeitlich zu einer Schlitterpartie. Die letzten 8 Kilometer ging es jedoch entspannt direkt am Seeufer entlang, zurück zu unserem Ausgangspunkt. Waren wir die ganze Zeit so ziemlich die einzigen Radfahrer auf dieser Strecke, trafen wir auf dem letzten Stück viele Taiwanesen auf ihren E-Bikes. Weil wir aber immer noch nicht müde waren und Sarah motiviert war, sind wir nochmal die 5km hoch zum ersten Tempel gefahren. Eigentlicher Grund hierfür war jedoch ein Wunschbringer, auf den es Sarah abgesehen hatte. Den Rückweg schafften wir in der Hälfte der Zeit und erreichten gerade noch rechtzeitig den Bus zurück nach Taichung.      Read more

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    • Vera and TomAsia
      1
      11111
      Day 36

      Hualien

      October 6, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Hualien is on the east coast right accross from Taichung. We thought it would be no more than an hour to cross this small country from west to east but the middle part is full of mountains without public transport (the advised way of travelling is hitchhiking) so we decided to go all the way back to Taipei and then continue on the other side of the country, still no more than 4 hours though.
      Hualien is where to stay if you want to visit the Taroko national park (which we did).
      On our second day we walked down to a park by the beach with massive rocks, it looked so cool and finally it was a bit more breezy there, as usual the weather was humid and we were so sticky. We saw some more beautiful, colorful temples and had some amazing wonton (Chinese dumplings) on the way home.
      Then we were back in Taipei for a day before catching our flight to the next adventure. Back in the same dorm hostel where we couldn't sleep last time. Well, the same happened this time. Do we need our comfort more nowadays? In Hualien we met a group of exchange students who said "It is great you are doing backpacking at your age!" maybe there is some truth in it... :D
      All in all Taiwan was great with fantastic nature, scenery, night markets, street food and Buddist/Taoist/Conficius temples, we are so glad we came.      Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      1
      Day 11

      Taipei Night Market

      October 10, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Smells of everything from roasting horse nuts to fried cheese. We sampled some dumplings and some weird noodle slop. One bite tasty next more slop. Very strange.
      Loads of people and loads of lights. After an hour, definitely time to go back to the hotel to rest the feet.Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      Day 50

      Here come more Le Poidevins

      November 18, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

      Woke up, packed up. Brought some new clothes and chucked some broken ones.
      Then off we go to meet mum, dad and curly at the airport. They landed safely. Family holiday commenced 😁.
      Picked up the hire car and set off toward the small hillside village of Jiufen.
      I drove us for the 1 hour journey. Awful driving conditions with driving rain and wind. It was nice and sunny till they turned up. Ha ha.
      Checked into our hotel on the hill. Nipped out to get some beers and pot noodle for 5. Then an early night for all.      Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      Day 51

      Exploring Jiufen

      November 19, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      Nice leisurely start of 9am. We had breakfast included which was probably the most butter loaded croissant I've ever had, plus a slab of bacon to wash it down with. Heart attack central.
      Drove down toward the coast. Did a short stop at an unplanned temple stop. Amazing place with 7 floors of gold decorated rooms. We managed to lose Hannah and Curly on the way round.
      The roof was covered in dragons and fighting men. Down to the coast after that to see the golden waterfalls and some sandstone rock features next to massive surf. Walked through a forest and up to a headland to see some panoramic views of the sea and a multicolored military base.
      Narrowly avoided paying 100 pounds for some lobster and ormer lunch. We thought it was going to be about a 10th of that.
      Drove up the road back to our village and went straight out to the old street.
      Found a lovely place for tea and nibbles. We had to add small dried tea leaves to a pot, which expanded to about 50 times their size. The green tea made us all feel spaced out.
      Fully spaced out we found somewhere for beer and dumplings, with a great view over the hills and valley.
      On the way back curly took us on a detour down a cave and found another pub at the end. Had 5 huge beers and booked a woody hotel for the next few nights.
      Picked up an Oreo waffle on the way home to share. Well tasty!      Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      Day 52

