Orchid Island (Lanyu / 蘭嶼): First Photos

I don't have time for a full post on our trip to Lanyu (Orchid Island - 蘭嶼島) right now but I do have about 200 pictures I'd like to share - I won't post all of them here, of course, but I figured I'd do this in two posts: one with some of my favorite pictures, and one with more narrative and some more good pictures, for maybe 40 shots total.

Here is a sample of shots to enjoy while I consider what to write for the narrative post, and also wait for some free time to pop up.

You will note the dearth of photos of people - that's because on Lanyu, many locals are wary of having their photo taken, or (so I'ved read) downright hostile towards those who try. As such, we didn't really try. I got a few shots, but not nearly as many people photos as I'd normally take.

Bits and Bobs - River Tracing Accidents and Post-Typhoon Orchid Island

Sorry I've barely updated, but we've been busy.

A good friend from Australia is visiting, so there's that. Then, Brendan had to be carried out of the mountains by Jiaoxi on a stretcher - we went river tracing back at Yuemeikeng , but the bit of trail we needed was washed out. We tried an "alternate route" that quickly turned to bushwhacking, and just before we all agreed to turn back (I was the most reticent, I admit), the ground beneath Brendan gave out and he went plummeting back down toward the river, freefalling the last ten meters or so. Fortunately, he fell into a pool of very deep water, which meant he was (mostly) unhurt. He had to get stitches and a CAT scan, but remarkably, had no broken bones. He's still having trouble walking and moving his left leg, but he's on the mend.

More on that later - I am mentally composing a post that outlines what mountain rescue is like in Taiwan if you need it, along with a comparison of what the whole ordeal cost us in Taiwan (less than $100 US including overnight in a hotel in Yilan) vs. what it would have cost with and without insurance in the USA (hint: more than that). Just, you know, in case you still don't think nationalized health coverage is a good thing.

And now we're on Orchid Island - Brendan was healthy enough to make the trip, but he won't be doing any snorkeling or hiking. We almost cancelled after hearing about the typhoon damage, but the Lanyu police station and our reserved homestay both assured us it was fine, so we came anyway. We're happy we did - there's some damage, a few landslides (the road is clear), and the coral took a hit, but it's mostly fine. It's not the desperate wasteland that news reports would have you believe.

More on that later, too. I'm not going to spend a perfectly lovely day on Orchid Island blogging. I love you guys (well, most of you), but no.

So, there are two posts to look forward to, but you'll have to wait until Sunday at the absolute earliest for either of them.

The Sony WX100

It does capture my cat's eye color but only in sunlight. It won't capture it inside.

So I just got a Sony WX100 on the recommendation of my techy-dorky friend. For awhile I was using Brendan's old professional Canon, but while I got a few great shots out of it, mostly it was clunky, too heavy, hard to use and far too conspicuous (and it didn't help that it was older and I had no idea how to actually work the buttons. Oh, and the viewfinder was the only way to see what you were photographing - you couldn't see from the digital screen). 

I was also using my iPhone for photos, which is fine if you see some bad English in the night market ("Let's Happy Together!") but I wanted something better. Something more. Something I could take on trips to Orchid Island (next week), home (Christmas) and Sri Lanka (Chinese New Year). 

But, as much as I am an enthusiast for good photos, I'm no pro. I do think I'm pretty good at composition - but not good at technical stuff. So I asked a friend - a friend who, I swear, memorized all the specs of all possible cameras and ran them through a computer program in his head to determine the best one, because that's just the way he is - and he recommended a Sony WX100 for my needs.

So far, I'm really happy. It's been one afternoon, but still, I'm pretty thrilled with the photos I'm getting. The shots in this post are ones I didn't try to hard to take - imperfect lighting, not a lot of time to really look at what I was shooting and adjust, and in the end I still got some good pics. Obviously, I played with the fancy new settings.

By the way, if you want one, they're NT$9900 at Guanghua.

This is my living room window - when I take a photo like this with lights off in the living room, generally, other cameras pick up so much glare that you can't see anything but light out the window. The WX100 is the first camera that made a decent shot of this. 

With background blur - pretty good, although if I edited it I'd make the black metal parts a bit brighter.

Very clear with primary color capture - set on blue obviously

Not as good capturing my bougainvillea - it would have picked up red but pink is difficult. Anyone know if I can do something about that?

Indoor light, background blur with my cat

Green only is pretty good

Need to focus on getting it to select color and focus on the thing I want - it focused more on the spices than on the anti-evil eye charm.

A Snack Survey of Yongkang Street, Courtesy of the New York Times

Enjoy - and be sure to check the end, I'm quoted!

