This Blog Isn’t Dead Yet…

But it’s almost there.  Having made the move to Songkhla in the south of Thailand in late December, I’ve found myself swamped with the million little things that accompany moving to a new country, starting a new job and entering a new semester of online studies.  Add to this the fact that I have been unable to obtain an internet connection in my apartment, and the blog becomes something that is easily ignored.  So for now, think of it as being in hibernation.  Until I finish my degree in four month’s time, there will likely be very few posts here.

But until then, here’s how things have gone so far.  The move to Thailand went without a hitch.  Nok, Scroggins, Hagatha and I arrived in Bangkok late on December 20, where we met my cousin Kenny at the airport.  After two nights in Bangkok we rented a pickup truck and made the 20+ hour drive south to Songkhla, though we took three days to make the trip.  In some ways Songkhla is exactly what I expected, but in some ways it is very different.  Songkhla is a peninsula, which means it is lined with miles and miles of beaches.  South of the city, the beaches continue as far as the eye can see, and north of the peninsula (if you take the quick ferry ride), the beaches also go on and on.

The city is also surrounded by beautiful rolling hills/mountains (hilltains? mountills?), and there are at least a few nice hiking trails in the area.  No photos now, but by apartment is overlooking the water on the inland side of the peninsula; across the bay, there is a range of beautiful hills that we have climbed several times.  So, Songkhla is a beautiful place, but there are some things that are not so great.  It is is surprisingly crowded — the city has roughly the same population as Portland, ME, but it’s condensed into a much smaller area.  The beautiful view outside my window is often filled with fishing boats and their noisy, boisterous crews.  The beaches can get a little crowded on weekends, and some of the hiking trails get their share of visitors on the weekends.

My job is okay but nothing I’d want to stick with long term.  I have to be at school from 8am-4pm everyday, but much of that time is just spent sitting in the office.  It’s good for me at the moment because I have so much homework to do, but after I graduate such time would be wholly unnecessary.  As a result, I’m looking to move somewhere new (and hopefully find a new line of work altogether) when I receive my degree in August.  UAE, Japan and even Singapore and the USA are on my list, but it all depends on where I get the best job.

Nok and I did have a chance to visit the ‘rents in Singapore for a week over New Year.  It was a superb trip, and I’m looking forward to going back when I have a month off in April.  I will also probably be spending a few days in the Philippines, as I’ll need to take a CLEP exam and Manila is the nearest test site.

Guess that’s it.  Sorry there are no photos, but it’s the result of life without an internet connection at home.  I may post again periodically, but expect very little until August, when my freedom returns.

Not my photo, but a view of Songkhla peninsula from the hills across the bay. I can see this old temple from my apartment!

Wuling – Day Three

After two months of steady studying, I finally have a break. The next term starts in two weeks, and it was wonderful to spend my first weekend in ages without feeling completely overwhelmed by all the homework I had to do. Can’t say I did much this weekend, though Nok and I did finally head down to the Natural Science Museum of Taichung City. Our goal was to see the I-Max and 3-D Theaters, but it turned out there were no English shows available. Still, the museum was huge and the exhibits were well-made. I may post about that later, but for now I’ll take the opportunity to fill in some more of my now three month old trip with the ‘rents.

The third day and night were also spent at Wuling Farm, high up in the mountains of central Taiwan. It was an astoundingly beautiful place, and one I hope I have a chance to see again to explore in more detail. We spent the third day walking up to a waterfall that I’d read about in the dreaded Lonely Planet. There were a lot of people on the “trail” (if it could be called that — it was wide and concrete for most of the way), but it was still an enjoyable walk. The surrounding mountains were beautiful, and aside from the strange old woman practicing Tai-Chi or some other weird dance at the base, the falls were excellent.

We did see a snake on the walk up. After we’d stopped to take a photo, we happened to look at the ground just behind where we were standing, and were surprised to see a rather large, brownish snake scurrying into a crack in the ground. There are lots of poisonous snakes in Taiwan, and this snake looked at least similar to one of them, so we should consider ourselves lucky that we only had a brief sighting.

Heading up the trail.

Mom, Dad and Scroggins take a break on the side of the trail. Later, we ate lunch at this same spot.

