Time exposure looking west to the setting New Year moon. The twin urban glows of Pingtung and Kaohsiung shine up through the sea of clouds.

If you look due east from Kaohsiung past the suburban sprawl, Daliao, the Gaoping river and the Pingtung plains you should see the 3000m Dawu mountain range only 35 kilometres away.

Occasionally around sunrise and a few days after each typhoon the mountains are visible to everyone. Otherwise Dawu is obscured by the industrial smog, rural burns, tropical air and the very fine alluvial dust that 4 million odd people trample.

As soon as you start to climb above the population soup the mountains emerge.

After a long rough winding mountain road you reach the trail head at 1540m

It is a 4 hour hike from the trail head to the hut. The trail is well marked and a good climb.

The hut sleeps 60 with further camping grounds for dozens of tents. Because of the week long Chinese New Year holiday and the miserable northern Taiwan winter drizzle the trail was busy and the hut was full.

We slept on benches under the balcony which was fine until about 1:30 am when super-keen hikers started preparing to for an accent to the summit for sunrise. We started the final climb at 3:30am and reached the ridge for sunrise. It is a further hour or so along the ridge to the top of North Dawu peak.

There were a few patches of ice left over from the cold front two weeks earlier.

And lots of red cedars, pines and small patches of alpine bamboo.

There was a little wildlife too.

We met some wonderful people along the trail. Lots of young and older couples, hiking groups, a few family groups too. Even some Taiwan resident Canadians and Australian making a dry New Years get-away from the north.

Along with the view from the top, the highlight was the sunset viewed from just before Juniper lodge. The sea of clouds is famous in the southern mountains but not always reliable.

There really are two Taiwans. One is above 1000 metres and is clean, sparsely populated and beautiful. When you are lucky you can see for miles and miles above the sea of clouds. The other exists below 1000 metres and is crowded, polluted and when you are lucky you can sometimes see the other through the swamp of smog.

Looking due north along the Southern first Section trail to Guanshan and the Southern Cross island highway.

Practicalities

You can reach the trailhead through Taiwu on Pingtung county road 106. Get your mountain permit from the police station in Taiwu.  The friendly police checked our gear, map and basic plan and waved us on when translation of the two forms became too difficult.

The trail requires some fitness but is not technically difficult. It can be easily done in two days if you start day 2 early.  The hut is well set-up with water and “mountain dump” toilets.

Though you don’t need one for this hike, if you would like a good detailed hiking map of the mountain try Books from Taiwan.

We started the day early with our first stop the police station at Lili (力里) to get our mountain permit. Mountain permits are a hangover from Japanese occupation and KMT military era when tight control over access to the mountains was maintained. They seem hardly relevant these days and if we were to walk the trail from the Eastern side they are not required.

Thanks to a military radar post at the top of the mountain it is possible to drive a 20 km track to the trail-head at 1420 metres. This means you do the 16km trail on an almost continuous downward slope.

The trail is well marked and well maintained. In fact it is a popular mountain biking trail and with so many cyclists in Taiwan even remote trails like this manage to get a few adventures. This party of 5 was well equipped and had arranged a lift to the top so they could cycle over three hours to the Eastern side. They even had a helmet mounted video camera to record their thrillful ride.

We had a hiking perfect day with blue sky, no wind and no rain. Not even a misty afternoon cloud to dampen the day.

The recommended hiking time is 6 hours. At 3 hours out and 5 kilometers down we realised hiking with small ones would mean we could be finishing in the dark. Not a wonderful prospect but we pushed on.

The kids were fantastic. We tried to slow them down at the start as they were prone to running ahead then running back before running ahead again. Of course this exuberance withered and we had to do a little carrying and encouraging by trail end.

Perhaps thanks to the traveling noise-crowd that we were, we saw little bird or wildlife. Not even many butterflies,  though we did find this ungainly spider.

There are a number of old police stations along the route though little remains other than piles of rocks to remind you of the time when Japanese police and their families lived in this remote place. The sign at one settlement says 30 Japanese police and their families were killed during an incident in 1924.

We reached the Gu-alun suspension bridge at the trail end just after dusk. 8 hours after our start. This could have been an ugly end as there was still 4 kms of river bed to walk and wade before the village where we could arrange a lift to the Dawu (大武) train station. We were very fortunate when a motorcyclists arrived and said he would send someone to come and pick us up. So we all waited by the river, watched for stars and chased fireflies. A superb ending to a glorious walk.

The fellow who picked us up was a real character. He drove us past his house so we could meet his family, then past some friends place all while his minivan stereo played loud New York rap. He dropped us at the Dawu train station in good time to catch the 8:05 train back to Kaohsiung. We were all so exhausted we slumped on the floor of the train while Catherine enthralled a curious group of travelers with our day’s story.