Longdong Bay (and Bitou Cape...Not)

Further along the cliff you can see the swimming hole below, and peeking out beyond that is Bitou Cape

So, yesterday we took a day trip to Longdong (龍洞), an area with beautiful natural scenery, striking blue water, good hiking, diving and snorkeling (I'm not sure how good the diving really is, but it seems to be popular). Our plan had been to follow the route on page 112 of Taipei Day Trips 1, and hike along the coast from Longdong to Bitou Cape (鼻頭角), but we enjoyed lingering at the natural swimming hole at Longdong that we never did make it to Bitou.

If you want to do both in one day, you can, but leave super early, don't get off the bus at the Amazing Hall (the big ugly white building) as we did, get off at the stop before it, just after the tunnel. Otherwise you have to walk back up about 500 meters. It's easy, but the pavement is hot and the exhaust fumes from trucks barreling by are disgusting. Also, don't linger too long at Longdong. Consider driving if you are really hell bent on one day trip to see the entire northeast coast - buses are infrequent. Alternatively, you could turn this into two or more decent day trips. 

One thing I love about living in Taiwan that is markedly better than life in China is that there are more and better opportunities to swim in the ocean, or just to swim naturally (i.e., not in a pool). Although I am not terribly impressed by many of Taiwan's beaches (overcrowded, oversupervised, but hey, at least they're generally clean and safe), I do appreciate that the opportunity is there. I have been to beaches in China, and...well...no. Generally not my bag.

But from Taipei, you can catch a bus from Danshui or catch a train to Ruifang and be at any number of swimmable spots in a fairly short time. If you're not that interested in Taiwan's mostly lackluster sand beaches - at least the beaches on the main island (the outlying islands are another story: Penghu is fantastic and I am excited about going to Orchid Island next week!) - and you really just want a dip in the ocean and don't mind rocks, Longdong is a great alternative. 

To get there, you can take a bus from Fulong that will take you all the way to Cape Bitou and beyond, but I recommend the route we took yesterday: the 9:35am train to Ruifang, breakfast in Ruifang and then the tourist bus to Longdong (exit the train station, turn left at the main road, and walk past the police station, almost to the elevated highway, to the bus stop. It gets crowded on weekends, you can't miss it). It'll take you over Jiufen and Jinguashi and down again before dropping you off at Longdong. Again, get off right after the tunnel, not at the big white building called "龍洞四季灣" (also labeled "Amazing Hall" in English - it's a chain). If you make it there, you've gone too far. This drops you at the trailhead to the coastal path over some stunning cliffs - if you just want to swim, you can skip this part and get off one stop early, in Longdong village.

The path starts just after the tunnel (on the left if you're coming from Ruifang), and bathrooms and vending machine drinks are available. Follow the clearly marked trail and do be sure to stop at the viewpoints - they're gorgeous. There is a trail leading down, and I suppose one could swim down there towards the start of the path, but we saw nobody doing so. There may be a current or it may be otherwise unsafe.

So inviting, but not sure if it's safe

From one of the vantage points (the top picture), you can see all the way to a safe swimming hole. A trail leading down will take you there via Longdong village. Exit the trail and turn right towards the ocean. Keep right, and enter the rocky area via a path that widens, then narrows before widening again and taking you to the coast.

Of course, by "rocky path" I mean, basically, a horizontal rock scramble. There is no real path. Taipei Day Trips 1 makes it sound easy: it is not. It is definitely possible and safe (although watch out for sprained ankles), but it's not a walk in the park. It's also hot - the rocks are hot and there's no shade. Wear sunscreen.

Taipei Day Trips 1 says there's some "supervised swimming". There is swimming, but it's not supervised. When you get there, there are several points at which you can jump safely into the water, and one spot where you can lower yourself in gently if you're afraid of jumping.

The water is crystal blue and clean, and tiny tropical fish swim around you as you swim or tread water.  Bring snorkeling gear if you'd like to get a closer look. You can swim to the far island (pictured below) and climb up via ropes - it's safe to jump from the top -  or beach yourself on a lower rock and enjoy the sun.

I stole this photo from my friend  - hope that's OK, Joseph!

Two things to watch out for: I did get stung by a jellyfish - painful but only temporarily so, and obviously I'm not dead - but be careful. There's also a current - it's not strong, and it's not fast, but it's there. If you're not a strong swimmer you may find yourself carried along a bit by the current.

It's safe to stand on the rocks in the shallow areas, but the rocks above water have barnacles on them, and generally speaking river tracing/snorkeling shoes would be a good thing to wear if you have them.

