March 2011
8th – Arrival in Taipei, Taiwan. After a recovery nap on the afternoon of arrival, we explored the city via the excellent subway system for the usual markets and high-rise buildings. Nice, clean city that made us feel like we were at home, but was probably more attributed to the weather than anything else. 13 degrees and it felt Baltic, especially as we’re not kitted out for that kind of weather!
11th – Hired car to tour island. Drove to northern tip of island to Yeliu Geopark, a formation of lunarscape-looking rocks. It included the ‘Queens Head’, a rather regal-shaped neck and head formed by the sea over thousands of years. Drove south for a night at Sun Moon Lake, the largest body of freshwater in Taiwan, in the middle of the island where, en-route, we heard of the Japan earthquake on the radio (see recent blog).
12th – Took the scenic route through the mountains that almost made us drive off the edge by losing the will to live after they never seemed to end. Wasted countless hours doing so to get to the old capital of Tainan. Quick stop to see temple famous for its Banyan tree and on to Kaohsiung, a nice city which made us wish we had more time to explore it. Arrived so late there was nothing to do but hit the hay. We did manage to cruise the water front in our drop-top low rider sitting on 24-inch phat rims while pumping out thunderous bass from the stereo. No wait, maybe we were delirious from lack of sleep and a hectic schedule. Rather, it was a meek ‘tobe’ branded car, whatever that is, equivalent to a Toyota Yaris.
13th – Drove to Kenting, the southern tip of the island, to Taiwan’s premier beach resort. Quick view and walk of beach to observe mental, mental, chicken orientals at play and purchase obligatory tourist t-shirt before quick turnaround back up to Taipei. For an island only approximately 287 miles in length and potentially a 4-hour drive at most, you would not believe how long it took to drive its length, so we knew we were in for a long drive back. Slept in car once back in Taipei at Beitou, known for its hot springs. Since they are open 24hrs and it was normal to see people rock up at 3am to use them, we felt perfectly safe and will go as far as to say we actually had a good night’s sleep!
14th – Returned car and spent the afternoon in Taipei. Visited the excellent Longshan temple before heading to the airport for another satisfying night’s sleep…on the plane for a couple of hours on the way to Boracay via Manila.
No comments:
Post a Comment