The archipelago known as Penghu (in English the Pescadores Islands) holds an important place in the history of Taiwan. Located almost exactly halfway between Taiwan and China in the Taiwan Strait, it occupies one of the most strategic trading points between Japan, China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Once held by the Dutch, it was then used as a Ming Chinese holdout for stationing troops, and later occupied by the Qing, French, Japanese, and finally the Guomindang. However, the original occupants of Penghu were primarily fishermen, arriving there from mainland China as early as 8OOCE. Some of those early fishermen went on to Taiwan, becoming the island's first non-aboriginal settlers. Therefore, the Penghu islands have always acted as a series of stepping stones between mainland China and Taiwan. While empires have come and gone, the underlying fishing ... read more

For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com I have experienced the 1200+km road-trip from Edmonton to Vancouver through Southern BC no less than a dozen times since birth, along a variety of routes, and primarily as a child with my family. Place names such as Kelowna, Penticton, Shuswap, Kamloops, Revelstoke, and Hope ring is my head with nostalgia and fond memories of camping below starry skies and wading into pristine, icy-blue lakes. Never before have I been so familiar with an area, a route, or a destination, and yet so unfamiliar with the names, the actual geography of it, as this part of the world. I would struggle to put those place dots on a map for you, or document their cultural history and effect on my own psyche ... read more

My first book, "Taiwan from the Eyes of a Foreigner" was released this week in Taiwan. The book is available for international order from MY WEBSITE 我的書 “老外愛台灣” 這一個禮拜出版了。 在台灣，上網訂購 （現在有折扣！）： 這理 The book will also be available in bookstores across Taiwan after August 20th. 8月20日 全台各大書店上市. 當西方遇見東方~ 加拿大作家 Nick Kembel在台灣兩年到處旅行、教學、愛情的切身體驗。一部充滿幽默感、創意、振奮人心的真實故事。本書 (老外看台灣) 有令人眼睛為之一亮的攝影作品、自畫卡通、詩作皆以中英文兩種語言呈現 。來 Nick 的官方網站看看 The Story Three ... read more

For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com I am quite frequently asked to cite my favorite country, a terribly ambiguous question roughly akin to asking somebody to choose his or her favorite person in the world. Other people want me to tell them a travel story, but I am seldom able to deliver adequately on the spot. But with the space allotted here, I have enumerated 21 of my most emotional worldly experiences. Most of them border on the sublime, surreal, or even religious, and combined they form the pivotal or core moments that have defined my pilgrimage through the world to date. Some brought tears to my eyes; others forever and irreversibly altered my sense of self and resulting perception of the world around me. This is a ... read more

For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com The first time I laid my eyes on the Golden Temple I was a young pilgrim and India was kicking my ass. My sleepover in the temple was transcendental. The second time, several years later, I had just arrived in the country, having completed an overland journey from Europe to India. And for my third visit, I was in love. --- It is before dawn and the train pulls into Amritsar terminal. I rub the crust out of my eyes as I emerge into the parking lot and I am accosted by a small army of Sikh bicycle rickshaw drivers, every color of the rainbow represented by their tightly wrapped turbans. The air is crisp and hazy. Street dwellers yawn as they ... read more