Practicalities

This is an easy hike but you need to arrange transport at least to the Western trail-head. Lili is about an hour’s drive from Kaohsiung. Drive East along Expressway 88 then South on Freeway 3 to the Nanzhou exit. Head South on highway 1 towards Kenting then turn left at Pingtung county road 132 toward Lili.

From Lili follow the road past the police station for about an hour to reach the trail-head.

The 6 hours recommended time would be ideal for average hikers. If you have small children, add a couple more hours.

Though we had perfect hiking weather, the mountain pass section receives over 5200 mm of rain a year so odds are you may encounter some showers.

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Currently based in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea he didn’t hesitate to up-anchor and sail the 5500 odd kms to visit us. After 8 weeks of sailing and stopping off at small islands through PNG, Indonesia, Micronesia and the Philippines he finally arrived in Kaohsiung. Thanks to a good mobile phone reception just beyond sight of land north west of Luzon I quickly alerted him of Typhoon Nuri that was looking like crossing his path in the Bashih Channel between the Philippines and Taiwan. An extra three day anchored down in the shelter of Santiago Island, Luzon, meant he arrived in Kaohsiung Harbour on the 25th of August. Just 3 days before we departed to Japan for 2 weeks.

Though the timing was bad for us, it fitted in nicely with the Kaohsiung International Regatta held on the 6th and 7th of September, a practice run for the World Games here in Kaohsiung next year.

Keen to enhance the race’s “International” standing, Leprena II was enthusiastically encouraged to participate as the Australian entrant. Two TV stations and a newspaper interview helped promote the event and catapulted this solo-sailor into a minor local celebrity.

Wearing a fisherman’s hat and white beard this old man is Peter.

Although approaching his 70’s he is still as fit as a young man. It took him a month to sail to Taiwan for the upcoming event.

He sailed alone with his yacht from Australia and on the way he was robbed by pirates in Indonesian waters.

 

He tried to combat the pirate with a shotgun but couldn’t and was later tied up and beaten. There are scars left from knife wounds both on his arms and legs but such an ordeal does not dent his courage. Instead it adds more life experiences.

There is a deeper reason for his drive to come to this beautiful island of Taiwan. His son has found his roots in Taiwan.

 

..which has also made him a “Taiwanese” grandfather. Taiwan is just like a second home to him. You may catch a glimpse of Peter at the yacht display area of Glory Harbor this Saturday between 2 and 4 pm for public viewing. For those who are interested please come along and discover the charm and beauty of yachting.

FTV reporter Liao Jing-Hsiong, Kaohsiung.

 

Correction: The pirating occured 3 years ago in PNG waters

The regatta and race by all accounts were very successful. Though suitably built for distance racing, solar panels, wind generator, a hull full of belongings along with a quickly convened crew of locals meant Leprena II came in 5 minutes outside the race time limit to score a DNF (Did Not Finish). Though he was very impressed with the pre and post dinners, hospitality, crystal participant’s trophy as well as a substantial participation reimbursement.

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It is fair to say that very few yachties make it to Taiwan. It took half a day to clear customs and immigration on arrival. A simple sail outside the harbour requires lengthy crew and itinerary registration. Motoring inside the harbour is apparently not permitted as we discovered during a leisurely Saturday cruise.

Leprena II has been moored at the Shaochuantou yacht pier at Sizihwan opposite the ferry point to Chijin Island. It is a great location in the hustle and bustle of Kaohsiung harbour. A popular destination for outdoor wedding photo shoots and now very crowded on weekends as the port-side destination station of the newly opened orange line of the KMRT.

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Both Grandpapa and the boat are a huge hit with the kids. If the success of a sleep-over is measured by how little sleep is achieved I think Leprena II ranks most successful.

He is currently in Hong Kong where his partner Frances will join him. They will return here for another month by which time this very busy typhoon season will have hopefully subsided. They intend returning to PNG via Philippines and perhaps Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Now my wife and I are travelers of old and have always been ready to pack a bag and venture off. But this trip was a little different. We started out as a party of 8, my in-laws, nephew, 3 kids, wife and myself. Backpacks not being appropriate, we decided to start with a 5 days Tokyo tour group.

The tour was great. It was well organised, well filled with activities and even managed to arrange the bus trips so all the Taiwanese participants could get their mid-afternoon snooze. As it had a Disneyland day included there were a few young families which gave the whole group an extra casual feel.

We farewelled the in-laws and returning tour group to spend an extra day at Disneyland and a couple of days in greater Tokyo.

