Safe Driving in Sardinia

Without a good public transportation system on the island of Sardinia, we decided to rent a car to help get us around. We chose a small car knowing many of the roads would be smaller and parking would be much easier......which is true if you are lucky enough to find a spot. Fortunately it was October and there were fewer tourists on the road which made it a bit easier.......provided you stayed clear of the crazy Italian drivers who like to drive very fast.

Our first stop was in the capital city of Cagliari along the southern coast. We spent a full day walking around the hilly city, starting at the 12th century Castle of San Michelle up high above the city (a city within itself) and then immersed ourselves in the old historic centre below with some Roman ruins and narrow laneways. Escaping the busy city we drove all the way to the NE corner of the island (a leisurely 4 hours) with a plan to slowly work our way back to Cagliari. We picked a a rustic looking but well built B&B granite walled room, 20 km's inland from the coast in a rural area of Arzachena as our home for 3 nights. Our first full day took us over to the east coast where we acted like we were rich and famous, touring their haunts of Porto Cervo and Baja Sardinia. We saw some very nice homes, but some even nicer yachts that were 20-30 metres in length. Rather than shop in the Milan style stores, we purchased gelatos and watched the full-time staff clean every speck of dust off their owner's toys. On Day 2 we came down to earth heading for the northern coast near us, but it was fraught with disruptions that never would have occurred for the rich and famous. Our drive to Capo D'Orso was halted half way when the winding coastal road was closed for race car time trials over an 8 km stretch. After being shuttled into a beach parking lot we decided to watch the cars rev their engines and take off for a while then decided to find an alternate route to our second planned destination, Palau, where we enjoyed some harbourfront time and lunch. That went well until we visited an 1880's fortress beyond Palau and found it closed from 1-3 pm for "riposo" (siesta). We snapped a few photos of the fortress from below and moved on. Our haphazard tour was not over. After returning to Capo D'Orso just as the time trials were finished we found the parking lot and entry gate closed to the short hike to the popular The Bear rock formation. After a short riposo wait (till 3 pm) the entry gate opened but not the parking lot. Together with the other visitors we all made 3 point turns on the small dead-end street in search of roadside parking spots. We then made our way back and up to the top of the hill where we used our imagination to look at the large weather formed rock that was the main attraction, along with the scenic 360 degree views of the coast and villages below. We decided to call it a semi-successful day and headed home for some nice Italian wine, which we felt we earned.

Departing Arzachena, we drove from the east coast over to the west coast, stopping in Alghero for several more days. Along the way we made a slight detour to the town of Castelsardo and it's hilltop walled castle area, where we walked along the cobblestone alleys and visited a few museums. Alghero had it's own Old Town which we visited several times since it was only a 20 minute walk from our guest house. A trip to the beautiful Neptune's Grotto (cave) was unsuccessful due to high winds making for a risky entry into the seaside cave. Pocahontas was less disappointed since it meant we didn't have to descend 650 steps to the cave and back up again after. On another day we drove down the winding coastal road to the charming town of Bosa where we spent most of the day.

Tomorrow we will drive further south to Oristano, another coastal town. The seafood has been awesome and we are looking forward to more.

While in Cagliari, we walked up to the Castello di San Michelle which was surrounded by a moat. The views of Cagliari below were stunning.

Walking back down to the historic centre of Cagliari we came across an ancient Roman amphitheatre.

Our 'rustic room' patio, which was recently built, in a rural area outside of Cagliari. The inside was well designed and it was a pleasant stay

The beach area in Baja Sardinia, still quiet early in an October morning. There were many nice sandy beaches on the east side of the island, with more rocky ones on the west (but better for water sports).

Some modest seaside homes in Porto Cervo, a very wealthy seaside town. It was a favourite get-away for rich Europeans and the shops were ready for them to visit.

The northern seaside town of Castelsarda. Sardinia has a rich history that many European dynasty's relished so all of the coastal towns and cities had castles and fortresses to try and protect the ruler's at the time. It also meant a lot of hillside walks for the interested tourists.

Alghero Old Town at night when we walked there for dinner. Every day has been in the 20's so far in Sardinia, so night time dinners outdoors were popular.

Bosa, another coastal town with some good exercise to reach the Castle. We finished our visit with a fabulous late lunch at a well regarded restaurant.

An Old Town home in Bosa with some happy plants. The coastal drive from Alghero was very scenic to drive both there and back.

A few of the 650 stairs required to reach the Neptune Grotto (cave) just north of Alghero. The steps go all the way down to the shoreline and unfortunately the winds that day made it too risky to enter the cave so we will have to be satisfied with internet pictures.

Travel Re-start or Just a Dream?

Covid has restricted our foreign travel since early 2020 but with the world starting to open up again, and both of us double vaccinated, it was time to load up the backpack to search out new surroundings.

