Hau Ching Hot Spring Hotel Taitung

... Island. It is still part of Taiwan, it is a small volcanic island off of Taiwan's coast. It is where they used to send prisoners but it is now a tourist destination. It has not yet been comercialized so it has a small town Taiwan feel. There isn't even a McDonald's on the island. No western food! It is an absolutely beautiful place. It is quite a trip to get there though. We left on Friday night at 11:30 and got on an overnight bus to get to the other side of Taiwan. It was pretty ...

... stuff BEFORE we went to the hot springs, and that we had to buy bathing caps in order to soak. Also, we weren't supposed to enter the hot springs within a half hour of eating, or an entire hour after drinking alcohol. So... we didn't wait or shower. But we DID buy bathing caps (mine was pink of course) and we got straight to soaking. Only a few of us went in at first (others would go in later that night). It was around 42 degrees Centigrade and ...

... Gestalten im Gebuesch und haben uns einfach angeguckt. Dann waren wir bei einer ansammlung von Grotten mit vielfaeltigen Felsformen, in denen die taiwanesen allerlei Tiere zu erkennen glaubten. Der Hunger trieb uns aber doch recht bald in ein kleines Restaurant um lokealen Ziegen-Hotpot zu essen. Und zum Abschluss des Tages waren wir in sehr beruehmten heissen Quellen baden, wohl mit die einzigen salzigen heissen Quellen die es gibt. Es gab auch drei ...

... take in the beauty. Then it is easy to ride the 8 km back to the main harbor. I have lunch ( fishball soup, rice with meat - 70 NTD ) at the small Taiwanese rastaurant ( orange color ). The owner couple, which knows me from the previous evening, and I have a little chat. In another shop I eat Dou Hua Bin Sha and read the newspaper, which arrives here only in the afternoon. I ride along the coast near the light tower and ...

... very warm, especially in the tent. Then I have a bright idea - or so I thought. I go to the local grocery store and buy two sealed packs with ice cubes. I place the ice cubes in my tent and it rally works to some degree. My tent gets a bit cooler after a while and I sleep at 9:30 pm, after 16 hours almost continuously on my feet. My sleep is a bit restless, but basically good for a mini tent in which my feet touch one end and my head the other.

... the flood waters washed so much water down the mountains that half the village was covered in gravel, sand and stones. This has changed the face of the village forever. Although most parts are now back to a restored post taifoon status, work is still ongoing to stabilize the slopes and dig out the sand from the river bed - please see this documented in the photo album. Now I suppose the village can even make a profit from selling the sand. Trucks are ...

... which he loves. We sit on a grass area down by the ocean and endulge in our delicacies. That's really good and if you are down here you have to try it. Does it make your mouth watery? Neal is a bit nervous about his return to Taipei after he has learned from some phone calls to the airlines that no domestic flights are available any more. So when we arrive in Fugang harbor, instead of a fish lunch, he takes a taxi ( the owner of the fish restaurant where we ...

... ride in their Jeep. We talk about the concert and mention the next one this evening in the sugar factory's coffee house/bar. In the village we have dinner, set up the tent and take shower before going to the next concert. The former sugar factory is now a cultural place for exhibitions by local artists and sporadic events. The coffee shop has regular concerts on Saturday nights. Tonight it is Reggae music with a film about Jamaica ( Spanish sound ...

... kill I look for a nice place to rest under a tree on the grass. Two busses with tourists from Mainland China are there - no word, no hello, just the same experience as in Taroko Gorge. They leave soon. During my further stay only three moving sales cars ( one selling shoes, one sweets and ice ceam ) stop here. I buy some chocolate cookies and get into talk with the moving shop shop owner. Here is what he tells me: He is an Ami aboriginy who grew up in ...

... to live with him and my Ma and I got to meet him. He wants us to be best friends, even though all my birth sisters don't even let the boy call them sister. It's an odd feeling, but I was fine. The good thing is I have a healthy, normal family to return to. And of course, my own dad was quite the opposite: a great man. Anyway, alli andamos... I miss you all. Esta lloviendo chorros. Es la temporada aca y no ha parado desde llegue en Taiwan. No ...