We then activated our 7 day Japan Rail pass and hit the precision rail system for as much value as we could squeeze from it with 12 Shinkansen rides and a handful of regional and local trains in the week. I have never used the second hand on my watch for catching trains before but sitting on trains in in Japan I discovered it was 35 seconds fast. What an incredible system Japan Rail run!

Though traveling at 285 km/h the kids still managed to build card houses on the seats. Though they never completed a full second story!

The last few days we spent near Himeji in Western Honshu with friends. A relaxing end to busy holiday.

Japan is a fantastic place to travel with kids. There is so much for them to see and enjoy. Though our Australian/Taiwanese free-range kids in a Japanese battery kids world can be a little stressful at times!

There were comic books with naughty pictures in them and free magazines with enticing pictures for kids.

And so many buttons and levers to push and pull.

Despite the crowds and concrete jungles we still managed to find plenty of wildlife and enjoy some of the natural parts of Japan.

Japan is a fascinating place; so organised, so polite, so efficient. But for me, Taiwan beats it on so many accounts.

It was something about the toutured trees and domesticated stones.

I always had a feeling we were breaking some unwritten rule. Give me the free-flowing pragmatic chaos of Taiwan anyday.

It should not be surprising that Taiwan would have a great aquarium, for everyone here absolutely loves seafood. It is only natural that a small live sample of all the yummy marine dishes should be available for viewing.

There are seemingly endless displays of really impressive tanks with huge glass fronts containing all manner of interesting sea creatures. The people who conceived and designed this aquarium have done a fantastic job and have made Taiwan proud.

A circling school of fish in a cylindrical glass display

The open water display with rays, tuna and a whale shark. Absolutely breathtaking.

A 10 metre open water profile of kelp beds

Or the underwater walkways that take you past corals, fish and through a ship-wreck no less.

Another really impressive exhibit was a coral reef profile in a curved glass display with a declining walkway.

Even the outdoor squid sculptures are impressive.

But we were most impressed by the penguin exhibit. The large “people” side, for ambience no doubt, is cooled to 17C. While behind the floor-to-roof glass on the “penguin” side it is chilled to a balmy Antarctic -2C. With near on 40 birds from 6 species the open display gives surperb viewing of these torpedo swimmers.

Though we did feel a little sorry for their lonely North Pole puffin cousins in the adjacent display. Though the puffins could not see their Southern avian upstarts, they must surely wonder why the crowds just walk on by.

The National Museum website has a live penguin cam. Though nothing will beat stopping by the museum yourself, you could switch your air-conditioner to “coldest” and watch them from here.

Back in Perth a family island holiday for us usually involves a week on lazy Rottnest Island.  I have wished to visit Lanyu for many years so with the kids on summer holidays we packed our bags and ventured off to see what it is like.

Firstly the island is volcanic in origin so the geology and geography are quite different from the mostly metamorphosed and alluvial Taiwan.  At 13 km long and 32 km around it has a steep hilly centre surrounded by thin strips and scallops of flat land. There are plenty of places where the hills plunge almost directly into the ocean.

There are 5 small settlements on the island. The people here are more similar to the northern Philippines than Taiwan and indeed very different from Chinese. The local language is apparently understood by those from the northern Philippine islands. Unfortunately many of the younger generation are no longer fluent in this language.

We visited in the middle of summer which is peak tourist time, though it didn’t have a tourist trap feel to it. Visitors we met were mostly extended family groups, student groups and young couples. We also met a group of mostly English teachers from Chiayi camping on a remote eastern beach making a real getaway from Taiwan living.

The easiest way to get around is by scooter. It takes a couple of hours to circumvent the island, an excellent way to spend the day. The next day, for a change, you can turn around a scooter the other way.

One place that I was eager to see was the low-level nuclear waste facility on the southern tip of the island. Spare a small rocky island a few kilometers further south, this is the furthest most point it is possible to get away from Taipei within Taiwan. The perfect place for nuclear waste dump! Except that it is in the path of typhoons, only just above the high tide waterline and on a geologically unstable land-mass. Someone told me the locals were duped in to believing they were getting a fish cannery.  There is a moratorium on new disposal and it is due for complete de-commissioning by 2010.

Lanyu just has an incredibly lazy feel to it. Which was just perfect for the type of break we were after. We collected hermit crabs and ran crab races, swam, tried catching some fish and generally just enjoyed discovering the island.

Lanyu reminded me more of the South-east asian islands than our favorite Rottnest. But for a relaxing and enjoyable island get-away we can all highly recommend it.

And surprisingly it is a very affordable dish. Where a dozen fresh oysters at home is a small luxury, here in Taiwan this dish is a cheap quick meal.