If you don't linger you can then hike around Bitou and catch a bus back to Keelung, Ruifang, Jinguashi or Jiufen. Heading up to Jiufen at sunset is a lovely ride, and you can eat or drink tea there. Alternately, you can head all the way to Keelung and go to the night market - the bus will drop you off nearby. If you have a car, there are several other great spots to stop and enjoy before the sun goes down. If not, be careful of time.

One final note - bus stops are spaced out weirdly: one bus stop doesn't necessarily cover all available buses. For example, the Keelung tourist bus stops a little further up the highway from Longdong than two other buses, and generally won't pick you up if you're at the wrong stop. This is idiotic, and the government really ought to do something about it. For now, though, check the times and wait at the appropriate stop to the best of your ability.

But I Woke Up Late: Your Guide to Taipei Afternoon Hikes, for the Late Sleepers and Hungover

You know those Sundays when you wake up and want to go hiking or go somewhere, but it's already 10, maybe 11am, maybe even noon? And you haven't even finished your coffee? And you're all "but I want to go somewhere, but it's too late! If I try to go now, I'll just get stuck on a mountain after sundown!"?

Then you look at all your guides and hiking books, and you search online. There are tons of options, but it's hard to differentiate: "Which ones could I do if I left at noon?", you wonder. "Which ones take far too long to reach or complete even though they seem close to Taipei?"

I know it's happened to you, because it's happened to all of us. And what we usually do is sigh, drink our coffee, do a little Facebooking, and give up: we may go out, but we don't leave the city or attempt to surround ourselves with nature. For all of those times, I wish I'd had a post like this in my bookmarks. No such post seems to exist, so I'm creating it.

Well, one thing I love about Taipei is that it doesn't have to be that way. Specifically, Taipei is great because it doesn't have to be that way and you can get a touch of nature in your life without having to drive a car or scooter. For any of these short, fun hikes below, you can get there on public transportation (woohoo!) and you can leave in the late morning or even early afternoon without worry. So, go out and get those drinks, stay out until 3am, wake up the next day and never fear - you can still enjoy a little green and you don't even have to drive to do it.

All of these hikes are well-documented, in guides and on blogs. I noticed, though, that nowhere are they organized in such a way that some bleary-eyed refugee of On Tap or a Belgian beer cafe could do a quick search and find one page with one list of all the best options, so that's what I'm trying to do here.

1.) Little Gold Face Mountain

                       

One of my favorite viewpoints around Taipei - you can get there on a long day hike starting from Jiantan and summiting two low mountains, or you can just go up at the other end. Start in Neihu at Huanshan Road (環山路), Sec 1, Lane 136 (as per Taipei Day Trips 1, the old version) and climb the steep, rocky ascent to the viewpoint at the top. There are other trails from there, but this outlet is the easiest to reach from a trafficked area in Taipei City (the rest of the hike - the long hike - crosses a few roads but all of them are very quiet - you won't find any buses on them and many are unknown even to taxi drivers).

2.) Xianjiyan

I never actually blogged about this hike, even though I've done it - because I did it years before starting this blog. If you go up and down from Jingmei you could do the whole thing in maybe 2 hours, or 1 if you are a fast hiker and only linger briefly (I am slow and like to take breaks). It's steep at the beginning but not challenging, and then gets a lot easier, affording great views in both directions (although I prefer the one out over Muzha towards Maokong). From MRT Jingmei Exit 2, walk straight ahead until the end of the road. Turn right and look for the sign pointing to the trail (there's a temple nearby).

3.) Battleship Rock (軍艦岩）- a lot of photos for this one as I did it recently, but never blogged it.

                            

                           

I did this one recently and haven't blogged it, because it was such a quick hike that I did it and forgot about it (it's covered in Taipei Day Trips 1, by the way). It's very popular with locals, especially ones who live in northern Taipei. Unlike Daily Bubble Tea, we got there via MRT Shipai, not Qilian. If you grab a map that shows you the main entrance of Yangming University and walk uphill from there (keep mostly to the right, but always uphill, until you find the stairs leading off from the uphill road - there are signs), it's not that far or that challenging, although it does get steep. The views from here are spectacular. You can come back the way you came, or you can walk down via Wellington Heights and Zhaoming Temple if you have more time. A longer, more fun descent lands you in Xinbeitou (see Taipei Day Trips 1), or a shorter, easier descent lands you...elsewhere. Don't know where - we took the long way down. Bring bug repellent. This is an excellent afternoon hike - the breezes from the top will cool you off after a sweaty ascent. With its easy MRT accessibility, this is a great choice if you wake up at 11 and want to get some exercise without ending up in the middle of nowhere with the sun going down, or on a clear day when you want a good view of Taipei without exhausting yourself.