Our latest adventure actually started out with a flight to a favourite destination, Basel, Switzerland, home for our oldest daughter and her partner. As an added bonus we were able to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law, who were finishing up their European trip, which included cycling around beautiful Lake Constance. It was wonderful to catch up with everyone in person, capped off with a private dinner reservation on a tiny Rhine River ferry.

Down to the four of us, we utilized the efficient high speed train system to make day trips to various parts of the country. Our first destination was St. Gallen in the NE corner of Switzerland, home of the Abbey of St. Gall which had an impressive library containing medieval monastic books dating back to the 8th century. The following day we travelled to Einsiedeln, south of Zurich, that included walking almost 10 km's along a Camino de Santiago countryside route to reach another Abbey, established in the 10th century. The monastery was also next to a large, exquisitely decorated Cathedral. Another excursion took us south of Basel to the village of Dornach where we walked about 5 km along a path next to a river. Our final daytrip was to the city of Lugano, close to the Italian border in the south, Our train ride included travelling through a 57 km tunnel (the world's longest train tunnel). Lugano is a city surrounded by mountains and beside a glacial lake. Our first activity was to take the funicular up to the top of Monte Bre (933m) where we had 360 degree views of Lake Lugano, the city, and the surrounding mountains. The views were so good we sat down for a drink on a terrace and later found a restaurant terrace where we had lunch. After descending, we walked through a lovely waterside park (Civico Ciani) and then along the waterfront promenade. It was a long day but well worth the visit to a city that would be a treat to live in, if you could afford the Swiss-plus prices.

We had a good week long visit but it was time to leave our Basel hosts in the rear view mirror, or was it to allow them to get some meaningful work done? In any event we promised to return again before the end of this trip. We have now just arrived on the Italian island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, where our next posting will come from. 

Auf Wiedersehen.

Meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law in Basel and enjoying drinks on an outdoor patio overlooking the Rhine.

Our private dinner on the ferry taxi that shuttles pedestrians back and forth across the Rhine during the daytime. We not only finished off all the cheese fondue but made it necessary for the Captain to go ashore for some additional bottles of wine.

Walking through the pretty town of St. Gallen. Standard living here with shops at ground level and accommodations above.

The famous Abbey of St. Gall. The lavishly decorated library contains ancient medieval books dating back to the 8th century, and collected from around the world. Cameras were not allowed inside so you will have to search google to see the library itself.

A panoramic shot of the countryside that we walked through while on the Camino trail forged by Pilgrims. It brought back good memories of our week long Camino trek while in Spain.

The Cathedral and Monastery came in sight as we approached Einsiedeln at the end of our Camino walk.  

At the summit of Monte Bre in Lugano there were great views in every direction, including a small village in Italy. We had lunch on the terrace while facing Lake Laguno, with the city on the right and Monte San Salvatore in the background.

The view of Laguno from the terrace. Being close to the border it had a distinct Italian flavour to it, unlike the German influence in the north and French on the west side of Switzerland.

While walking through Lugano we found sausage heaven. This gentleman was hanging massive Salami casings above his store. It would have been nice to take one home but I'm not sure it would have fit in my backpack.

Teleportation Exists

Well almost..........our 11:55 pm flight later today from Taipei (via Vancouver) is slated to arrive home at 11:40 pm on the same day. Work needs to be done on eliminating that 15 minute gap before bringing this time travel concept to market but I'm all for it, especially when they figure out a way to prevent double-digit hour flights.

When we last left you, we were in Hualien, Taiwan. Before leaving, we made a second trip into the scenic Taroko Gorge NP, taking on a few more short walks along trails. The steepness of the canyon walls enables semi-regular rock slides and the frequency of spotting "Do Not Linger" signs along the trails is a constant reminder. In fact one of the trails we walked was closed half way through due to a recent slide so we took a few more 'quick' pictures and headed back. The sights still made it a worthwhile use of our time.

We hiked up to the Xiangde Temple and the more elevated Tianfeng Pagoda while we were in Tainxing. This little village was nestled into the canyon floor near the west end of the Taroko Gorge.

Back in Hualien for our final night, we walked over to the Dongdamen Night Market again. We spotted a stall selling hot pot meals with a sit down area behind, and being a favourite meal of ours we couldn't resist. Multiple propane burners at each table allowed the patrons to cook their meals at their desired pace.