Well the port of Dongshih (東石) supplies 60% of the local oyster omellete market. We visted on a wet summer Sunday and discovered just how much oysters are part of this seaside town.

The large shallow bay is protected by an outer reef. Old oyster shells are strung on a length of line and hung on floating bamboo beds. Each old shell becomes the seed for many new oysters.

They are harvested and moved into one of the many shucking houses in town.

From there they are packaged and shipped to night markets all over Taiwan.

The town is littered with piles of the old oyster shells.

Not wanting to leave without a sample we purchased a small bag. At 200NT per kilo (USD7) they are cheaper than steak.

And as the old man who provided me a free sample later indicated with a rising finger, everyone the world over reckons raw oysters are great for mens virility.

A Hungry Girls Guide to Tiapei also covers this dish.

I was very fortunate to join Richard at Barking Deer Adventures on this restricted hiking trip. Five of us started from Dongpu 東浦¦ at 1200m, climbed to the Batongguan meadows at 2900m, took a side trip to the peak of Yushan (Taiwan’s highest at 3952m), trekked for two days around 3000m before descending over 3 day to the eastern entrance of the Yushan national park near Yuli 玉里 at 400m. What a truly incredible hike. For its remoteness, variety of landscape, difficulty, and historical significance.

Though we were in view of the summit of Yushan for more than four days of the hike, we only saw the top on the occasion we were 10m from it. A cold front brought low clouds over much of the area above 3000m for these four days. Ah, such are the uncertainties of mountain hiking. We did have plenty of ice, rain and cold wind for our Yushan climb.

The trail follows the old Japanese central cross island route. This was a well constructed and gently contoured trail maintained by the Japanese from around 1920 until 1944. There were many old police stations along the route, these were established to contain and subdue the original aboriginal tribes in the mountains.

The geology of the trail is also very interesting. Most of it is in siltstone shales. This is very soft rock and prone to sliding. Consequently, while most of the terrain is very steep, there are few vast sheer drops and plenty of landslides. Of the original trail, more than half of the middle section has slipped away or been spilled over with rockfalls. The last 15km of the trail are through harder mica schist. That provides more precipitous river views.

We stayed in trail huts each night. These are fantastic resources and a huge credit to the national park service. Some were quite rudimentary but generally they are well designed, well built and well maintained.

As with any mountain trekking in Taiwan there were a number of suspension bridges. Here an old rusty wire and wood bridge was left next to a very new one. Thankfully there were none of this vintage we needed to cross. Though only a few years earlier there were still plenty along this trail.

Covering such a large range of altitude meant we saw very different plants, insects and animals along the way.

The alpine meadows above 3000m

Cool misty damp forest

Short scrub in the mountain rain shadows.

Enormous trees

And typical Taiwan forest too.

Overall the Batongguan trail is an incredible hike. As we regularly said while walking, “It will be strange when the hike is over and we have to return to Taiwan”

Update: Fellow hiker Robert has an excellent daily account with some of the practicalities for the hike and lots more photos in a series of blog entries at Pashan

If you need a good hiking map of the area try Books from Taiwan.

We made a 5 day island tour across the southern cross island highway, east coast, Taroko Gorge, Hehuan Shan in snow and back past Sun Moon Lake to Kaohsiung. On their last day here we made a day trip to Taipei to see the bike exhibition followed by dinner then returned to Kaohsiung in the evening.

It was this last day’s trip to a city 400 km away that made me realise just how incredibly easy life has become in Taiwan.

We live approximately 5 km from expressway 88. This was completed around 8 years ago and is just a small addition to the incredible freeway system that makes car travel in Taiwan so convenient.

The new High Speed Rail is connected directly to this freeway system so we parked in the car park and within 10 minutes purchased tickets from the simple to use ticket machine and were on the 10:06 express to Taipei.

This train has just two intermediate stops and covers the 400 odd km in 1 hour 36 min at around 300kmh. The ride is smooth, the staff are friendly and the whole experience is fantastic.

In Taipei we caught the incredible efficient and growing MRT system to the brand new Nangang exhibition centre to see the largest bike exhibition in the world. As the MRT does not quite yet reach here we used the free shuttle bus.

After quickly looking at more bicycle frames and handle bars than I ever thought existed, we went shopping at the Miramar in the Neihu shopping district.

And then as a final meal we ate at the amazing Five Dime restaurant.

This is a truly exceptional place that would rank as one of the worlds best themed restaurants.

After dinner we made the three hour return to Kaohsiung via taxi, MRT, HSR and car.

This was a world class experience in a world class nation. I love Taiwan.