#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau Travel Forum >  >  Taiwan 2006

## WujouMao

Taiwan is such a small island. nothing much to see, but plenty of freedom. just one huge concrete jungle on the west side

you can't take pictures like this in China


Changing of the guard


Ami tribe girl, and the resturant

Yehliu National Park, just outside Taipei

the 'Q'ueen'. rock formations carved by the sea, wind and rain


Taipei 101

its built to look ike square bamboo

Taroko Gorge, east side. valley carved out of solid marble by the chinese


its the 3rd time its been built as it used to be built of the fault line


take a closer look

saw this sunset on a train

9 dragons immortals bridge

volcanic gas vents

snow in 30' temperture?

salt fields

green Island

green island - spot the sleeping woman and the dog


would you like tea?


collapsed bridge which was made from rice. its true, i read it in a guide book!


i didnt see much Chinlish in Taiwan, not compared to China anyway. 


i love a soak in a hot bath, but in this? sheesh!


this is HER shop! its pink for a reason!


i found this in a nightclub. thought someone had gashed themselves with a knife. i found out it was a Betal seed. as i was pretty paralytic i tried some, and within a few secs, i woke up. And so you spit out the red liquid


although i have seen hill tribes munch on it in Thailand, Laos etc, i never was given a chance to try it

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## reinvented

nice
missus is trying to get me to go next year
may well consider it

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## terry57

Good pics interesting. Never been there but have been contemplating a look see trip for a while.

Thanks for the heads up.

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## Happyman

love the place !!
Lived there for about 5 years .

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## panama hat

> nothing much to see,


Au contraire . . . as your pictures prove.  Taiwan used to be called Formosa, the Portuguese for 'beautifull', and it really is a beautiful place. 

Taipei, Taiping, Tiachung are uuuugly . . . but the countryside is very, very pretty.  Spent quite a bit of time working with Chunghwa telecom . . . not crazy about the food, though.  



Taiwan 2006?  It took you two years to upload the photos?  :Smile:   Excellent photos,!

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## WujouMao

> Originally Posted by WujouMao
> 
> nothing much to see,
> 
> 
> Au contraire . . . as your pictures prove.  Taiwan used to be called Formosa, the Portuguese for 'beautifull', and it really is a beautiful place. 
> 
> Taipei, Taiping, Tiachung are uuuugly . . . but the countryside is very, very pretty.  Spent quite a bit of time working with Chunghwa telecom . . . not crazy about the food, though.  
> 
> ...


Taroko Gorge was awsome, as is anything on the east side. but the west side, concrete jungle, apart from Alishan National park of course.

it took 2 years to upload cos i have only been back a year and i have only found out about this forum

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## panama hat

^ Just poking fun, they are excellent pictures.  So, what is your connection to Thailand?

(A green for you!  :Smile:  )

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## bustak

I love Taiwan! I was there for almost 3-weeks around 5 years ago. This thread made me want to go back even more.

Good stuff!

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## WujouMao

> ^ Just poking fun, they are excellent pictures.  So, what is your connection to Thailand?
> 
> (A green for you!  )


its a country that iv visted about 5 times in 3 years. love the culture, the people, getting off the beaten track, festivals and of course the food!

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## Fabian

Nice to see. It is much nicer there than I thought.

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## kingwilly

great thread. interesting pics mate.

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## mancon

Great trip report again and as usual with some nice pics! It´s nice to see that you take your time and get out of the big cities to see something more of each country you visit!

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## barbaro

> love the place !!
> Lived there for about 5 years .


What were you doing there, Happy?

Teaching?

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## Happyman

> Originally Posted by Happyman
> 
> 
> love the place !!
> Lived there for about 5 years .
> 
> 
> What were you doing there, Happy?
> 
> Teaching?


Working as an Engineering Consultant for insurance companies.
Went out from a job (just running down) in Peru to assess the damage to a steelworks following a Typhoon flood - 2 week job they told me!
Massive job - took 9 months and by that time I grew to love the place ( and a little Taiwanese lady :Smile:  https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/displayi...110&pos=-39267) - was offered a job with a Loss Adjusting company out there and stopped on !

We moved on to Malaysia for a few years and then I retired and we came to the LOS!!

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## Happyman

Yang Min Shan - The national park, just outside Taipei, is good as well . 
 Could leave the office in the concrete jungle at 5 - home by 5:15 ( on motor bike - traffic was horrendous) pick up lady and we could be up in the mountains in another 20 mins. Total silence- little "tea house" by a stream in a pine wood - Cold beer- "Three cup Chicken" or "Sugar vinegar fish" with flash fried stream shrimps for nibbles while you were waiting - absolute bloody bliss ! 
If you get the chance - try it !!

Recipies and location of "Tea House"available on request   :Smile:

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## Happyman

Shit  Mr WujouMao !  :Smile: 
 You have disturbed the 2 remaining functional brain cells - if any TDers are contemplating a trip there post a request and I will give you a list, and directions to , NON "touristy" places that we used to enjoy - cultural and historical ! 
There are some amazing "tucked away" places there !

