Day 21 (July 29): Sunny Skies in Taichung

To start, we didn’t have better luck today, no internet again. It hasn’t been a big problem – we’ve been kept quite busy, but that’ll explain the post drought followed by multiple entries when these posts are uploaded.

Heading out this morning, we were greeted with a beautiful sight: blue sky. The past few days have had several activities cancelled due to rain, but today seemed like it would finally go smoothly – and it did. After breakfast, we headed back south from Puli to the north side of Sun Moon Lake, to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village – which turned out to be more like a theme park.

Park Entrance.

On arrival, we watched the park’s opening time rituals, involving music and fire. Soon, we entered the “village”, and took a shuttle bus to the top of the hill, allowing us to explore the area from the top down. The first part was a showcase of aboriginal culture, with a section dedicated to each of the recognized tribes of Taiwan.

The opening ceremonies.

At the top of the hill.

Exhibits throughout the hill showcased each of Taiwan's recognized aboriginal tribes.

Left: Fish pond. Right: Inside a home.

Further downhill, the “aboriginal village” turned into a theme park, with water rides and roller coasters. The “Carribean Splash” ride left us fairly wet, and we spent the rest of our time wandering around, eating lunch, exploring a few more rides, and taking the gondola up and down the hill for a better view.

The gondola ride. Left: view towards the bottom of the hill; Right: the top!

We left the Aboriginal village at 2 pm, heading towards Taichung, Taiwan’s third largest city. Our next destination was the 921 Earthquake Museum, located in Wufeng, just south of Taichung. The museum commemorates those who passed away due to the 7.3 magnitude earthquake on September 21, 1999, built among the remains of a school that was built right on the related fault line. The building also provides information on earthquakes, fault lines, and the engineering behind earthquake-proof structures, making the visit an educational experience in addition to remembering the near-3000 who died in the 921 Earthquake and its aftershocks.

Next, we headed into Taichung and we were dropped off at its busiest night market: the Fongjia Night Market. We arrived at five, with the sun still up, but as time progressed, we could see the streets becoming increasingly busier. We’ve become quite familiar with night markets, and I didn’t really buy much today, with the exception of some preserved fruits that make good bus snacks =).

The Fongjia night market. Second largest in Taiwan, only smaller than Shilin.

We were given a snack / light dinner on the bus, so we weren’t too hungry, but right before our 9 p.m. boarding time, a bought a duck wrap thing – a bit of a cross between a gua bau (that I had yesterday), and Peking Duck. It looked good, and tasted good too. I accompanied the food with a papaya milk!

Left: Fongjia night market food alley. Right: Duck wrap thing.

I haven't said much about them yet, but I really have to commend our bus drivers. From driving up those winding mountain roads to intense back-in parking in Taiwanese parking lots. And now trying to pick us up in the middle of a busy night market! Wait, they didn't try. They succeeded =P. 

Our hotel for the night was the Crown Hotel in Taichung, though it’s quite a distance from its downtown. It’s name is quite misleading though, as there was nothing really special or noteworthy about its rooms. Oh well, I’m assuming there’s internet tomorrow… hopefully!

Day 20 (July 28): In the mountains

We awoke to the sound of heavy rain hitting the roof, not a sound that we were hoping to hear on the day of a hike. Our fears were confirmed at breakfast, when the counsellors announced that our hike in the Sitou area was cancelled, as hiking trails were slippery and unsafe. Plus, many people weren’t interested in getting soaked.

Nevertheless, the youth centre in Sitou is well integrated with the forest; the area had a very clean and pleasant atmosphere, especially with rain. We spent the morning resting, taking short walks around the area, and I pulled out my flute and played music with the surrounding nature.

We had our scheduled lunch at eleven, and soon enough we were headed to Sun Moon Lake, one of Taiwan’s most famous sights. The body of water is Taiwan’s largest freshwater lake, its shape like a sun and a crescent moon side by side. The area, previously marshland, was flooded for hydroelectric and irrigation purposes during Japanese rule, driving many of the Thao aboriginal peoples from their previous homes to settlements by the shore of the newly formed lake. Our first stop was the Ita Thao village, on the southeast edge of the lake.

Ita Thao Village, Sun Moon Lake
Left: Facing the lake; Right: The area's main street. Umbrella town!

We had light rain, but it was the heavy fog that prevented us from taking many nice pictures. We had an hour of free time, where we browsed shops in the streets by the shore. There were also several vendors, and we bought some “gua bao”. The area also has a lot of tourist appeal, reflected in westernized “gua bao”, with cheese, pork, and some fried egg, but we opted for the traditional style: man tou bread, with a slice of fatty pork meat marinated in soy sauce, crushed peanut powder, pickled vegetables, coriander, and hot sauce.

Left: Gua Bao; Right: Ma La Sun! We didn't buy any, but after watching Cape No. 7 we always keep an eye out for bottles, though we didn't see any enthusiastic salesmen. 

Our next stop was Wenhu temple, at the other side of the lake. The temple, built along the slopes of the surrounding mountain overlooks the lake, houses tablets reflecting words of Confucius, and is a popular stop for students to pray when they have upcoming exams. The view from the observatory at the top level has very foggy, but the area cleared up a bit as we headed back down, giving us a beautiful view of the lake.

