Sunday, April 18, 2010

Orchid Island: School Field Trip

Part I: Orchid Island (School Trip)

Last week was a field trip to Orchid Island (LanYu). We left Thursday morning on the 10am ferry, made it to the island by 1pm. Horrid ride, three hours of swells the height of our ferry, driving winds and it was all I could do to keep my breakfast in my stomach. An absolutely wretched ride, and to stand still for three straight hours while the boat tries to make you vomit is not the nicest way to start a trip! Despite this, there were plenty of flying fish and dolphins to see along the way...and open ocean. Lots of open ocean...

We had some time to kill between getting to the ferry terminal and the actual departure, so I mingled about in the fish market and snapped some more pics of Taiwans sea life (soon to be plate life). This market is, again, highly ordered and auction style and the seller moves through the fish catch with ease and speed. Most fish are, I am told, sold for a very good price.










Then, on to the ferry. No pictures from the ride itself...I just managed one self portrait as we docked on the island. Feeling ill, hungry and tired and just overall contempt for ferries in general, I just wanted to walk on dry land and be alone!




After getting settled in our hotel (the whole school went, teachers and students and some family members, so this took some time to organize...gottal love massive group tours trying to accomplish something simple!) we wenbt for a walk up in the mountains to visit the islands weather station. In driving winds and pouring rain the better part of our group made it to the top and got to see the islands science base.










Then we returned for a meal...











...and then went to the islands junior high school to share dances and meet. This was the primary reason for our visit, a cultural exchange between not only two different schools but two totally different cultures. The tribe that makes up the population of our school is Amis (ah-meece) and the tribe that is on this island is Yami (yah-me). Totally different not only in history and clothing, but in food, appearance and if I was not familair with the diversity of Taiwans people, I would swear that they were no where related...but, alas, they are and their separation has simply driven two separate cultures to arise. Our school wanted to take an opportunity to share cultures - Orchid Island is very separated and isolated from Taiwan, an entity in of itself - and this trip was an outreach to raise awareness of the students of the different cultures of Taiwan. There are 15 recognized tribes, as well as the Chinese cultures (three waves of chinese immigration spawned three distinct Chinese cultures on Taiwan.





The next day we visited the islands primary school, and shared dances and songs again, and took part in some races and games to get the kids playing together. Again, the point was to bridge the gap that the tribal separation has caused so far. The best part, by far, was seeing their indigenous dress. The female dress is fine, colourful and practical. The male dress...



...rediculous. And before you call me insensitive or irrational in my dismissal of other cultures, you have to see a pic below that explains the irrationality of this outfit. First, it is made of metal. And Orchid Island is the absolute hottest place in Taiwan, which is itself one of the hottest places on Earth (along with many...). So, wearing a full metal helmet while you work might seem like a porrly planned idea. Second, they cant see out of the helmet. When they walk around the villages they have to raise the helmet up above their eyes and look out from under it. Its like an uncomfortable halloween mask, that makes you extremely hot in a sultry hot climate and you top it all off with diaper like pants. These, at least, have a function of keeping them cool and highly mobile (for fishing and farming, which - fishing primarily, is there bread and butter). Its definitely the most interesting traditional dress to be found on Taiwan, on the main island or any of its sub-islands, and unlike most of the other tribes of Taiwan, the people here still wear it, use there traditional materials (boats and houses such) and live the traditional lifetyle. For the most part, Taiwanese aboriginal culture is relegated to festivals and special holidays. You would never find an Amis elder wearing their traditional dress on a regular day, but on Orchid Island, the Yami wear it as their main clothing (the elders, at least).




After the school visit, going snorkeling (where I saw my first angle fish...a massive black beauty!) we returned to the hotel and had a night in. The next day, before returning home (I opted for a flight instead of a ferry....I just could not face the pain again!) we did a tour of the island and saw some of the sights. The best part we definitley the old village housing, seen above, in defence agains the winds from the ocean, and the tradiational boats that are still in use. These were waiting to go out and catch the days fish.

We saw some cool rock formations and tidal flats...








And got to see the traditional dress in action. Here is the dress as it should be, and below...


Is the dress as it is used. Every three steps, they lift the hat and see where they are going. Still, a cool looking outfit.




Then home....I traded in my 3 hour plus ferry ride for a 20 minute flight and although the take off had us going sideways for the first little bit, it was totally worth it. Calm, an awsome view of the island and the ocean and fast.

Part II: ZhiBen Hotsprings and Taitung
After landing I met Crystal at the Taitung (the city where the ferry terminal and airport is that takes you to the southern islands) train station and we crammed some coffee in us and grabbed a train south to the hotspring village of ZhiBen. Now, we are not the most eager hotspring attendees, I mean they are nice and calming and awsome, but a lot of them are just pools filled with hot water and it is really much more unauthentic that the name suggests. There are some natural hotsprings around that are awsome...totally awsome....but these ones are pretty established. So, we didnt really go there for the geologically heated water, but instead a hike and some monkeys.
Not sure how long the trail is, but there is a steep uphill section, all aided by stairs, that takes you to a really cool lookout that allows you to see most of Taitung city and the ocean and the mountains....a total sandwich of awsoemness. We hiked and hiked, sweat and sweat (the heat is creeping back ever so slowly) and made it to the top. Saw some awsome critters and marveled, once again, in the biodiversity of the forests of Taiwan, and even saw two muntjacks (minibarking deer) and heard them bark off in the distance. Cool, totally cool!!!! but, the highlight of this trail is not the awsome biodivertiy, the epic view, the workout, or the barking beer....it is the fig trees.


Taitung is a strange place for us - we go there so often, but explore very little of it. foreigners are unable to rent scooters there and, without transportation, it is very difficult to get into the nooks and crannies like we do in all other places. It is a beautiful place, so much still to see and do, but the simple reality of no transportation makes getting to those, and discovering new, special places a task of futility. We are working on it, though...piece by piece!