Mom and I stop for a picture at a beautiful lookout. It was here that we saw the snake.

Because it's just so beautiful. Nok, Scroggins and I from the same snake-infested place.

The same excellent view, but this time without the ugly people spoiling the shot.

Approaching the waterfall, we also saw this smaller one across the valley.

A small gazebo just before the waterfall. Mom, Dad and Nok are seen ahead.

Nearing the waterfall. It was actually pretty tall, this picture does it little justice. The strange old dancing woman can be seen on the far right.

A closeup of the waterfall, with Nok on the left.

Heading down the trail.

At the start of the trail was an excellent suspension bridge, where we stopped on the way back for this sweet photo.

After the hike, we walked around the little park in the middle of Wuling "town." This shot may seem rather ugly, but I include it because if you look very closely at the bottom-left corner, you can see Nok and I at the exact moment that we discovered Scroggins had rolled in some mysterious poop. Whoops, there's that word again. I'm working towards a PG-13 now.

Day Two — Wuling Farm

I’m really falling behind in my blogging. Ever since I got the car I just don’t seem to have any spare time for it. And I’m afraid things will get much worse, since from next week I’ll be starting a distance learning program to finally finish my Bachelor’s Degree. So even though this trip was more than a month ago, the ‘rents are already back in the States and I have four newer outings to report, I present to you day two of the spectacular cross-Taiwan tour with the ‘rents.

After spending the morning in Sanxia looking at the old temple, we hit the road and headed east across the northern tip of Taiwan. Once over the mountains (or through, I should say, as there was an extensive tunnel system), we headed south and then west, curving back up into the mountains from the East coast.

It was a seven hour drive to our next stop, Wuling Farm. I didn’t really know what to expect at Wuling, but I knew it had a nice campground with stunning views and at least a few decent hikes in the area. The drive was pleasant, but we got socked in by fog after a few hours. Who knows what spectacular views we missed along the way.

Once in Wuling, we were appalled to see hordes of tourists and tour buses. However, even though for some strange reason the tour buses dropped the herds off at the campground for a quick look around, after their  fifteen minute stop the campground was largely empty. We rented little pre-set tents arrayed on a hillside surrounded by beautiful mountains.

We spent two nights there, using the days to walk around the surrounding area and take a short hike up to a waterfall. Wuling was a beautiful place, and I hope to be back in the future to go on some of the longer hikes.

Stopping for a rest on the drive to Wuling. The mountains here were still fairly small, but we would eventually hit 9,000+ feet.

Most of the drive followed along this wide riverbed, which was lined with strange, dusty farmland. We couldn’t figure out what they were trying to grow.

The “tents” at Wuling Campground. This shot looks back towards the office and parking lot. We stayed as far away as possible, at the end of the rows of 30 tents. Though it was cloudy for most of the stay, we were treated with this crystal clear view on our last morning.

Mom pokes her head out her tent. The ‘rents stayed in #27, and Nok and I stayed next door in 29. Crazily enough, renting these tents was more expensive than any hotel we stayed in during the entire trip.

When we woke up on the last morning and poked our heads out of the tent, this was our glorious view. This shot was literally taken from the entrance of the tent.

After arriving on the first night, we went for a walk around the campground. The campground is also the starting point for a two day hike up one of Taiwan’s tallest mountains, Snow Mountain. Obviously, we didn’t make it that far, but maybe next time.

Also on the first walk, we headed up this wooden walkway. The walkway was covered with what appeared to hordes of gobs of poop. Yet, the poop was all over the railings, too. What could possibly have done it?

We soon discovered the poop-culprits. Look closely at the trees beyond the fence, and you’ll see our very first Taiwan Monkey sighting. Actually, as we approached we’d seen at least four-five monkeys standing on this platform, but they ran away before we could get a picture.

Mom and Nok act out what will happen if a monkey attacks.

On the walk back to the campground. The whole time, Scroggins kept eating things he found on the trail. Little did we know, monkey poop is a tasty treat for dogs.

We came across a little pond during our walk with this sign of a guy enjoying a swim. But in spite of the Engrish, we eventually figured out that the sign was a warning and not an invitation to have a swim.