Wenhu Temple Pictures (10)

The panorama didn't work out =(. Regardless, here's Sun Moon Lake, from the Northern side.

With lots of slippery steps and tiles after frequent rain, one of our students slipped and had to be sent to the hospital, shortening our visit to the Wenhu temple. We then headed to our hotel in the town of Pilu, just under an hour north of Sun Moon Lake. We arrived at five, giving us an opportunity to explore the “best hotel in town”, as described by the counsellors and by my now-slightly-water-damaged travel guide. There’s a decent pool, though its hours from 6 pm to 10 pm didn’t give us much time.

We had a good dinner, and the evening was dedicated to group time. First we met up with our bus group to prepare for Friday’s talent show, followed by a meeting with our culture group (for me, the dizi) to remind us of our performance at the closing ceremonies. With about an hour and a half before bed check, we headed outside to walk around the streets. The rain had stopped, and the weather was great. Unfortunately, there’s not much around Puli.

The view from the sixth floor of our hotel, in Puli.

The streets were relatively quiet, with a few vendors selling “a la carte soup / hotpot”. We stopped by a tea shop specializing in oolong tea. I ordered the oolong green tea. It was quite good – the taste of green tea with the after-taste of oolong tea. Soon we were back in our rooms, hanging around late without internet. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow will have some better luck.

Teashop. Location: Anywhere, Taiwan. (though this one was in Puli =P)

Day 19: Heading back North

After yesterday’s disappointing visit to Kaohsiung (our only destinations were the Dream Mall and our hotel’s surrounding streets), we headed out to Tainan, the country’s cultural capital. We had a late start though, partially caused by some light rain slowing down the luggage loading, but mostly as a result of last night’s post bed-check activities. Once again staying in a big city, many took the liberty in sneaking out to explore Kaohsiung’s clubs –  making waking up very difficult with a 6:40 morning call, 7:10 breakfast and an 8:10 boarding time. After some delays, we were on the freeway by nine, heading North for an hour-long drive.

In Front of the National Taiwanese
Museum of Literature.

Tainan was the former capital city of Taiwan, and thus, it’s filled with historical buildings. We started with the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature, near Tainan’s centre; part of the building was built in 1916 during Japanese occupation, but in recent years, the museum has been re-designed with a modern touch. I had visited the site four years ago when I last visited Tainan, but for this visit I had something else to see.

Most of my relatives on my mom’s side live in Tainan, many in close proximity to the Museum of Taiwanese Literature. My grandma, second eldest aunt, and third eldest aunt decided to meet me there. In our tour’s hour of free time, we walked around the museum on our own time, and then went to the building’s café for some tea and coffee.

Left: Maple leaf pin my third aunt wore for the occasion; Right: Tea!


We then took a minute-long bus ride to the Confucius Temple (I don't really understand why we didn’t walk). The temple, another showcase of historical culture, featured some exhibits displaying artifacts regarding Confucianism in Taiwan, but besides a group picture, the visit was fairly uneventful. Until the mayor of Tainan arrived.

Left: Confucius Temple;      Right: Mayor of Tainan and his crew.

Well, that actually didn’t change much either. Essentially, he arrived with a crew of cameramen, news reporters, some other VIP-looking guy, and some guard-like people who cleared a path for him. Oh, and the temple staff prepared an orchestra to accompany him, so we watched the mayor move from spot to spot in the temple, followed by people playing the Chinese flute and other traditional instruments. He later gave a speech, and then had his picture taken, before being escorted out.

Driving around Tainan. The skies are cloudy, but no rain. Yet.

Lunch came next; we stopped at a restaurant nearby Anping, an area just to the west of Tainan, bordering the ocean. Our next destination was to be Anping Fort, built by the Dutch when they arrived in the 17th century, the first Europeans to settle in Taiwan. Unfortunately, heavy rain once again started during our meal (like yesterday), and after a landslide vote, we skipped the fort and headed directly to Sitou, our final stop of the day.

Heavy Rain at Tainan's Waterfront (view from the restaurant's window).

I’ve been to Anping before so I have seen it, though many people on our trip have not. Regardless, I had voted to go to the fort, as we’ve done so little in Tainan and Kaohsiung. Rain in the past two days have given many other students very little to think about of Southern Taiwan: our visit highlights were Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall, and today’s Literature Museum and Confucius Temple.

Anyways, we left Southern Taiwan with a three hour drive northward. Taiwan’s west coast is much more developed than its east coast, with a multilane freeway that allowed us to span greater distances in less time. The east coast had offered us beautiful scenery, but through winding through mountains and turning with the coastline, a short distance on the map can take a long time. Today, we seemed to zoom up the west, passing the Tropic of Cancer once again (so we’re technically not in the tropics anymore).

I would've taken more photos from our bus windows, but the rain and condensation (due to the decreasing temperatures outside) made all the pictures appear like this one.

