Yehliu Geological Park (photos)

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2 month update

It's been two months since I arrived in Taiwan and I have to say I'm satisfied with the way things are going. I've got a good job lined up even if I haven't started it yet and we've found a new, much cheaper apartment that we're going to move to in the middle of next month. More on this another time. My visa issues appear to be resolved and I'm just waiting now to pick up my ARC. Frustrating though it is being skint, I really shouldn't complain.

This Sunday we're at a bit of a loss. We're trying to watch our pennies but neither of us have left the city since we arrived here back in August and we could do with a day out. A swift bit of googling tells us that in the nearby rural township of Wanli on Taiwan's northern coast is Yehliu geological park. It's a small peninsular covered in bizarrely shaped limestone rocks including one that looks like a queen's head. It's only an hour or so on the bus from Taipei Intercity Bus Station and the weather is beautiful so we're both excited about heading to the coast. The bus journey is longer than anticipated, and it takes almost an hour and three quarters to get to Wanli. On the way we pass through a couple of townships which are pretty ugly and scruffy affairs and I'm pleased we opted to live in the city despite the extra rent. The traffic on the narrow roads in these parts is awful and we're reduced to a frustrating crawl.

Old Man Musings

Rapid industrialisation has done wonders for the economies of both Taiwan and Korea but clearly the speed of delivery and functionality were the priorities rather than aesthetics. The results of this process are all around in the shape of soulless, scruffy concrete boxes thrown up hastily all over the country and an abundance of that most hideous of materials, corrugated iron. I wonder if any of the buildings were erected with a view to them still being in use 50 years later or just to serve an immediate purpose. My intention here isn't to be critical of Taiwan or the Taiwanese. I'm sure they did what was necessary to make the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, but in the same way that post war tower blocks still blights great swathes of the UK (and indeed most of Europe) I wonder if the Taiwanese wish they could turn the clock back on some of their less enamouring architecture.

Restaurant Pimps

We arrive in Wanli and it's fantastic to see the sea for the first time in a couple of months. Come to think of it this is probably the longest I've ever gone without seeing the sea as I've lived on the coast most of my life. We wonder down the hill into Wanli in search of the entrance to Yehliu. Just you arrive at the ticket office though you have to run the gauntlet of what I call "restaurant pimps." You'll have seen them hundreds of times in any resort town in the West. Employed by the restaurant they stand outside on the look out for hungry tourists who they then accost with promises of free drinks or some other ruse. Usually the more aggressive these people are the less likely I am to patronise them. Before today though I've never seen restaurant pimps in Asia so I have to admit I'm a little disappointed. I thought they were above that sort of behaviour here. That said, they aren't a patch on the ones in the Canary Islands who physically grab you and haul you inside. Despite my protestations Melissa succumbs to the promise of an English menu and we end up inside a seafood place. There are tanks of live fish and squid piled by the entrance. The interior is unremarkable. In fact it's a little on the dirty side and the prices appear to be in inverse proportion to the ambience, but nonetheless we order seafood noodles, steamed fish and fried rice. They arrive and all is forgiven. The fish has been steamed on a bed of lemon grass and tastes divine. I like the way they've kept it so simple and haven't tried to do too much with it. Rarely does Taiwan disappoint on a culinary level and with the ingredients literally living on the doorstep you certainly can't cast any aspersions on the freshness. The fried rice, swiftly becoming one of my favourite foods in the world, is as good as any I've had so far, and the noodles are intermingled with plenty of fresh prawns and mussels. Oh, and when I grumble about the prices I mean relative to other Taiwanese places not the UK. Total cost of this meal $900 NT or 17 quid.

Yehliu Geological Park

Full and happy again we make our way to the entrance to Yehliu. Yehliu itself is a craggy peninsular beginning at Wanli and ending some 1700 metres out in the East china Sea. The limestone makeup of the rocks combined with the attritional properties of the sea have produced the bizarre moonscape that covers large parts of the eastern side and has made this area such a geological curiosity. After looking at the rocks you can walk the whole 1700 metres out to sea, enjoy a beautiful view and the wildlife, which we do. And clean air! The whole place is stunning, and the first place I've ever seen pineapples growing wild, or anywhere for that matter. The queue for the Queen's Head Rock is a little too long for us but I snap it from a distance on the walk back. It's not a great snap but you can see a better example here
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