Recent Photos: September to October 2014

A lone tree on the 7 highway in the mountains of Taoyuan County.

Overlooking Naluo village, Taiwan.

I am no Macro photographer, but this cropped photo of a wasp nest didn't come out too bad.

Ocean lovers enjoy a campfire on the coast near Dulan, Taiwan.

Macaques can be spotted in many places in Taiwan. It is very easy to see them in the South. Here one feasts on some fruit near Taitung.

On a beach north of Taitung, people wander around the washed up twigs.

A man drums at his temple north of Taitung

The beautiful cliffs of Dulan, north of Taitung

A woman places persimmons to be sun dried then baked at the Hsinpu Persimmon cake factory. The 1 ingredient cakes are sold for about 140 NT per box, extremely tasty for being only dried persimmon.

Although it may be cliche to post a photo of Taipei 101, this was the most beautiful time I ever saw it. If you go to Taipei, you should definitely walk up Elephant Mountain at sunset to take in this view.

Taiwan: Oddball out

We rode on the highway 7 across the northern part of Taiwan, through some pretty awesome mountains. Along the way I got some good pictures, but unfortunately it started raining after we took a pit stop to search for hot springs. In doing that, we got caught down the wrong trail and learned a lesson about inhospitable nature. The mountain side was wrought with loose rock and mud, and we ended up worried about how to get out. At one point I stepped on a loose rock and almost pissed my pants as I realized the thing slipping from under my foot taking me for a roll down the muddy hill where about 5 meters below a tree brought me to a stop. By some miracle from God, I came out with some scratches and 2 feisty bruises on my butt. I could imagine it ending up worse. This pit-stop-joy hike turned into kind of a survival situation as it started to rain. Fortunately we made it up the hill covered in mud back to our scooters before the rain got to heavy.
There is no denying the beauty of the Taiwanese mountains, but don't mistake that for a hospitable environment where you can take a walk frolicking through the woods... Make sure you know where you're going, and always stay on the trail especially in steep mountain terrain.
After that we made it to Yilan and chilled on a beach, which was quite appreciated.