From Hualien we rode the comfortable two hour TRA train back to Taipei, our final stop on this two month journey. We started our Taiwan time there several weeks ago but this return visit allowed for additional time to explore the northern part of the country on day trips. We signed up for a shuttle tour on the first day, allowing us to see 4 different spots that public transportation would have been too time consuming to facilitate otherwise in one day. Yehliu Geological Park, renowned for it's unique hoodoo-like formations, and the Shifen Waterfall......nicknamed "Little Niagara Falls" but more like a miniature version at 40 x 20 metres, were our first two stops. Shifen town was next, popular for lantern launches and we followed the trend writing our own wishes on a lantern we purchased and then watching it ascend towards the sky and drift away in the wind. The final stop was in the mountainside village of Jiufen where hundreds of steep steps were required to navigate between the two main stall streets. Our reward was finding a good restaurant with a great village view from our table on a balcony, with the clouds below rolling in and out. On our second day we rode the MRT train for one hour to the final stop at Tamsui, a small fishing town near the north-west corner of the country. We took a short ferry trip, visited a fort and walked along their lovely waterfront promenade, stopping for lunch at a posh seaside restaurant, sitting under a large banyan tree, metres from the water. It was a relaxing way to complete our travel in Taiwan which was much appreciated by the locals. Tourism volume in Taiwan during the past 2 weeks has been down by more than 50% due to Coronavirus keeping the Chinese tourists at home. Precautions were taken with temperature checks at most entry points in places, even busy shopping centres, so we went about our business as usual although we found ourselves washing our hands much more frequently.

Another new world destination (for us) has come to an end but this one will be especially remembered for our first overseas Christmas away from home with our whole family together. We had a wonderful two weeks together in Cambodia but I doubt we could have kept that same pace up for the past 6 weeks.

This was one of the natural sandstone formations created by sea waves and erosion at Yehliu Geological Park, an hour north of Taipei. This particular one was known as the Princess Head but it also looks like a cobra about to strike. There were hundreds of similar formations in the Geopark making it seem like we were walking on Mars.

Here we are in Shifen about to release our lantern (already lit inside) before the next train came along. Our group guide explained the lanterns fly in the air for about 20 minutes before burning out. When I asked about the environmental impact he told us the locals are incented financially by the government to retrieve the remains which the winds blow in the same general direction. However, upon leaving the small town we did notice some lantern remains caught high up in trees which may take some time to be recovered.

The Shifen Waterfall ('Little Niagara Falls'), which happens to be the broadest waterfall in Taiwan. At 40 metres wide and 20 metres tall, it pales in comparison to Niagara Falls. If only the locals could see the real deal.

Walking along the stalls of the Old Street #2 in Jiufen. Together with Old Street #1, about 100 steps below on the mountainside, they seemed to be the only two relatively flat alleys in the town.

The popular A-mei Tea House in Jiufen. It looks familiar to the one used in the animated picture Spirited Away adding to it's mystique. Everyone else was taking a picture so we followed suit and discovered the details later.

Lover's Bridge in Tamsui, near Fisherman's Wharf. It was officially opened on Valentine's Day in 2003, hence the name. We walked slowly together over the bridge which I'm sure will guarantee us another 38 years of happiness.

We came across this cool looking apartment building when walking near Fisherman's Wharf in Tamsui. Unique architectural designs like this were spotted in other Taiwanese cities.

After walking around picturesque Tamsui we found a lovely restaurant beside the waterfront. We had a late lunch there and enjoyed the beautiful view sitting on a comfortable sofa. A couple of very large banyan trees provided shade on a warm day.

After lunch in Tamsui we wandered along their Old Street. We were too full to order any more food so we just enjoyed the scene and smells......except when we walked by the Stinky Tofu stalls, one of the very few items we did not try in any of the markets.

Love the Life You Live. Live the Life you Love (Bob Marley)

Our final day at Sun Moon Lake was just as rewarding as the first few days. It started with a visit to the Xuanzang Temple (named after a famous Buddhist monk), followed by a 750 metre stair climb to the Ci'en Pagoda where from the top of the 43 metre high pagoda there was a scenic view of the entire Sun Moon Lake area. After walking back down we caught a bus to the east side of the lake and the spectacular Wenwu Temple complex, nestled half way up a steep slope. Built in 1938 when Japan decided to build a dam for power (that would have flooded two lower temples), and rebuilt in 1969, it featured 3 halls that were built in the manner of high ranking temples on several different levels. The lake view from the top was very scenic. We spent our last night once again at the Night Market, marking 4 consecutive evenings eating delicious street food.

The Xuanzang Temple, a short bus ride from our Sun Moon Lake stay in Ita Thao. The temple was named after a famous Buddhist monk who in the early 600's travelled to India to better understand the varying Buddhist beliefs and came back 20 years later a much wiser man. Some of his relics were kept on the 2nd floor.

A view of Sun Moon Lake and it's defining island in the middle, taken from above the temple.

The Ci'en Pagoda, a 750 metre mostly stair climb from the Xuanzang Temple. Former leader Chiang Kai-Shek had the pagoda built in memory of mother. Perhaps my children will do something similar for me one day.

The Wenwu Temple on the east side of Sun Moon Lake. There were two more levels beyond what is visible, with equally impressive buildings. There were vermilion stone tigers on each side of the entrance guarding the complex.