      Sun Moon Lake

      November 20, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Up to try and get some drone shots but too rainy. 😫.
      Had another heart attack breakfast with butter, more butter, extra butter, chips, sausage and more butter. Artery clogging tastic.
      Drove for 3 hours to a man made lake called Sun Moon Lake. Very picturesque, if a bit cloudy.
      Checked in to our Switzerland style chalet, with high wooden ceilings and a balcony bedroom, overlooking the others for Hannah and I.
      Wandered to the lake and took a boat trip on a catamaran to the other side and back.
      Curly not feeling well, so we went back so she could chill out and have a bath.
      After she warmed up we went out for some food. Almost everything was closed by 7.30 and we struggled to find somewhere to eat.
      Found a nice man who said he would cook us some food. Fed us all with beer for only £20.75, bargain.
      Dad and I had a brief conversation with a swearing parrot on the way home, which I'm sure was made much more funny by the 58% spirit from the store (costing only £1.50 for a little bottle).      Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      1
      Day 53

      An unexpected theme park

      November 21, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Packed up in our woody Switzerland style chalet on the edge of Sun Moon Lake. Very nice breakfast of mushroom fruit, sausage and boiled egg.
      The plan was to walk to the cable car and go to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.

      Cable car gave us some fantastic views over the Sun Moon lake. We walked down the hill being treated to an aboriginal dance and music show. Saw how they used to live in stone huts with wooden carvings everywhere. At the bottom of the hill was a theme park. Not what we were expecting, with big rides. Curly, Hannah and I went on one twice which took you 80m up then dropped you. Great fun.
      With almost no one there, we got on and off most of the rides nice and quickly.
      At 4pm we took the cable car back up to the top and down to our town. A quick beer to watch the sunset ove the lake and back to change. After an hour back at the hotel, we thought we would learn our lesson by heading out early for food.
      No such luck with places closing at 6 all over the place.
      One place was almost full so we went in there. Had a set menu for 7 for 5 of us. Lovely food including fried bananas, pepper beef and fish from the Sun Moon Lake. Stuffed! Back for some wine and a 58% bird seed wine to finish the night. Chriiiiiissstt.      Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      Day 54

      Lambai island

      November 22, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Got on the way for our 3 hour drive at about 10am. We were heading south to get a ferry to the island of Lambai. A small island off the South West coast of Taiwan.
      Arrived and got straight on a fast boat, taking 25mins to get to the Island. Scoped out hiring scooters and bicycles, and settled on electric bikes.
      The island is only 5k long so doesn't take long to get around. Checked into our accommodation and set off to get some dinner from the shop. Salad, hot dogs, sandwiches, beer, more beer and red wine. Made it down to the coast in time for sunset. I got in a quick drone flight whilst everyone else got the beers going. Shortly after the sun went down, we had to abandon the beach as the mosquitos were forming an organised attack, regardless of the deet.

      Had some more food on the balcony overlooking the sea and the stars. Played cards until the bar opened at 8pm. Then proceeded to play pool until 10. Only people in the bar, which was probably quite lucky. At only a pound a beer it was a nice cheap evening.      Read more

    • 9 months Sabbatical
      Day 55

      Lambai island exploring. Turtles galore.

      November 23, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      All finished breakfast by 9.10am! Maybe a heavy booze night makes you feel more awake in the morning. Will have to further test this theory.
      Straight to the north west corner to see a big ball rock thing called Vase rock. (Dad called it Chodyknobend rock). Did the usual Le Poidevin move of walking a further 10m to everyone else and having a bit of beach to yourself.
      Straight into the water for a dip. A strong current, lovely and warm water with Turtles everywhere. Great visibility. Lovely!
      Tried to find a cafe for a while along the coast. Eventually found a coffee shop which made an excellent tuna sarnie and latte float.
      Down to another beach for a glorious swim, so warm! Turtles and lion fish. Plus swarms of Chinese people all with life vests on, tied to their leader.
      We cruised down the East coast seeing the harbour and more tropical coast line. Everyone here drives motor bikes.
      Up to the 7-11 to pick up some more red wine and beers and back to the balcony for sunset and drone flying 😁.
      Curly fancied a pizza so we took the bikes along the coast road. Got lost a few times, I asked a random shop were the pizza shop might be and we got some rough directions. Found the Luna pizza van which did fantastic pizza, including a banana and chocolate one for dessert. Yes yes yes!
      She gave us some recommendations of what to do on the way home, including looking at flowers which only open at night and crab crossing. Half way to the flower place, my electric battery on my bike died. The bikes are very heavy, and not really suitable for just pedalling. We were not that far from the rental place, so I rode it back there. They then swapped all our batteries just in case.
      Loads of night time tourist groups on scooters seeing random sights on our way back. Like hells angels does 50cc tourism. Funny to see.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Taiwan, 타이완 성, 臺灣省 or 台灣省

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