Taroko Gorge 10:36 

OK, so I’ve managed to make it to Taroko Gorge despite forgetting my international driving license. I am not sure yet whether I will have to pay for the rental car, we’ll see. I have asked to cancel my hotel without having to pay for the room, and it seems like they accepted that, but we will have to see.

I took the express train to the main train station, waited in a very long line, but managed to get a ticket on the next train to the station closest to Taroko Gorge, then paid for a taxi to take me to the hotel. I arrived at about 4pm in time for my dinner reservations at 5:30, and, unfortunately, I chose the wrong restaurant without realizing it until the following morning. The food was fine, so I shouldn’t complain, although I had hoped to eat in the Chinese restaurant. Oh, well.

I got up fairly early, although by the time I was out of the hotel, it was already quite light out. Even so, when I got to the locked gates to the location where I wanted to shoot, they were still locked despite the time being about 6:20 (they claimed to open at 6am). I took a few pictures in the area and someone came to open them within 10 minutes or so, so I was still the first person into the “park”.

I got some nice pictures, so that was worth it. I decided to get up even earlier the following day. After shooting and having breakfast, I had until 15:40 before my transfer to the next hotel. I wandered about. There wasn’t much more to take pictures of, so I ended up doing more hiking than shooting. I did find a nice, quiet, monument, and after taking a few shots and exploring a bit, I laid down on a wooden bench and just listened to some podcasts while relaxing. 

I had the location to myself, except for a dog that started barking at me after a while. I noticed that it had some puppies, but they seemed skittish so I did not try to shoot them. Then a couple of women came while the dog was still barking, and after a bit it lost interest and the women explored very briefly, then left. 

After a little while longer I packed up and noticed the puppies where still on the edge of the park, but the larger dog was gone. I slowly approached them and took pictures for a little while, until one left altogether and the other two hid in the foliage, obviously uncertain about me. 

I wondered about a little longer, then went back to the hotel and got a cup of coffee and transferred the pictures onto my computer.

The transfer bus dropped me off on a street, close to a statue. I waited for about a half an hour, taking pictures after a while. Finally, I called the hotel. It turned out that the driver had been waiting before I arrived, but at a slightly different location, so he hadn’t realized that I had arrived. 

He brought me up to the next hotel. It’s actually a bit more of an advanced family campground. I have a room for 6 people, which was expensive and they were obviously embarrassed how much they were charging me. They actually gave me a free couple of steaks for dinner, plus a bag lunch for my train trip. They also helped me buy train tickets and booked a transfer to the train station for me. 

I’m waiting for the transfer now.

I’ve booked a hotel in Taipei about a 5 minute walk from the main train station. I will take the express train back to the airport on Friday afternoon. The rain appears to have ended. It is actually sunny here now, although the weather promises cloudy weather in Taipei for the rest of my trip.

There was some sort of show after dinner last night, but I decided not to go, thankfully, because, of course, it was in Chinese and really intended for children. There was lots of loud singing and screaming, both before and after. I heard a periodic crash outside my window and the first several times I expect to hear a human voice exclaiming about their lack of luck, but eventually realized it must have been an ice machine. 

I went to bed before 10pm and fell asleep fairly well, then woke up at about 5am and got up about 20 minutes before 6. I published my pictures and did a few other things, then left my room at about 6. It was already light, and a cloudless sky, although the sun had not come over the mountains yet. 

I walked out of the hotel (after happening upon someone who was able to open the gate for me). It took me a moment, but I found the path down to the visitor center (better than the road I almost took). For a moment, I wondered if I should have taken the path they mentioned at the desk, but decided it would be too dark, and I think it was the right decision. 

I found a place to set up my tripod on the roof of the visitor center and took a bunch of pictures of the sun touching the hills around the valley I’m in, then eventually walked down to a lookout station and took some more pictures of the sun raising above the river below.

I got back, dropped off my camera, had breakfast, came back, transferred pictures, took a shower and then a nap, packed up.

I can’t remember if the transfer is at 11:20 or 11:00, but I think it must be 11:20. I’ve checked out and the desk staff suggested that I sit here, in the lobby/restaurant. I can see people walking by with suitcases, which, as always, gets me nervous that the bus will come and leave without me. I could move, but I should trust them, I suppose. 

Taipei 19:39 

OK, the driver came a few moments later. I was in a car alone for most of the trip, but he picked up a girl at a gas station when we got closer to the train station. At the train station, I didn’t recognize it until I realized I came in on the back side. I used my phone’s GPS to confirm and tried to explain to the driver, but I don’t know if he got it. The train took a little over 2 hours, and the guy in front of me put his chair back for much of the trip. There was nowhere for my suitcase to go, so it was crammed against my leg for most of the trip.

I almost missed my stop, but luckily checked my GPS before the train started to leave the main station. It had stopped at several stations and I thought it still had further to go, but must have driven and stopped again when I hadn’t noticed. 

Anyway, I got out OK, found my hotel OK, and went out briefly to do some shopping at H&M, so I now have underwear, socks, a couple more t-shirts, and a flannel shirt. Then I went and bought a cup of coffee and a tiramisu (which is not helping my stomach fat), and came back to the room to work on pictures, watch the Danish news, and, it turns out, watch part of “You’ve got mail.”

Somehow it occurred to me that I have taken myself out of the whole life thing. I am living, yes, and trying to do things, yes, but I’m not sure if I really have dreams or ambitions. I just want to make my “last days” bearable. I’m not really excited about anything. 

Perhaps I’m just tired.

Anyway, I had been thinking I should go to the night market tonight, but I doubt I will. It is just much easier to stay in the hotel room. I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow and Friday. I could try to walk over to the night market location, so I know where it is, then come back to the hotel and take a nap in the afternoon. Then try to go out again. I have a couple of photography options to investigate still. I could try going into the main train station to see if I can get some motion pictures there. The night market itself could be a subject. Perhaps also there are other locations around there that might be interesting. 

I’ve actually gotten a fair number of pictures that I like, so the trip has been less of a fiasco than I had feared. I did not really experiment with food much yet. 

Ah, I just remember that I still should study more for my Danish citizenship exam. I’m not much in the mood for that.