Articles by Doug Nienhuis
I am a Canadian, and I am currently traveling through Asia with a touring bicycle. These are stories and pictures from my trip.
Lukang 001 – HSR and Bus to Lukang
Friday July 9 2010
This time it was a snap decision to go to a small town on the west coast called Lukang. I hadn’t even heard of the place until a couple of days ago. It has a population of 87,000 and on the surface looks exactly like every other town I’ve seen in Taiwan. If someone blindfolded me and moved me to a street …
In Search of a Digital SLR
July 7, 2010
The search for a digital camera (probably an SLR) continues. I’ve been a diehard slide film shooter all of my life. Only once or twice did I stray and shoot actual negative film – and I regretted it each time. I have a fondness for slides and slideshows.
The computer era, however, has changed me. I still like slides and I’d prefer to shoot …
Alishan 003 – The Northern Tsou Villages
July 5, 2010
The aboriginal people of the Alishan area are known as the Tsou. I know next to nothing about them except that they are the original inhabitants of this area and that the villages and towns around here are Tsou. I assume they speak their own language as well as Mandarin. I also know that tea is, along with tourism, an economic mainstay of …
Alishan 002 – The Giant Trees
Saturday July 3, 2010
After my rejection of the Fancylake breakfast, I got a biendang and then went for a stroll through the trails up above Fenqihu. I marveled again at all the work that went into building them. They really were beautiful trails. Each one was only a kilometer or two long, but they took me through quiet forests of bamboo, past giant trees, and …
Alishan 001 – Snap Decision to Go to Alishan
Friday July 2, 2010 7:00
Snap decision to go to Alishan. It’s seven in the morning, and the train has just left from the platform. I’ve had so much experience taking these trains and it is so easy that I’m taking it almost too casually. I stroll out of Rooftop in Taipei fifteen minutes before my train is scheduled to leave. I hop on the MRT …
Rock-Climbing Cliffs at Longdongwan
June 21, 2010
Longdongwan means Dragon’s Cave Bay and some of the best rock climbing cliffs in the world are located there. Every weekend sees a selection of daring spider-people clinging to the rocks and expertly making their way to the top.
The rock climbing cliffs at Longdongwan are easy to find once you know where to look, and they’re a great place to hang out whether …
Bitou Cape – Taiwan
June 19, 2010
Looking for a day trip or a weekend trip out of Taipei? You could do a lot worse than head to Bitou Cape.
This beautiful and easily accessible cape (apparently shaped like a nose, hence the name – “Nose Tip” cape) is located on the northeast coast of Taiwan about 50 kilometers from downtown Taipei – if you follow the main routes to Keelung …
Happy Dragon Boat Festival
It’s Dragon Boat Festival over here in Taiwan. This festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. That is June 16 this year on the Gregorian calendar. Last year, it fell on June 27. In 2011, it will take place on June 6. These are important facts here in Taiwan, as depending on when the festival takes place we may or may …