Yanshui Fengpao 鹽水烽炮: The only fireworks show you'll ever be able to participate in.

鹽水 Yanshui, a town north of Tainan, is home to one of the most unique festivals I've ever been to. 

The Taiwanese who take part in the festival believe that the more you get hit by the fireworks, the more luck you will have in the next year. 

Around the festival you will run into some huge apparatuses loaded with fireworks called 'beehives'. Then some Taiwanese people will bring in an deity, light fake money on fire for their ancestors and light the fuse. This is followed by a shower of  explosive rockets, burning holes in your clothes and causing you to jump around. 

This kind of festival would never fly in a place like the United States, which is one of the reasons I really like Taiwan; things like this can happen. 

I decided to tape my camera bag up with a cardboard protectors, which only led to me having a box and camera bag filled with dead fireworks. Somehow the fireworks even ended up in the smallest nooks and crannies of my camera bag, which now carries the essence of a campfire. The most important thing was that my friends and I survived the ordeal quite well, aside from a nose full of black snot. I'm surprised i didn't pull a firework out of my ear.

So if you are ever in Taiwan, head down to Yanshui（鹽水） near Tainan（台南） around Lantern festival time and you can have a very lucky year.

花蓮 Hualian and Toroko Gorge

On the eastern side of Taiwan lies Hualian county, a long strip along the mountainous central coast. Our trip there was great, but if you're going make sure to plan it out before you go. Reason being is most of the great outdoorsy activities you need to register for. You can do that here: http://www.taroko.gov.tw/English/

If you don't make a plan there, it is still great to see Toroko Gorge (太魯閣峽谷). Without reservations you can ride a motorcycle up the gorge and hike some of the easier trails then head back to Hualian for some good eats.

The Waterfall Curtain Tunnel (水簾洞） at the end of the Baiyang Waterfall trail (白楊步道）.

At the Eternal Spring Shrine (長春祠)

Eternal Spring Shrine (長春祠)

The Qingshui cliffs from the South (清水斷崖）

As close as we could get to the bottom of the cliffs, looking south.

If you want something good to eat in Hualian, look no further than their night markets, in particular Zhiqiang Night Market (自強夜市）.  You will see a lot of Taiwanese people lining up for all the common night market treats, but one, Gaodaxia (高大俠), was quite unique. The first thing you see is this handsome man flame grilling shrimp and clams, whilst a dozen or so Taiwanese women of mixed age take millions of photos of him. The first thing I thought was, I'm not lining up, but, well we did and it was worth it. They offer super fresh seafood for a pretty reasonable price, plus they do it right. To make it more appealing, they have a huge selection of imported beer to choose from in the back. The best time to go is probably when that night market starts at about 5pm.

Nicely grilled scallops

Raw oyster with Thai sauce

Oysters ready for consumption

Around Hsinchu (新竹)

I wish I got out more to take photos here in Taiwan. With the teaching job, I only get time to go shooting on the weekends. Weekends though, I still get out and do some stuff around the city or in the mountains.           

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.

Thinking of Home

A shot of the Organs on a cloudy day around 2010. It doesn't feel like so long ago I lived back home, but it feels like a long time since I've breathed that fresh NM air.

Man at the temple: Hsinchu 新竹

Taiwan is a great place to live because there is always something to take pictures of around the corner.

Palawan

In February we went to Palawan to check out the famed beaches and lagoons of El Nido. I was expecting something like Thailand, but it was completely different. Absolutely stunning white sand beeches and amazingly friendly people are what I will always remember about this place. Because it was Chinese New Year, the place was packed with tourists we could only stay in El Nido for a few days, but those were great days. After that, we went down to Puerto Princessa for the remainder, which was nice, but no El Nido. Bottom line, if you go to Palawan, go to El Nido. Puerto Princessa, Palawans hub city offered some beeches and great photo opportunites of life there. I got my favorite shots in the fish market.