Traveling to Taidong and Zhiben - With Pictures!!
A few days back we returned from a trip to Taidong and environs. It was a nice 3 day "holiday" - well, it was a holiday for Wanlin, but just a little icing on the cake for the perpetual vacationer I.
We took the train from Gaoxiong to Zhiben and rented a scooter to buzz around. After extensive negotiations we settled on a hotel room and headed further up to see the national park. It was smallish, but well kept and wonderfully cool after the heat of Gaoxiong (the heat of a few days only, what with all the typhoons). It was more like a garden than a real forest as it was obvious that the area had been cleared out at some point in its past, but there were big beautiful trees and monkeys:
. A Big Tree! With a Monkey in it! (Well, actually in a different tree...)
.
.
There was a sign on the entrance to the park talking about all the birds that lived in the park, one of which was Taiwan's national bird. However we never saw sight of the illusive Blue...ah...bird （蓝鵲）. In order not to be disappointed I started claiming every bird we did see as the national bird, so we actually saw quite a few! The sign also talked about a type of riverhawk / ospery. I think that I saw one and I took a picture, but this was on maximum zoom and Wanlin insists that it is just a rock. We watched it for a few minuets, but didn't move. Still, you can make up your own mind. There is an egret above the Ospery who did walk around, as well as a weird black goose-shaped bird wandering around further down stream (not pictured).
Am I a Rock or An Ospery? (The correct answer is Osprey, I say!!)
The evening we went into downtown Taidong for dinner and had it at a 50 year + old noodle shop whose specialty, though tasty, didn't quite live up to a half-century reputation. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings and magazine articles about the place. The adjoining stinky tofu place was great, though, and we finished it off with some whole-milk pearl milk tea.
The next day we headed on down to the coast to visit a place called Jinzhen Mountain (金针山). Jinzhen is a type of wild flower, looking similar to the tiger lilly which, just before blooming is harvested and used in a soup. The peak was quite far up and it took us about 90mins to drive up there. A few meters up from sea level we entered into the mists and it was very cool. Here we are just entering!
Up the Mountain! See the Ocean? Into the Mists!
.
At the top, the mountain side was covered with flowers and we finally came to the top of the mountain. It was actually about two relatively equally tall rounded peaks with a cleft down the middle. The two rounded peaks were somewhat suggestively named, which I found amusing and we bumped into a few news reporters getting stock footage of the hillsides. It was quiet, cool, and very nice.
A Hillside covered with Flowers The Twin Peaks (From the East Side)
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.
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On the way back down the mountain we stumbled upon a little waterfall in a cleft of the mountain side. After looking admiringly at it I found a little path which led down to the water. Being a great lover of water I went down and started poking around. It turned out to actually be two divided falls and one formed a rather large pool. It was about 4 feet deep or so. How do I know how deep it was? Well, the water was so appealing that I could resisted stripping off all my clothes and going for a short swim. The water, as you can expect, was rather cold, but it was wonderfully exhilirating. For some reason I couldn't get Wanlin to join me. Heh heh. I made a point not mentioning the fresh water crabs hanging out on the rocks or the hand-sized spider dipping its front two legs - each finger length long. I don't know if it was dead or if it was fishing, but needless to stay I tended to stay closer to the other edge of the pond.
The Roadside Falls from the Curbside Gone Swimmin'
.
.
.
Once we got back down we messed about on the seashore for a while, keeping a mindful eye out for sharks as per the warning at the entrance to the beach, and ended the evening soaking in the hotsprings which were our hotel's area's claim to fame. The third day was somewhat taken up with us sleeping in and we caught the train and headed home. All in all a nice trip.
We took the train from Gaoxiong to Zhiben and rented a scooter to buzz around. After extensive negotiations we settled on a hotel room and headed further up to see the national park. It was smallish, but well kept and wonderfully cool after the heat of Gaoxiong (the heat of a few days only, what with all the typhoons). It was more like a garden than a real forest as it was obvious that the area had been cleared out at some point in its past, but there were big beautiful trees and monkeys:
. A Big Tree! With a Monkey in it! (Well, actually in a different tree...)
.
.
There was a sign on the entrance to the park talking about all the birds that lived in the park, one of which was Taiwan's national bird. However we never saw sight of the illusive Blue...ah...bird （蓝鵲）. In order not to be disappointed I started claiming every bird we did see as the national bird, so we actually saw quite a few! The sign also talked about a type of riverhawk / ospery. I think that I saw one and I took a picture, but this was on maximum zoom and Wanlin insists that it is just a rock. We watched it for a few minuets, but didn't move. Still, you can make up your own mind. There is an egret above the Ospery who did walk around, as well as a weird black goose-shaped bird wandering around further down stream (not pictured).
Am I a Rock or An Ospery? (The correct answer is Osprey, I say!!)
The evening we went into downtown Taidong for dinner and had it at a 50 year + old noodle shop whose specialty, though tasty, didn't quite live up to a half-century reputation. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings and magazine articles about the place. The adjoining stinky tofu place was great, though, and we finished it off with some whole-milk pearl milk tea.
The next day we headed on down to the coast to visit a place called Jinzhen Mountain (金针山). Jinzhen is a type of wild flower, looking similar to the tiger lilly which, just before blooming is harvested and used in a soup. The peak was quite far up and it took us about 90mins to drive up there. A few meters up from sea level we entered into the mists and it was very cool. Here we are just entering!
Up the Mountain! See the Ocean? Into the Mists!
.
At the top, the mountain side was covered with flowers and we finally came to the top of the mountain. It was actually about two relatively equally tall rounded peaks with a cleft down the middle. The two rounded peaks were somewhat suggestively named, which I found amusing and we bumped into a few news reporters getting stock footage of the hillsides. It was quiet, cool, and very nice.
A Hillside covered with Flowers The Twin Peaks (From the East Side)
.
.
.
.
On the way back down the mountain we stumbled upon a little waterfall in a cleft of the mountain side. After looking admiringly at it I found a little path which led down to the water. Being a great lover of water I went down and started poking around. It turned out to actually be two divided falls and one formed a rather large pool. It was about 4 feet deep or so. How do I know how deep it was? Well, the water was so appealing that I could resisted stripping off all my clothes and going for a short swim. The water, as you can expect, was rather cold, but it was wonderfully exhilirating. For some reason I couldn't get Wanlin to join me. Heh heh. I made a point not mentioning the fresh water crabs hanging out on the rocks or the hand-sized spider dipping its front two legs - each finger length long. I don't know if it was dead or if it was fishing, but needless to stay I tended to stay closer to the other edge of the pond.
The Roadside Falls from the Curbside Gone Swimmin'
.
.
.
Once we got back down we messed about on the seashore for a while, keeping a mindful eye out for sharks as per the warning at the entrance to the beach, and ended the evening soaking in the hotsprings which were our hotel's area's claim to fame. The third day was somewhat taken up with us sleeping in and we caught the train and headed home. All in all a nice trip.