Dad and I came across this giant moth while walking to the camp store to buy some water. It was easily the size of my hand.

Later that night, we found this giant bug on the path to the bathroom. It was a good four inches long. Note the giant pinchers and fully functional wings. Imagine this beast flying at you from the dark!

Dinner time!  We had mistakenly planned on the campground having a restaurant, and as a result we brought no food on the trip. Not only did the campground not have a restaurant, but in addition the shop only sold instant noodles and canned mystery meats. Still, Nok did her best with the available supplies and managed to cook up a pretty tasty feast complete with what we later learned to be canned eel.

After dinner, Dad and I talked while Nok tried to make a fire. Unfortunately, because of the day’s rain she was not successful. Next up: the hike to the waterfall.

Day One – Sanxia

Probably the least interesting part of our trip was the first night and day. Since the ‘rents had arrived in the evening, I thought it would be best to spend the first night somewhere near the airport. Actually, originally I had planned on returning to my home in Fengyuan, then heading straight across the mountains on the Central Cross-Mountain Highway to Wuling and Taroko.

Sadly, I discovered the day before they arrived that the highway has been closed for nearly 10 years. It was closed after the major 921 Earthquake in 1999, and though they attempted to rebuild it, they finally gave up a few years ago. Too many typhoons and earthquakes to keep that treacherous road operable.

So in the end, I settled on a different route that included stopping in the small city of Sanxia for the first night. I knew nothing about Sanxia, only that it had been recommended by some other expats as a good first night stop. It is apparently famous for its “old street,” a stretch of road lined with hundreds of really old, brick buildings and shops. When we arrived in the evening, everything was already closed on the street, and then again the next morning when we came back for a second look.

The second main attraction in Sanxia is a big, old temple that has been under construction for 60 years and is still at least 10 years from completion. It was an interesting temple, but I have to say nothing special for Taiwan. There are temples like it everywhere.

Still, Sanxia was an okay place to spend one night before we headed to the beautiful mountains.

The Old Street at night. In spite of the blurriness, I think this is a great picture. Mom, Nok and I can be seen on the left.

After walking through the old street, we stopped for dinner at this little restaurant. Nok and I really don’t care for most Taiwanese food, but this place is one of the only exceptions. We just call it “boiled food,” because we don’t know what else to say. But it consists of choosing meat, vegetables and tofu from an open cooler, which is then boiled and served in a tasty sauce. Sadly, we have no pictures of the feast.

The old street by day, but too early for anything to be open.

A market popped up on the street below Mom and Dad’s hotel room the next morning. Actually, it was a pretty grimy neighborhood and I’m sorry it had to be the ‘rents’ first impression of Taiwan.

These strange beasts were for sale in the market. I think they are eels. Actually, we may have inadvertently eaten eel later in the trip, but that’s another story.

On a foot bridge near the old temple. I guess Mom loves taking pictures of bridges.

The old temple. It was pretty big. Once inside, we met an old man who claimed to be the son-in-law of the architect. He showed us around and pointed out the intricate woodworking inside. At the end, he produced a paper that read in bold letters, “Support Taiwan for the UN.” We thought he was after cash, but turns out he was just a nice old man who loved his country.

The beautifully carved and painted roof of the temple was also lined with a lovely green moss.

Though difficult to see in this picture, the inside of the temple was covered with elaborately carved wooden spirals and images.

The smoky temple was also filled with strange little shrines like this. I don’t really know what it was for, but I don’t think this temple was Buddhist.

From the second floor of the temple.

Dad leaves the temple. From here it was a seven hour drive up into the mountains, to the beautiful Wuling Farm Campground.

Little Liuchiu Yu Island

The pinnacle of our CNY trip was a little island called Liuchiu in the south of Taiwan.  We really didn’t know much about the place or what to expect when we arrived there, but had read it was a quiet island with some beautiful scenery.

Indeed, it was a beautiful place.  The island is covered in pieces of old coral, which makes for some interesting sights.  The weather was cold and windy, so although there were a couple of decent beaches with stunningly clear blue water, neither of us ventured for a swim.