4.) Elephant Mountain

                   

An easy staple - I was able to give you an exact enough starting point for the other two, but sadly, I can't do that for this hike. I don't remember where it starts. Taipei Day Trips 1 doesn't give a good indication, either: if you walk along Xinyi Road past Taipei 101 (think Xinyi-Songren or Xinyi-Songde) and turn south, and ask most people nearby how to get to "Xiang Shan" (象山), you'll figure it out. I'm sure Google Maps would help, too. This one is very popular locally and has one of the best views of 101 in the city. The best part - it's popular at sunset (set up early if you want to get a good vantage point for photographs, because photographers and courting couples take and keep their spots), which means that you can head up here in the late afternoon and then walk down on perfectly-well-lit steps. If you have a little more time, continue on to the other mountains. With another hour or so you could make it to a lovely viewpoint on Thumb Mountain and head back. If you made a full day of this you could walk to Nangang, but this is a post of short hikes for those of us who like to sleep late, so I won't cover that here. Beyond Elephant Mountain and up Thumb Mountain there is no lighting after dark: the lights only go on closer to Xinyi.

5.) Tianmu Old Trail

I don't like linking to the China Post, but whatever: I've done this hike at least 3 times (on good days you can see monkeys, and I love monkeys!) but all before I started blogging, so I don't have a post to link to. This is another popular local hike, and it's actually better to start it late in the day - the monkeys come out, if they're going to come out, late in the afternoon as it's getting on towards sunset. They don't often show themselves on weekends though (they don't care for crowds) - I recommend doing this one on a weekday if you can. There are two ways to start this hike, which is mostly stairs with one flat area, where the monkeys are: from Chinese Culture University (文化大學) going down, or from Tianmu going up. To go down, take any Yangmingshan-bound bus from MRT Jiantan (260 will do) and get off at "Wenhua Daxue". If you're in the area and like coffee, be sure to stop at Ji Jia Coffee on a road to the right (facing uphill) first. Facing uphill, you turn left towards the giant Chinese-looking building, and then keep right, and the trail begins near a Catholic church that looks like a Chinese temple. Go down some steep stairs until you get to the flat area, and then just follow the easy signs. A few bars open up in the evenings around the other end of the level trail, but you'd have to call a taxi to get home from one of them, as no buses I know of ply the road that intersects it. There's also a wedding venue up here. More stairs take you down to the very end of Zhongshan Road - just keep heading south/downhill and you'll get there (alternately you could just turn around and go back up to Culture University and take a bus down). If you bring a flashlight and bug spray you'll be able to easily and safely walk the stairs down to Tianmu at night. The other route is to start from Tianmu: take any bus that goes to the traffic circe at the very end of Zhongshan Road (or start from International Square - to get there you could take the 285, 685 and many other buses) and start uphill. Keep straight ahead and follow the signs. Also, MONKEYS!

6.) Maokong (Zhinan Temple or Maokongshan)

                        

We did a hike further up from the famed teahouses of Maokong, a portion of which could easily be started in the afternoon - no reason to get up early. This hike starts out with great views over Taipei, but the summit has no view at all. If you keep going you could end up at Erge Mountain or all the way to Shiding, but that would take longer than an afternoon, so I won't cover it here. It's a great way to get some exercise before stopping for dinner and tea on Maokong and taking a bus or the cable car down. Alternately, you could hike up to Zhinan Temple and then continue up on foot or by cable car to a teahouse...or do the same thing going down. You get nature, you get convenience, you get some views, and you don't have to get up early!

7.) Adding one here - Paozilun Falls

This is a hike that begins in Shenkeng - the only one of the above hikes not technically entirely within Taipei city. Shenkeng is so close to Taipei, however, that it's still something you can easily do, even if you start in the early afternoon. It's a short hike through some nice woods along a clear path, ending at a waterfall that you can take a "massage shower" under - locals who do this pray first to ask Tudi Gong and the nature gods not to allow any large rocks to fall from the falls as they are under it. It's a refreshing stop after the hike, and you should dry off pretty well on your way back to Shenkeng if you didn't wear a swimsuit (there's no obvious place to change - I wouldn't want to enter the shack to the left of the falls). After the hike you can head back to Shenkeng for some shopping and stinky tofu before catching one of the many buses back to Taipei - the advantage of this hike is that while you should finish the trail part before sundown, you can stay later in Shenkeng and easily leave after dark.