The Sitou National Forest Recreational Area is in central Taiwan, and is monitored by National Taiwan University’s forestry department. As we left the freeway on the way to the town of Sitou, the highways became smaller, and soon we were climbing a narrow road up the mountains, over 1100 metres above sea level. We arrived at the Sitou Youth Activity Centre, a very nice area with cabins blending in among the trees, rivers, waterfalls, and fog that gives the area its mysterious atmosphere.

Left: The main walkway at our youth center. Right: One of the several smaller pathways.

Our cabins. Despite being in a forest up in the mountains,

 this centre was probably one of the nicest places we've stayed in the entire Down South Trip.

Our rooms.

We were greeted with the message that a tree had fallen over earlier today, taking the power line down with it. No lights, no hot water, no computers, no charging camera batteries. Even the vending machines didn't work for those who wanted a drink. Of course, at four-thirty in the afternoon (we got there early because we skipped Anping), the sun is still up, although the heavy fog kept the light dim. We walked around the area, its nature beautiful, the air fresh, and the temperature cool – no higher than 20 degrees Celcius.

Sights around the Sitou Youth Activity Center.

We had dinner at six, in relative darkness with just a bit of sunlight making it through the windows on the door; we could make out the shape of the food, but we weren’t always sure what the food was until we ate some. The overall experience reminded me of those pitch black restaurants that intend to allow its costumers to fully savour their food by eating in the dark, though I still don’t really see its appeal.

Picture taken during dinner time. Without flash.

After dinner, we had a bus meeting to discuss our group performance for the talent show coming up in a few days. Discussions ended up mixing a lot of ideas, including dance and song, some acting, a fight scene, a wedding, etc. I’m up with the scripting team, so we’ll see how it goes. Anyways, halfway through the meeting, lights turned on, which everyone replied to with applause.

Glad that the power was back, though partially still wanting to see how a night would go without electricity, we (well, at least me) returned to our rooms at around nine. The Sitou Youth Activity Centre is relatively far from the main street of Sitou, which is small to start with. For the first time, we did not have a 7-11 within walking distance - or any other shop. Thus, today was not the day to venture out, so we spent the night hanging out and watching TV. Also, there was no internet (though not a big problem) – explaining why this post is late.

Day 18: Rain!

I haven’t dealt with much rain so far in my trip… until today. For Taiwan, which has had a relatively dry summer so far, the rain was quite welcoming, bringing in cooler air, and a more refreshing atmosphere. The rain in the morning was a light drizzle, but the rain and wind strengthened by the time we reached Erluanbi, the southernmost point of Taiwan. With everyone holding umbrellas or wearing rain ponchos, we walked through a short trail to the area’s iconic lighthouse, facing southward where the Taiwan Strait and Pacific Ocean meet. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed due to rain, but we were able to see the view from Erluanbi and snap a few pictures before heading back to the bus early.

Erluanbi Light House

Leaving Kenting: It's famous beach, in the rain.

We began a two and a half hour drive up to Meinong, an area known for its Hakka population. The Hakka people have a distinct culture and language, and make up about fifteen percent of Taiwan’s population. We were supposed to stop at Meinong for an experience of Hakka culture after lunch in the area, but halfway through lunch, a downpour started with no end in sight. Even a short dash to the bus from the restaurant was enough to get soaked, and with the nature of our tour around Meinong focussed on outdoor activities, our cultural activities were cancelled and we headed to the “Dream Mall” in Kaohsiung. 

Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second largest city, after Taipei. We had spent the last five days staying in smaller towns and driving on mountainous roads; now, we were greeted with multilane highways and skyscrapers. Dream Mall, which opened in 2007, is Taiwan’s largest shopping mall, with stores spread across four connected buildings, a designated floor for Japanese stores and an area for Korean food, and a Ferris wheel on the rooftop, though we didn’t explore the top due to heavy rain.

There were some open areas between the buildings in the mall complex. Regularly, there would be a lot more people, but of course, rain keeps them in the stores. 

The complex has nine floors, plus the rooftop and two basement floors – a haven for shoppers. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I’m not much of a spender, and with shortened and cancelled events at Erluanbi and Meinong, we were given five hours to explore the mall.

One store among many many others (wikipedia says 2300 stores and services). There's a computer directory that allows you to search for the shop you're looking for. yay Roots!

I ended up watching Inception, due to great reviews via Facebook status. I’m not much of a movie person, much less a film critic, so I won’t comment much on the movie, but I can say that I fail to see its amazingness. The movie was filmed well, and based on interesting concepts, but the ideas were simple enough and not really mind-blowing. It was nice to see a movie in Taiwan though, to see if the experience was any different: the seats are assigned, and food is obviously much, much, much cheaper. The movie cost us $250 NT per person (around eight dollars Canadian), though the add-on for popcorn and a drink was only $70 NT (just over two dollars, but I didn’t get it anyways). The movie was in English, though subtitles in traditional Chinese were provided.

Late in the evening, we were bussed to our hotel, near Kaohsiung’s downtown. We weren’t very close to a night market, so we decided to give our night market experiences a break, but we did manage to explore the nearby areas. The hotel is nice though, and I look forward to a good night’s sleep.