The mountains
roll gently
down to the sea as we approach the east coast through the southern
cross-island
highway.|
These pictures were taken on a four day run around the island, staying in Taitung, Hualien, and I-lan. We had perfect weather -- Typhoon Aere nailed the island the day after we left the coast -- but it gave us beautiful, slightly wet, cool, overcast days with rolling clouds and great play of light and shadow. |
| The mountains
roll gently
down to the sea as we approach the east coast through the southern
cross-island
highway. |
 Housing in a
small village
along the southeast coast. |
 The highway
along the coast.
The '70' denotes the speed limit in KPH. |
 The east
coast is characterized
by numerous rocky, fast-flowing rivers that descend out of the
mountains,
carving innumerable river valleys. |
 A flood plain
in the mountains. |
 The first
night we stayed
at the Bunung Tribe Resort. The Bunung people, who number just 3,400,
have
erected this resort in an attempt to create job opportunities for their
people. The resort also includes nearby hot springs, and features
displays
of dancing, crafts, and other activities. |
 Here an elder
of the tribe
wishes for a good harvest. |
 Colorful
dancers. |
 The road
leading to the
Bunung Resort in the early morn. |
 Our guest
house at the
resort. |
 A road
plunges into the
mountains. |
 The
aborigines are famous
for wood carving. |
 The
elaborately decorated
cafe. The resort is heavy on places to sit and eat, but lighter on
things
to do. This is a characteristic feature of Taiwanese-style vacations. |
 Plenty of
places to sit
and eat.... |
 Beautiful
flowers everywhere
in Taiwan. |
 A small town
dominated
by mountains and a Christian church. The aborigines have been heavily
Christianized. |
 Breakfast at
the resort. |
 The hot
spring complex.
Here my son swims in the cold pool. The east coast is chock full of
springs
both hot and cold, as well as parks, hiking paths, scenic areas, lakes,
and forest reserves. |
 A typical hot
springs complex.
Yet another of the passive recreations so common in Taiwan. Yet things
are slowly changing. |
 Another view.
The pools,
backed by mountains, were gorgeous. |
 The steep
mountains and
swift rivers make infrastructure expansion difficult. Here a bridge
spans
a river dark with the slate sands that are common to the beaches in the
area. |
 Workman
taking their time
to construct a wall with native stone, and do it right. |
 A bridge
links a small
community with the outside world near the resort. |
 A crowd
awaits a performance
at the resort. |
 A young girl
sings for
the crowd at Bunung. I am somewhat ambivalent about the kitsch vision
of
aborigine culture presented here, and the way it plays to local Chinese
prejudices about aborigines. Yet, there is no question that the
commnity
needs employment and economic development. |
 The town of
Luye on the
way into the East Coast Rift Valley. Here the road enters the rift that
separates the coastal ranges from the Central Mountain range. The
valley
runs from here to Hualien. |
 A view of the
east side
of the rift valley. There is virtually no industry in the area, with
the
exception of certain kinds of resource processing. Consequently,
agriculture
is the main industry. Here a farmer grows rice, betel nut, and in the
left
corner of the picture, low altitude tea. |
 Clouds loom
over the mountains. |
 The rift
valley highway. |
 Here is the
west side of
the rift valley, the central mountain range. |
 Looking south. |
 The canonical
Taiwan shot.
I couldn't resist. |
 Perfect
picture weather. |
 Light and
dark struggle
in the mountains. |
 A "policeman"
stands guard.
At night fake policemen are supposed to make drivers slow down. Fat
chance. |
 Rain blows up
the rift. |
 A river
valley in the distance
makes a fine background for a stand of betel nut trees. |
 The valley
floor flattens
out as you move north. |
 Toward
evening, crews still
hard at work altering nature. |
 The town of
Hualien. We
stayed outside here the second night. |
 Our guest
house. As tourism
develops in Taiwan, guest houses are popping up everywhere. |
 Tunghua
University against
a magnificent mountain backdrop. |
 Hualien town,
full of trees. |
 North of
Hualien the famous
Suhua Highway begins. This road, cut into cliffs above the ocean, has
had
some of the kinks taken out by tunnels in recent years. The dangerous
old
road can still be seen in many places. |
 The Suhua
Highway crawls
along the cliffs to the left. |
 The road
emerges from a
tunnel to the right. This view looks south. |
 Between
rockfalls and Taiwanese
drivers, who cheerfully pass on blind curves, the road can be a risky
ride. |
 The road
climbs up. |
 Gravel plants
at a river
mouth. |
 A small town. |
 Our lunch
place. |
 The port of
Suao, where
the road ends. |
 My son tries
the beds at
our guest house in I-lan |
 This
beautiful place was
covered with flowers. |
 Plants and
flowers form
a canopy. |
 A close up of
startling
beauty. |
 Leaving I-lan
early in
the morning, the rising sun limned the mountains perfectly. |
 I-lan looks
like a painting
in the early morning. |
 I-lan town
early on Monday
morning. |
 The north
coast of Taiwan,
still wild. |
 Turtle
Mountain Island
beckons across the water. |
 As we left
I-lan, the coming
typhoon sent a rainbow our way. My son marvels from inside our van. |
 Surf pounds
exposed rocks.
The rock formations here are utterly fascinating. |
 A small north
coast town. |
 The mountains
come right
down to the sea, as if impatient to leap into it. |
 Rocks tilted
at crazy angles. |
 A beach
sheltered by low
hills. |
 The road
winds along the
coast. |
 A fishing
port nestles
against the peaks. |
 Tombs sprout
along a hillside. |
 This copper
mine, now abandoned,
was worked by Allied prisoners of war in the 1940s. |
 A ship gets
out ahead of
the typhoon. |
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