Archiv der Kategorie: Asia

Taiwan, World Trip 2018-19

Trekking in Taroko National Park

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My next destination after Hong Kong was Taiwan. I had only about 9 days to explore the small island, and started my visit by flying into Hualien – a rather unusual start with most backpackers flying into Taipei first of course. Hualien welcomed me as a nice little town with not much going on, but a good feel to it. I met a couple of other backpackers in my hostel and together we set off to explore Taroko Gorge the next day. We had wanted to rent scooters, but our rental place was suddenly closed and no one else wanted to rent scooters to foreigners. So bus it was! The ride was beautiful, going all the way through the gorge to the final stop – Tianxiang.

The plan was to get a permit for the Lushui-Wenshan trail at the police station there, as the Lonely Planet suggested. However, at the police station no one knew about issuing permits and after some internal discussions, they said the trail was closed anyways (not true as we found out later). Oh well, we were already there, so went on the trek to the Baiyang waterfall – a very easy and short hike, not that spectacular but a start.

We then took the bus to Swallow Grotto which is another super easy walk, but this time also super impressive!! Definitely a must for any Taroko NP visitor. From the end of the trail, we hitchhiked to the Eternal Spring Shrine. We hitchhiked because there’s only about one bus per hour, which is not ideal at all if you want to see a lot of Taroko Gorge. Scooter or car rental would be my first choice if possible!

The shrine itself was pretty but it was more a quick photo stop. This time we did manage to catch a bus after – onward to the visitor center where we got some more information on trails closures and permits. Should have come here first thing in the morning, then we wouldn’t have wasted so much time in Tianxiang! Anyways, I got my permit for the Lushui-Wenshan trail for the next day.

But before hiking again, we deserved a good dinner! Ally who I had been trekking with, had met a Taiwanese guy who was gonna take us to the night market and be our food guide as well as translator. That was very fortunate as not everything is written in English and you can’t always guess what it is that is being sold. Especially for picky eaters like myself, a local to explain was really good! So I tried my way through various things: cherry tomatoes in sugar glace, stinky tofu (not as stinky as some Dutch or French cheese imho), some sort of egg/basil pancake and of course bubble tea! It all was delicious and and awesome first night market experience!

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Next day, I was off to Lushui, Taroko Gorge, to embark on my 4-5 h trek, supposedly the 2nd best, since I wasn’t able to get a permit for the Zhuilu Old Trail unfortunately. Well. Luckily it ended up taking only 2.5 h, but unfortunately it was also super exhausting and very much not worth it! The trail climbed up and down steeply most of the time, mostly with steep steps! When you’re doing such a workout in the tropical heat, you feel like you deserve some good views in return… but the trail was almost entirely in the jungle, with the vegetation covering most of all views that could have been there. To make matters worse, at one point Jessie (who I had met at the trail start) and I both got lost and ended up on some pretty steep, slippery and dangerous route. Luckily we found the real trail again, but we were both relieved when we were back on the road, walking back towards Tianxiang and DONE with Lushui-Wenshan.

I didn’t want to finish Taroko with such a rather disappointing trek though, so got off the bus at the visitor center to hike as much of the Shakadang trail as still possible. I had to make it back to the visitor center in time for the last bus, so had to rush quite a bit and turn around after about 3/4 of the trail. However – what I saw until then was really really cool!! Probably my most favourite part of Taroko, next to Swallow Grotto. I was happy I had still managed to see this part of the park and with that, ok to move on to Kaohsiung – even though there would have been more to see and do in Hualien region, if I had planned more time for Taiwan…

China, hong kong, World Trip 2018-19

Another stopover: Hong Kong

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I continued my city hopping tour with a stopover in Hong Kong. I had two full days here and half a day after I arrived, which was a little short but ok. I could have done with one more day in Hong Kong and a fourth one to visit Macau – maybe next time!

On my first day I arrived really tired and jet-legged at my hostel but still decided to head out to explore the city right away. After all, I was short on time! My hostel was located very centrally in Tsim Sha Tsui, so I decided to walk around in this area first. To be honest though, apart from the promenade with the view over the skyline of Hong Kong island, the sights here are a bit underwhelming.

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So I was done rather quickly and decided to take the metro to Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden…and wow! These two more than made up for the underwhelming sights before!! Especially the Nunnery is something really special, the old beautiful building and the skyscrapers in the background.

 

Just one station away, there’s the Wong Tai Sin temple which I of course also paid a visit, however it didn’t amaze me as much. It was nice, sure, but there was a somewhat restless atmosphere contrary to the usual peaceful temple visit which I like.

 

I took the metro back to Mong Kok and walked through a couple of the city’s markets: the lady’s market, fruit and vegetable market and of course the famous Temple Street night market. If you’re into shopping, then these market streets will be paradise for you! I also saw quite some things I might have liked, but being on the road for that long, there’s really, absolutely, no space at all for additional things in my 19 kg backpack!

 

I found a vegetarian restaurant for some ok fried noodles and then made it back in time for the sound and light show back to the harbour promenade. I secured a good spot but had to wait half an hour for the show to begin… only to leave 5 min after it had started! Yeah, it was that bad. No further comment from my side. The skyline at night would be better off without that show.

 

My first full day in Hong Kong was dedicated to Hong Kong Island. I took the ferry across to the other side which was super nice! Then I walked around a bit in the Eastern part, trying to find various smaller temples and sights which were all not that amazing though.