To get there, get a bus to Shenkeng from MRT Taipei Zoo station (or take the 666 from MRT Jingmei, near exit 2, or MRT Muzha - 606 might also be fine) and get off at the old street - the one with all the stinky tofu. Instead of entering the old street, cross the bridge and keep right. 

Cross the large road and head straight up the road that starts at the betel nut shop across from you. Keep right at the sign for 文山 spray painted on a metal fence. Keep going slightly uphill for awhile. Ignore the sign telling you to turn right for Paozilun Trail and keep straight up the steep hill. At the top where it evens out you'll see a very small trail inlet to the left - hopefully there will be cars parked around it, better marking it. It's very easy to miss and doesn't look like the right way (but it is). Turn in and walk up - it's "paved" with blue foam pads (???) and at one point, carpeting. Don't ask - I don't know either - and much of the trail is made of sandbags.

8.) Silver Stream Cave and waterfall

Directions in the blog post - basically you can start from Maokong and walk down to Xindian (start up the road immediately across the street from Maokong Station at the top of the cable car line, or you can start at the trailhead on Yinhe Road off of Beiyi Road (Highway 9) not far from MRT Xindian, accessible by bus or, optimally, taxi. 

This hike gets you into some nature, gives you exercise on the steep stairs, takes in a waterfall, a temple and some good views and lets you off - if you start from Xindian - in the proximity of several food and tea options with an easy ride back to the MRT. You can start at at or later than lunchtime, no problem, which is perfect if you were up half the night and want to sleep in.

9.) Fuzhou Hill

I have actually been up here before and it's an excellent place to go walking in Taipei without having to spend a whole day - and conveniently accessible from MRT Linguang (also walkable from Liuzhangli).

But, I can't find my pictures, and Josh Ellis has some great ones, so I've linked him above.

We enjoyed this one quite a bit, though we did it as a half-day thing (couldn't get out of the house before lunch, just could...not). I never blogged it as it seemed like such a normal thing to do, but now I wish I had. I'd know where the photos were at least! We went...wow, years ago now, and I just never got around to telling you all.

There are a few trails up here, some of which lead to stunning views, others are a bit more forested. And you really don't have to expend too much time or torture yourself if you're feeling tired, while still getting some nature in! 

My Knife Is The Bomb

I just realized it's been two years and I haven't written about my awesome Kinmen knife. I'm not the first to write about this, but as the owner of one of these remarkable products, I can attest to the quality. Talk about a unique souvenir from Taiwan, and the ultimate in upcycling!

We were given one of these knives (basically the same as the knife pictured above) from Maestro Wu's knifery (is that even a word?) as a wedding gift, and I have nothing but great things to say about it. It's heavy - if you use it to cook a dish that requires a lot of chopping prep work, the first time you do it'll tire out your wrist - but onions, garlic, scallions, ginger, vegetables (even the harder ones) melt beneath its blade.

Earlier this week I made a pasta with sundried tomato sauce. I started out by finely chopping scallions and garlic. Then I added the sundried tomato paste, regular tomato paste, cherry tomatoes chopped in half (as their own stand-alone vegetable rather than a sauce component), chopped red and yellow bell peppers and mushrooms. Using my Kinmen knife, all of this prep work was easy, like spreading warm cream cheese or grating soft cheddar. It just melts through meat and vegetables of all textures. The week before that I had some coworkers over; I made stuffed peppers and tomatoes and a trio of Mediterranean dips. Cutting and goring all those peppers and tomatoes was a breeze, as was chopping up all the vegetables that went in them with brown rice, with my handy bomb knife!

Kinmen knives are made from the found shells of bombs hurled at Kinmen island when hostilities between China and the ROC (better referred to as Taiwan) - and as such, have the strength and durability of the steel that goes into bomb-making. They're really remarkable.

My one piece of advice is to get it sharpened before you use it - we used ours straightaway and it felt blunter than it ought to. One day I found a knife-sharpener in one of those little random storefronts that line the streets of urban Taiwan and brought him my Kinmen knife. He sharpened it right up (took him awhile, too - even he was struggling with the heft of that metal) and now, well, I've almost sliced through two fingernails along with my vegetables, it's so sharp. That was almost a year ago, and it's still as sharp as the day I brought it in.

They're not cheap, but if you get one, a Kinmen knife will not only last you through your days in Taiwan, but it'll be something you can use, well, for the rest of your life. Or at least for as long as artillery shells remain strong, which I would assume is a pretty damn long time. Just don't get your fingers too close to it.