Jonny Blair at Tiansiang mountain village in Taiwan

Backpacking in Taiwan: Tiansiang. Special.

Before we even went to Tailuga, I had read and heard about “Tiansiang”, what appeared to me to be the “heart of Taroko Gorge”, situated bang in the middle of the massive National Park, this enclave put to shame previous wee villages I’d been in. Vaduz, Serravalle and Groomsport won’t last quite as long in Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Tiansiang. Special.[…]

Jonny Blair Don't Stop Living at Taroko Gorge

Backpacking in Taiwan: Touring Taroko Gorge, Tailuga

It’s a mystery how this place isn’t called “Taroko Gorge” or even “Taroko”, as the signs on the roads clearly say (in English) and as the entrance wall obviously states. But I’m sorry don’t say “Taroko Gorge” to any Taiwanese person. They’ll have a blank look on their faces and they’ll not have a clue Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Touring Taroko Gorge, Tailuga[…]

Backpacking in Taiwan: Taidong, Hualien and bus tripping up the East Coast

It was an early start, or a late start depending on how you look at life. We stayed up all night until a 5 am sleepy bus left the south western city of Kaohsiung for a trek across the island to the eastern city of Taidong. It was part of our trip up the East Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Taidong, Hualien and bus tripping up the East Coast[…]

Backpacking in Taiwan: Kenn Ding/Kenting

Backpacking in Taiwan: Kenn Ding/Kenting

The day trip to Kenting (Kenn Ding) was planned for our second Sunday in Taiwan. Kenting is a massive national park on the south coast of the island, which includes nature trails, beaches and a small village, called Kenting. Yet pronounced “Kenn Ding”, somehow once again the Chinese Mandarin was slightly lost in translation when Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Kenn Ding/Kenting[…]

southern most tip of Taiwan - Jonny Blair in Eluanbi

The Lighthouse Family – Eluanbi and The Southern Most Tip of Taiwan…

The trip to Eluanbi started from the town centre of Kenting. We wanted to go and visit the Lighthouse in Eluanbi and also go to the furthest southern tip of Taiwan while we had the chance. The chance was seized as we hopped on till a 17 or an 88 bus (for 22 dollars), which Read more about The Lighthouse Family – Eluanbi and The Southern Most Tip of Taiwan…[…]

jonny blair in shinying taiwan

Friday Night in Shinying: Barbecue, KTV, Bowling…

  Friday nights in Shinying became “party nights”, where we would do something a bit different or special, all tied in with the Taiwanese culture and this gave us the opportunity to meet yet more local people. I’ll now comment on our first Friday night in Shinying, where we had a barbecue for dinner, went Read more about Friday Night in Shinying: Barbecue, KTV, Bowling…[…]

kaohsiung taiwan

Backpacking in Taiwan: Kaohsiung or Cow Shung

So its pronounced “cow shung” (and spelt Kaohsiung ) and so it is the second biggest city on the island of Taiwan. It was the fourth city Natalja, Neil and I visited properly on our Taiwan tour. I had no idea what to expect. It turns out it was pretty much the same as the Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Kaohsiung or Cow Shung[…]

Orange Army! Tainan Lions 1-3 LA Kaohsiung New Bears

Back in 2007, I went to watch Baseball for the first time. It was never a sport that would interest me totally and really as you get older in life you just like to experience and see new things, even if you don’t like them that much. But actually I’ve now been to Baseball twice Read more about Orange Army! Tainan Lions 1-3 LA Kaohsiung New Bears[…]