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## v7788999

Such a small island can get so many kind of picture its worthy to travel

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## Skettios

Nice pics! I lived in Hsinchu for three years, and I really liked it. 

No Betel Nut girls? I was always shy to take pictures of them as well. The next guy from Teak Door who goes has a mission. Most scantily clad Betel Nut girl wins.

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## Rural Surin

Lovely pics Wujou....I always loved Taiwan. So much to experience. Interesting that you might consider it a 'smallish' island. Cheers :Smile:

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## Happyman

> Nice pics! I lived in Hsinchu for three years, and I really liked it. 
> 
> No Betel Nut girls? I was always shy to take pictures of them as well. The next guy from Teak Door who goes has a mission. Most scantily clad Betel Nut girl wins.


Now you are talking !!!

Our office cleaner was a Mamasan for Wufu 4th Road Kaohsuing , betel nut girls - she apparently used to be one herself ! 
Her 2 daughters carry on the family tradition - real "eye candy" !

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## WujouMao

> Nice pics! I lived in Hsinchu for three years, and I really liked it. 
> 
> No Betel Nut girls? I was always shy to take pictures of them as well. The next guy from Teak Door who goes has a mission. Most scantily clad Betel Nut girl wins.


you know mate, thats what i was hoping to find in Taiwan. i'v seen some half naked totties behind purspex before on the net but i didnt find anything of the sort. of course, riding a scooter, speaking chinese or finding some white bloke teaching English there with the same tastes as you would improve the hunting, plus a nice camera with a telephoto lense.

i was just on my todd, with a guide book in hand, and the locals only just understand my posh English public school boy accent. As for the girls selling Betal, i saw lots of boxes, and girls waring clothes. nothing reveling enough like you would expect if you were in a gogo bar in Pattaya.

still, going to vietnam soon so the only betel nut girls i'll find are Akha hill tribe

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## Skettios

They are banned in Taipei, and not as common on the east coast.
I actually found the further south you got, the more extreme the Betel nut girls are. 

As I mentioned I was in Hsinchu, and we had a street with several hot ones. I would actually stop and buy from them, it was great once I figured out the hand signals.

You could also buy beer and cigarettes from them.

Some of them would allow you to feel them up for 100 NTD, if you were a gangster and riding shotgun in a car. 

I didn't get any great pics either. Thanks for the pics, actually missing Taiwan right now.

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## theudonshawn

pretty place... and what the hell are betel nut girls?  And Where can I get one?

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## Skettios

Betel Nut girls are scantily clad girls that sit in clear booths on the side of the road and sell betel nut (bin lang), beer and cigs. They are almost always hot, and many of them freelance as prostitutes, although this is hard to confirm unless you speak chinese.


You want one, you gotta go to Taiwan, they're everywhere.

Here's a flickr link I found from a GIS. Flickr: bignosetw's Photostream

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## Hardy99

Super Pics.. i hope you will make Burma soon.. your photos are a good reason to check out teakdoors oftern.. Thanks!!

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## WujouMao

> Here's a flickr link I found from a GIS. Flickr: bignosetw's Photostream


god there is some fanny in there. dam i just wished i'd seen some myself

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## WujouMao

lately i have been going through my photos and putting them in order and renaming them. god what a chore. anyway, i found some more photo's of Taiwan which was taken in the same year as the others
Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall


Entrance to the park








Statue to Chiang Kai-Shek


Changing of the guard. i'm not sure if this was in the same area. i cant remember








your average Chinese temple

and another


i saw this from the road and didnt know what it was. but its an entrance to a subway, whether is an underpass or trains, i dont know


here's another one


this was the biggest temple i'd seen in public view and on a public road. must be more to it. maybe a school or hotel of some sort.

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## WujouMao

some more pictures from Yeliou National Park






Nature can really create some wonders with weather, ocean and wind over 1000's of years










fried egg anyone?




any idea as to what this is? its got spines


Nice view of Taipei


The Chinese, once again, hogging all the ground, even after death


top view from Teipei 101. now not the tallest single building


more shots of Taroko gorge


instead of me typing it, here is brief intro


you notice the old road at the bottom of the picture. after the road was getting washed out, plus old timber being washed down in the storms, they decided to move the road higher up








another washed out road


just look at the local language thats written here. its not chinese, but bloody hell, and i thought Thai was hard with the tones, and yet you have a a G and an M next to each other. i think i stick to English and not bother with words such as Gmrangan and Dgiyaq


nice suped up car


some grotty Taiwanese Uni and lodging area, complete with green water






you'll be sorely disappointed if you happen to go to the Hualien country stone sculptural museum. its depressing


Stonehenge


more soon...

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## barbaro

Great pics.   Thanks, Wujo.

 :beer:

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## Happyman

Just got back after a 4 day trip to Kaohsiung chasing a contract ! 
With any sort of luck I will be doing one month out and one month back for the next year !!! :Smile:

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## Bangyai

> love the place !!
> Lived there for about 5 years .


Also loved the place and stayed there 3 months. Moved in with a Chinese girl who worked as a waitress and she took a week of to tour the island with me. Unfortunately she wanted to get married and I had to flee the scene  :Confused:

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