While we wait, we travel. This past weekend we took a trip to the northern tip of Taiwan - a place we never visited last time we were here. It is stunningly beautiful, rugged and lush at the same time, oceanic and mountainous at the same time... . And we found an awsome rock climbing place. For those who might make sense of this, it is like Giscome on steroids. We only got to go bouldering for a while as we havent got our stuff out here yet, and we wanted to do some recon on the new area before we lugged all our stuff 4 hours north for no reason. But now there is reason!
The trip started in Hualien Friday, where I was turned down for a scooter license....cheers to driving illegally, I guess. We caught a train north to Badu, then to Keelung. Keelung was nice suprise - I think we were expectting a dirty harbour town....as it is supposed to be a dirty harbour town...but found it to be lively, calm, exciting and clean. Worth a trip back, for sure. It is also the jumping off point for the best rock climbing in Taiwan, awsome hiking and swimming and - so we are told - excellent sea kayaking. Lots to discover still!
Here is an evening view of the main river cutting through Keelung. This was opposite to a bumping and grinding night market.
OJ at the night market, freshly made and kept cold!
We had just finished eating, and the pain of satiety would not allow me to eat any more food. But oh how I wanted these fresh, warm and tastey treats.
Crystal posing by a display of dragons, Chinese mythological beings and people, and of course fish.
This may take explaining. What you see are two hotel room doors. They are number 401 and 402 I believe. They are not ours. Neither. Chinese culture has this thing with the number 4. It is pronounced very similar to the way you pronounce the word for "death". Same sound, just a different tone. So, when people check into a hotel, area seated at a table, etc, they absolutley do not want to be at table 4, room 4, 4th floor, etc. It doesnt exist, similar to the way most Western buildings do not have a 13th floor. Silly, yes. But when we actually saw a 4th floor, with working hotel rooms on it (sometimes the 4th floor, whether it is called the 4th floor or the 5th floor...1-2-3-5-6-7-etc...will be the laundry, cleaning supplies floor so that nobody has to deal with the angst of being on a floor that sounds like death) we were a wee bit suprised, hence the picture.
This was near a bar we went to for a nightcap. Despite having awsome beer, made in Taiwan - multiple brands, lager and ale - the "cool" bars will never serve it. What they will serve you is Budwiser, Coors, Corona or Carlsberg. Now, I can deal with these brands, but when you are looking for a quality local brew, and you know that they are everywhere, and you go to a nice place for a calm drink to take the heat off in the midst of a tropical oasis, it gets one resentful to actually speak the words "Ill have a bud". We wouldnt sink low enough to accept coors. So, Carlsberg it was. Apparently local stuff isnt "cool", and anything foreign is.
Temple at night. This was an excellent little discovery as we meandered our way through the streets and backroads of Keelung when we arrived.
A short walk from the previous temple was this shrine with massive ornate sculptures. Trevor is in there for scale.
Keelung at night.
The moon and the temple gates. Despite the religious overtones of both the Daoist and Buddhist
temples, they certainly are more beautiful and painstakinly crafted than the alternative ones.
The next day we made our way through the barrage of bus terminals to make it to LongDong Village and the start of both a bunch of trails in the mountains, and the rock climbing area. The ridge in the distance below the "Geopark" sign was our destination for rock climbing.
Fishing boat leaving LongDong harbour, midday.
Crystal, making her way to the climbing wall (ABOVE) and Trevor doing the same (BELOW).
Approaching the climbing wall. This was stellar hiking along the coastline. Absolutely stunning.
Near from where the previous picture of Crystal was taken, a lone person fishes in the shallows.
Crystal in the rocks, again.
Ok...so it was hot. Stupid hot. Hot enough that I gave up trying to stay dry and just let my body go with the heat. And it made me look like I peed my pants. When Crystal took this picture I thought that I was "pretty wet with sweat". The shirt is 100% drenched, but keep scrolling down to see how this progressed in short time....
Scenery along the cliff that mirrors the coastline.
This critter was about the size of my palm. Massive, and strikingly colourful. On the back of it is a pattern that lookes like a smiling face, but I was not about to crawl into the bushes and disturb such a massive beast to try to get a glimpse of it!
The view from one of the climbing areas.
ABOVE and BELOW: Us climbing around. Ok, so check out the saturation level my pants. My entire pants were dripping wet by the end of the day. Not the most pleasant thought or mental image....but.....so goes the world in Taiwan!
Project. When the rope arrives, it will be accomplished.
*Insert a long episode of hitchhiking, ending up a our drivers house for a beer and a meal with his grandparents, then ending up back there at night for an evening bbq and more festivites with his friends, then arriving back at our hotel in Fulong (near the climbing place) around 2am...crazy evening.
...and then we took the train home.
This was near a bar we went to for a nightcap. Despite having awsome beer, made in Taiwan - multiple brands, lager and ale - the "cool" bars will never serve it. What they will serve you is Budwiser, Coors, Corona or Carlsberg. Now, I can deal with these brands, but when you are looking for a quality local brew, and you know that they are everywhere, and you go to a nice place for a calm drink to take the heat off in the midst of a tropical oasis, it gets one resentful to actually speak the words "Ill have a bud". We wouldnt sink low enough to accept coors. So, Carlsberg it was. Apparently local stuff isnt "cool", and anything foreign is.
Temple at night. This was an excellent little discovery as we meandered our way through the streets and backroads of Keelung when we arrived.
A short walk from the previous temple was this shrine with massive ornate sculptures. Trevor is in there for scale.
Keelung at night.
The moon and the temple gates. Despite the religious overtones of both the Daoist and Buddhisttemples, they certainly are more beautiful and painstakinly crafted than the alternative ones.
The next day we made our way through the barrage of bus terminals to make it to LongDong Village and the start of both a bunch of trails in the mountains, and the rock climbing area. The ridge in the distance below the "Geopark" sign was our destination for rock climbing.
Fishing boat leaving LongDong harbour, midday.
Crystal, making her way to the climbing wall (ABOVE) and Trevor doing the same (BELOW).
Approaching the climbing wall. This was stellar hiking along the coastline. Absolutely stunning.
Near from where the previous picture of Crystal was taken, a lone person fishes in the shallows.
Crystal in the rocks, again.
Ok...so it was hot. Stupid hot. Hot enough that I gave up trying to stay dry and just let my body go with the heat. And it made me look like I peed my pants. When Crystal took this picture I thought that I was "pretty wet with sweat". The shirt is 100% drenched, but keep scrolling down to see how this progressed in short time....
Scenery along the cliff that mirrors the coastline.
This critter was about the size of my palm. Massive, and strikingly colourful. On the back of it is a pattern that lookes like a smiling face, but I was not about to crawl into the bushes and disturb such a massive beast to try to get a glimpse of it!
The view from one of the climbing areas.
ABOVE and BELOW: Us climbing around. Ok, so check out the saturation level my pants. My entire pants were dripping wet by the end of the day. Not the most pleasant thought or mental image....but.....so goes the world in Taiwan!
Project. When the rope arrives, it will be accomplished.*Insert a long episode of hitchhiking, ending up a our drivers house for a beer and a meal with his grandparents, then ending up back there at night for an evening bbq and more festivites with his friends, then arriving back at our hotel in Fulong (near the climbing place) around 2am...crazy evening.
...and then we took the train home.