We were awoken at about 9:40pm last night by a tremor - a fast 'side to side' vibration through the ground rising like a wave and then receding. It lasted for just a couple of seconds. A first for us and a bit freaky. No one at the B&B mentioned it. Maybe they are too common here to be noteworthy. This morning we made a last minute decision to take a shuttle bus north to Taroko Gorge. 'Last minute' because the brochure we had showed lots of tantalising photo...

The clock is ticking so it was time to move on to Hualien on the East coast. This is the area that suffered the 6.7 magnitude earthquake a month ago. With very kind assistance from the Manager of the Reloading Hotel in Taichung, we organised two trains for today:- Firstly, the 11.32am HSR (High Speed Rail) train to Taipei. This took almost exactly one hour, showing a maximum speed of 284 klm/hr at one point. At Taipei Main Station we travelled down one leve...

An early breakfast today and then a fast walk to the departure point for our bus to Sun Moon Lake. About two hours on the road takes us 'up hill' to the Lake, situated at an altitude of 762 metres. It was quite cool in Taichung but downright cold at/on the Lake. Foggy also. On the subject of fog: many of our photos taken in Taiwan show what looks to be polluted skies. Some of it no doubt is, but in the main it's actually fog. Even the photos taken from Taipei 1...

Well, we set off on a slightly different adventure - a small one - today, that being to get to the local STA (Standard Train, not the HSR Train we rode in on) Station and get back up north a bit to Taichung. From there we will bus it to Sun Moon Lake for a day-trip tomorrow. Just before we move on from Tainan though there is something I keep meaning to mention...........Fighter Jets. Every day they flew over the city, usually in pairs and at least 4 times a day....

More Temple visits - Yay! A less hot day today - about 25 or 26 degrees. No organised walking tour this time, meaning we, gulp, had to find our own way around. We did OK too. First up was the Taoist Official God of War (or Martial) Temple. Quite a nice Temple that felt very peaceful despite its name. A friendly Lady visitor showed Desley the basics of how to pray Tao-style. This Lady also helped us find the nearby Grand Matsu Temple - the oldest in Taiwan. A be...