 

The Western part afterwards was much better, lots of cafes, restaurants, some markets etc. Of course I also visited the Man Mo temple, one of the major ones in Hong Kong. I already located a restaurant for dinner which offered vegetarian dumplings! Yay!

 

But before that, I went back to the area around Central station to see some of the massive skyscrapers such as the HSBC building. In Hong Kong, between all these huge buildings you really feel small and insignificant…

 

The main sight in HK though is of course Victoria Peak, so this was my next destination. I took the old and famous peak tram up which is an attraction in itself, running steeply up the mountain. Once up, I went to the main viewpoint Lion’s Pavilion and then decide to walk the Circle Route. I was hoping for great views along the way but half of the trail (the back side) is only in the jungle and not particularly interesting. It only gets interesting again once you reach the front of the walk at Lugard Road. This is where you can take the most amazing panorama shots… it was simply stunning!

 

Since I liked it so much up there, I decided to go for a drink and wait until it got dark to see the city lights. It was a rather long wait but well worth it! See for yourself…

 

Maybe I would recommend to head up only 30 min before sunset – I thought there was more to do at the top, but the best views are really very close to the peak tram stop. So after taking over 100 night photos (encouraged by all the half/professional photographers around me), I made my way down to the dumpling restaurant, this time by bus.

After not much sleep in my party hostel, I had a hard time getting out of bed next day and started my day trip to the Big Buddha later than intended, which resulted in a longer wait at the cable car in Thung Chung. The wait was well worth it though – the ride on the cable car was very scenic with beautiful views in all directions, and took about half a hour, so plenty of time to enjoy!

 

You can already see the Big Buddha statue from the cable car and once arrived at the top station, you can climb the many stairs up to it for some more nice views. There’s also a pretty monastery which you can visit and where you even could have lunch if you wanted to.

 

After visiting the Buddha and the monastery, I hopped on a bus to Tai O fishing village. It only took about 20 min and brought me down the other side of the mountain. To be honest, the fishing village was boring and not picturesque. Luckily I found a trail leading up to a viewpoint and then across the island down to the other side with amazing views. That made the trip to Tai O worth it for me! That, and the ferry rude back to Thung Chung station which I spontaneously decided for. Sooo much better than a bus ride and much better views!

 

And this is how my time in Hong Kong came to an end. I had a really good few days exploring the city and its surroundings and definitely enjoyed my time there! Maybe I’ll return one day to see more, and to visit Macau… Here are all my (best) photos: Hong Kong album.

Maldives, World Trip 2018-19

Diving the marvelous Maldives

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I had never really planned to go to Sri Lanka, but it just so happened that there were cheap flights from Colombo to Male, and this is how this trip formed. I spent about 2 weeks travelling through Sri Lanka, seeing a lot of amazing landscapes and cultural sites. Now it was time to head to my next destination, the Maldives! 🙂

I had wanted to dive the Maldives for a long time, and finally booked the „Best of Maldives“ itinerary on the MY Emperor Voyager liveaboard. I had already dived with Emperor Divers in Egypt, and again had a really good time with them in the Maldives! The boat and cabins were more spacious this time, and the group more mixed, age- and country-wise. It was a good group with always someone around for a chat! I thoroughly enjoyed not having to plan anything, but just following the daily agenda which was written on the board each evening for the next day. Eat, sleep, dive, repeat! In between the dives, we relaxed on the sun deck or in the lounge, had a quick shower and got ready to go diving again. Food was buffet-style and amazing with lots of choice and eggs any style to order for breakfast. One evening, we went to a sand bank in the middle of nowhere for a sundowner and another evening we had an amazing BBQ on a little island with a huge buffet prepared for us.

 

The dives themselves of course were awesome!! In the course of the week we saw loads and loads of reef sharks (mainly white tips, and some greys), a hammerhead, many turtles and stingrays, about 15-20 or so manta rays at different cleaning stations aaaand a whale shark! 🙂 I think my highlights were definitely the hammerhead which I spotted and the whale shark which we were able to stay with for quite some time and was rather close. I had always wanted a better (longer/closer) whale shark encounter than the one I had back in Utila in 2012, and finally it was the time.

 

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I generally enjoyed the dives – sometimes it was like diving in a fish soup! But as always some things were different than I had expected: Currents were very strong during the first part of the week. While I usually like currents when you can just let yourself go, this time we had to use reef hooks to stay in one place. I quite struggled with the usage and didn’t feel so comfortable with it. Also, corals were quite dead in some areas which was sad to see. In others, of course we saw very beautiful and healthy coral – so there is hope! Also, I kind of had hoped to see more „special stuff“, like more different sharks and not just reef sharks. Maybe some dolphins or if very lucky a mola mola. Etc. You get the picture. It was certainly amazing diving though, and I guess I am just getting a bit spoiled with all the great locations I have dived at already!

 

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Apart from the boat and the underwater world, I did not see much of the Maldives. We drove past many little resort islands, which look beautiful but also a bit boring if I would spend more than a day there. I saw Male City a little bit when I spent one night there before getting on the boat: It’s nothing special, reminding me a little of choatic Sri Lankan cities like Kandy maybe. I would have expected it a bit posher what with all the tourist money that comes into the country. Same goes for Hulhulmale island next to the airport. It has certainly a beautiful beach, but you are only allowed to bathe fully clothed. Apart from that, there is nothing much to see and a lot of it looks like a construction site. So I guess on the boat and underwater is the place to be in the Maldives! 😉 Click here to see all my pictures of the Maldives.