The tiny island was pretty packed full of tourists, especially during the day time when boatloads of tourists came over for a day trip.  It was a bit less crowded after the last boats left, but still full enough that we couldn’t find a hotel.  Instead, we were forced to rent a tent and some sleeping bags and camp out in a nice little seaside campground.  The wind was wild all night, pounding against the tent and making for a rather sleepless night.  But still, it was a fun trip and I’d recommend the place to others.

 

Walking on one of the beaches just before sunset.

This pathway led through giant coral formations, and even had quite a few caves.

This walkway was actually barred off just to the right of where we were standing.  That didn’t stop Nok and I from hopping the barrier and continuing onto the little lookout, but the walkway had actually been blown to pieces near the end.  The wind was pretty powerful that day, too.

Standing in the windy lookout.  The wind was fierce, and the waves were big enough to splash us even up on the lookout.

Our rented tent, with the sea beyond.

This was just behind our tent.  The wind and waves were pretty stinkin’ strong here.

Another beach.  This one was just quick walk down from the campground, but it was blissfully empty.

A small tomb overlooking the sea.  The island seemed to be some sort of burial ground for the Taiwanese, as it was covered with countless tombs, many of them overgrown and forgotten.

The island was also covered in temples, like this massive temple next to the shore.  This photo was taken from another temple on a hilltop.

Mysterious walkways like this were also all over the island, some of them leading to nowhere.

This lighthouse was in the middle of a forest on one of the highest points on the island.

From next to the lighthouse, the town and pier can be seen in the distance.

An old tomb in the middle of the forest, next to an ancient banyan tree.

The ancient banyan tree and a little shrine.

Pingtong

The second stop on our Chinese New Year tour was in a city called Pingtong in the south of Taiwan. As I mentioned before, there is nothing famous or spectacular about Pingtong, but knowing that any place of note would be teeming with multitudes of Taiwanese tourists on holiday for the New Year, a faceless, nameless town was exactly what I was looking for.

At this point, Nok and I still didn’t have any real idea of where we would head after Pingtong, but after examining a map I decided that the city would put us in an ideal location to head out to any number of interesting places. So after being sort of booted from our hotel in Tainan at 9pm on Thursday evening (they tried to change the rate after we’d already been there for a day!), we hopped on a train and headed south.

We arrived in Pingtong at about 10:30pm with no idea what the city was like or where we might spend the night. After nearly an hour of wandering the streets in search of a hotel, we finally found a hotel with ancient, shabby rooms that wasn’t fully booked or charging triple the rate just because it was Chinese New Year. Across from our hotel was this enormous and elaborately decorated temple.

The giant temple in Pingtong. This picture really doesn’t do the temple any justice… It was HUGE. A giant furnace for burning ghost money can be seen on the right.

The front of the big temple. It was pretty crowded inside, as going to the temple is an important part of Chinese New Year.

The giant furnace for burning ghost money.  The old lady sitting next to it was selling stacks of ghost money.  These furnaces are found outside of every temple.

Tainan

Tainan was the first stop on our recent trip for Chinese New Year. Tainan is one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and in fact used to be the capital. The city is famous for its many old temples, museums and other cultural sites. It was a rather pleasant place, very clean and not so crowded. It was nice to spend a day there walking through the old streets, taking in the vibes of old Taiwan.

We came across this massive, incredibly strange looking sculpture while walking towards the first temple of the day. Stray dogs like this are pretty common in Taiwan, but they’re all very friendly.

The front of an old Confucian Temple. This was our first stop of the day.

This was actually part of an old fort called the Great South Gate. It is one of the last remaining pieces of a giant wall that used to surround the old city. This was taken on top of the wall, about 15 feet high.

This tree was taking over the wall of the Great South Gate.

This little temple was also the tomb for the five loyal concubines of the old king.

The garden outside the temple of the five concubines.

This temple was by far the most interesting we saw. Tucked away on a quiet little side street, this nearly 300 year old temple seems to have been all but forgotten by the world.

This ancient dragon-like creature was next to the entrance. Old pictures like this were throughout the temple, though inside everything was much more colorful.

Inside the front gate of the old temple. Just to the left was the main hall of the temple, where a group of monks was busy singing and chanting.

