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Home > Trips, photos > North Taiwan > Tienhsiang (Tianxiang) - Ilan (Yilan)

The first part of the journey was nice, down through the gorge then along the Chingshui (Qingshui) cliffs.  For other photos of this area, from a previous tour, click here, and there are also some beautiful ones on this page; http://gallery.taiwanho.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=hualien

Later it started to rain, and when we got to the picturesque fishing harbour Nanfang'ao it was too wet and we were too tired to walk around the docks.  Mum was very impressed by the ornate Daoist temple there, though.  It is dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of the sea.  Unfortunately I only got one photo there, of Don & I by the paper money burner, but Mum took quite a few and I'll put one or two here as well when I have time.

The paper money burner at the Mazu temple at Nanfang'ao

Inside the temple- three big sticks of incense in the foreground

Photo by Don Silver

Statue of the goddess Mazu

Photo by Don Silver

The journey from Nanfang'ao was not pleasant.  It was still raining and we went through heavy urban traffic.  Mum had read about the dangers of Taiwanese traffic in the Lonely Planet guidebook to Taiwan before she came, and was prepared for it to be bad.  Strangely, at the end of the trip, she said that the traffic had been OK.  I thought that the traffic had been nearly as bad as usual despite the Chinese New Year holiday.  I hope that Mum's good impression was because I had been driving carefully, anticipating potential tricky situations well in advance and trying to avoid sudden changes in speed or direction.  (A tip for scooter and motorbike riders carrying passengers - don't try to impress the passenger with your fancy riding skills thinking it will improve their enjoyment - they will likely be scared rather than impressed.  You should ride smoothly, defensively and well within your and the bike's limits).

We'd found that night's accomodation, a minsu (homestay/guesthouse), on the internet.  They had a little sketch map on the website but when we got to Ilan, it took me the longest time to find the place.  I showed the address and map to the staff at a garage.  They kept telling me that it was next to 'Jas-dou' and something about black oil.  Some time later, I realised that the minsu was next to a shop with a 'Castrol oil' sign.  It was comfortable and after watching a James Bond film on cable TV, we slept soundly.

Go to the next page: yilan-jilong