Since our last correspondence Malissa and I have had the opportunity to travel to Taiwan's beautiful east coast and visit a few places that were new to the both of us. A 3 1/2 hour scenic train ride along the southeastern coast line took us to our destination of Taidong. We where able to get a whole new "Taiwanese" experience by staying at a "hot spring" resort in the nearby mountains. While the surrounding scenery was picturesque and the accommodations favorable, it was the amount of Taiwan tourists there that caught all of our attention. Through our observations we noticed that most of the families staying there were rather young. Adults with 1-2 kids in their mid to late 30's, taking a weekend vacation on the east coast. Though Taiwan's have always been a mobile people, this trend of weekend retreats to resorts is a relatively recent phenomenon. We traveled with Clark and Paula, the two other interns from dept. of state, throughout the trip and we all agreed that the resort was a unique experience to say the least. We can elaborate more on our experience in person if you'd like.
After a nice rest, we got up early to take a 1 hour ferry from Taidong to Green Island of the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, though largely a tourist destination today, was once home to jailed political dissidents. The original prison that housed them is still there today and is visited by many tourists passing by on their rented scooters. The island itself is gorgeous. Small, green, tropical and filled with dozens of scenic ocean views. Anyone visiting the east coast should take the time to check it out. The only way to travel on the island is by renting a scooter for $10 a day, but keep in mind you should have some scooter riding experience beforehand as it is not an ideal setting to learn (one of our friends found that out the hard way). Greg got an intense sun burn on his arms from riding around w/out sunscreen for a few hours in the morning, but is now seeing a bit of color which is always nice.
My good friend Grey Ding came down from Taipei for the weekend and stayed here with us. It was a good treat to see him. His first night down we went to the LiuHe Night Market and found the most amazing fruit drinks I've ever had. Needless to say I had my fill of them. You have to take advantage of those opportunities.
Malissa and I have finalized our SE Asian itinerary and will be traveling to Malaysian Borneo followed by Kuala Lumpur and will be ending in Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat. We look forward to the upcoming adventures and are excited to share them all with you!
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