The front room of the temple was filled with these massive, rather intimidating looking creatures. Each of the four giant statues was crushing some poor soul under its foot. The enormous inscriptions of a heavily bearded, ax carrying ogre on each of the doors was also rather frightening.

This tall, much newer temple had been built next to the old one. These spiral-like structures are almost always found next to temples, and I’ve always wondered what they were for. After looking inside an open door on the backside of the building, we soon discovered its purpose.

This was what we found when we looked inside the open door at the back of the tall, spiral temple. It was a room packed full of human ashes, many of the urns complete with pictures of the departed. Apparently, these tall structures are like vertical cemeteries, and are a somber feature of most temples in Taiwan.

The ugly and the surreal converge. Sights like this are very common in Taiwan, seeing ancient and magnificent temples crammed in between old ugly apartment buildings. Wandering through the cramped streets of Taiwan, you never know when you’ll stumble across some old beautiful gem like this one.

Mixed in with all the Buddhist temples, there is also a surprisingly large number of Christian churches. This was a rather large church on a busy street of Tainan.

Another Tainan church, this one with a rather funny illustration of Jesus leading his sheep.

This smoky temple was an extremely grim place, and seemed to be some sort of a temple of death. The walls were covered with old inscriptions of the Buddhist vision of hell, and it was indeed a somber sight.

Also from the temple of death, this woman was throwing wads of “ghost money” into a raging furnace. Taiwanese Buddhists believe that after a person has died, it is necessary to burn special “ghost money” for them to spend in the afterlife.

On a more pleasant note, Nok and I came across these four little kittens in a quiet alley. We came back to feed them many times during our stay in Tainan.

 

Another Video from Angkor

Chinese New Year 2008 – Intro

I’m five days into my six day holiday for Chinese New Year, and it’s been an interesting time so far. Nok and I returned to Fengyuan last night after four days exploring the southern parts of Taiwan. I have a ton of pictures to look through and even a few videos from the coast which I hope to put up later. But not now.

Traveling through Taiwan during Chinese New Year made me realize a few things about this country. First, that Taiwan is incredibly densely populated. This is not surprising when you consider that Taiwan is practically a part of China and its population is largely comprised of Chinese immigrants. But during CNY, when an entire country of 22 million people takes to the road, you realize just how crowded it really is.

Apparently, Taiwan is the most second densely populated country in the world, second only to Bangladesh. Taiwan is a pretty small island. It runs about 350 kilometers from top to bottom, and a mere 150 kilometers across at its widest point. Now imagine cramming 22 million people onto this tiny island, then giving them all a week off from work and a wad of cash to spend and you can imagine what CNY is like here.

As you might guess from this image, 90% of the population lives on the western plains, which means that essentially the entire western portion of the island is one large urban sprawl, from Taipei in the north to Kaoshiung and beyond in the south.

The second thing I learned is that I really, really need to have a car if I’m going to truly enjoy my time here. Public transportation is great for traveling to any of the major cities on the east coast, but to get to the isolated mountainous interior, a car is essential. Not to mention, the crowds on the trains and buses can be pretty unbearable during a time like CNY.

Originally, Nok and I had planned to do some hiking during the break. However, the weather has been pretty cold and wet recently and we don’t really have the best gear with us here in Taiwan. So we decided instead to head south, with no real idea what exactly we’d be doing or where we’d end up. We chose a city called Tainan as our first destination.

After a day wandering through the streets of Tainan looking at old temples, we moved onto a city called Pingtong, a bit further to the south. There is nothing of any particular interest to Pingtong, but I’ve always enjoyed the no-name travel-through towns than the big tourist destinations.

After a night in Pingtong it was onto the fishing town of Dongang an hour south, then onto Little Liuchiu Yu Island. Liuchiu Island was a beautiful place, and aside from the tourist hordes we encountered there we had a great time zooming around on our rented scooter and camping by the water. The next day it was back to Fengyuan, this time through Kaohsiung.

Below is a crude map showing our trip. I will be putting up pictures soon.

Screaming Bugs at Angkor

All throughout the temples of Angkor, there was some sort of screaming insect in the trees. We didn’t see any, but this video gives you an idea of the sound we were constantly surrounded with.