A 2 hour bus ride took us back to the west coast and the city of Taichung where we spent 2 nights. Our highlight there was the kick-off of the 2 week long Taiwan Lantern Festival which was held in Taichung this year. On Opening Night, the first full moon of the lunar calendar, we headed to the main festival area at the north end of the city which covered an area of almost 100 acres. We spent over 4 hours at the enormous site and discovered the next day that we only saw two thirds of the exhibits. There were themes for each of the many different sections with an ongoing contest rewarding the judges top picks. The light bulb lit, craft art lanterns, depicting animals, cartoon characters and scenes, were quite entertaining, and became even more so as the skies darkened, brightening the lanterns even more. The main stage area with music and dance groups performing all evening, was very crowded so we didn't spend as much time there. The festival will certainly be one of our favourite Taiwan experiences.

Picture taken at the Painted Animation Lane in Taichung. The lane way was filled with close to one hundred murals like this one. I had trouble locating this spot but an older Taiwan lady pointed me in the right direction after I pretended I was painting on a wall. Language knows no barriers.

My sweetheart, pleased as punch, when I took her to the famous Miyahara Ice Cream store in Taichung. By the time we arrived, late in the morning, there was already a significant line-up outside the door along the sidewalk. A lunch stop was not required that particular day.

One of the displays in the Animation section of the 2020 Taiwan Lantern Festival. The yellow dots that are visible on the characters are actually the light bulbs inside for brightness. When darkness arrived two hours later they were less visible and the lanterns appeared much brighter.

Japanese animation (Anime) is very big in Taiwan and can be seen throughout the country in murals, fashion and even TV shows. The Lantern Festival feeds off of the popularity. 

A lantern temple in the Religious Harmony section. The electrical bill for the 2 week festival must be massive.

This was as close as we could get, and wanted to get, to the main stage at the Lantern Festival. Nearby, there was a magnificent Tree of Light display, with a coloured light sequence that changed with the music. I captured a short video that turned out well.

From Taichung we took two trains, via Taipei at the north end of the island, to reach Hualien on the opposite side of the country, While the shortest distance would have been to cross the island, the Central Mountain Range which goes from the north to the south has limited traffic accessibility and the efficient train system made it a much quicker trip to circumvent the higher elevation. Our main reason for heading here was the popular Taroko Gorge National Park, and it did not disappoint. The NP is a one hour bus ride north of the city so we opted for a full day tour with a well reviewed, small tour size company. Together with 4 other tourists, we spent the day in awe of the steep and narrow, white marble stone gorge. Our guide led us on 3 relatively easy trails (Shakadang, Swallow Grotto and Tunnel of 9 Turns), across two suspension bridges, a steep climb to a 'wishing bell' tower, a couple of temples, and a bridal veil waterfall. Along the way we also stopped into a former aboriginal village where we learned about tribal life and sampled food they ate. It was a great day and we plan to bus it to the gorge once again tomorrow on our own to visit some additional trails and sights further into the NP.

The last 10 days have been a good run, leading up to the finish of our two month trip but we still have a short time left with another intriguing venture planned to the north end of the country.

The Taroko Gorge near Hualien on the east coast of Taiwan. This is the dry season so the water levels are low at this point. The bright, clear water, framed by the white marble rock made for mesmerizing views. The ongoing dialogue between rock and water continues.

The gorge walls at some points were carved out to allow the only road to pass through. In other spots, tunnels were used.

This picture was taken at the Tunnel of 9 Turns Trail. A tunnel replaced the former road which was damaged in an earthquake.....Taiwan has many of them......which now allows visitors to walk the 700 metre trail without having to worry about traffic. The other trails we walked were along actual walking paths used by the aboriginal tribes centuries ago. Descendants set up a couple of stalls and sold some of their crafts along one of the paths.

生活很好 - Life is Good (wherever you are)

As we started moving further up the west coast of Taiwan, our first stop was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city. We had a fun time walking around Lotus Pond at the north end of the city, an artificial lake with a lovely walking path and pagodas, temples and shrines all the way around. There was an entertaining street market on one side of the pond that we wandered through. Our primary destination was the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, where if you walked into the dragon's mouth and exited via the Tiger's mouth, your bad luck would be turned into good luck...........hopefully we executed the directions properly! The following day we were drawn to the spectacular Fo Guang Shan Temple complex. A no charge facility, we spent several hours there and still didn't get to see everything. Our attention was immediately drawn to the giant bronze Buddha sitting atop the museum.....the tallest sitting Buddha statue in the world apparently. The walkway there was flanked by many pagodas and beyond the informative museum, we took in an acrobatic theatre show and a 3D movie. On the way out we tripped over a small parade originating from the monastery area higher up which we unfortunately ran out of time to explore. The busy Ruifeng Night Market filled our appetite later that evening.

Our next stop was in Tainan, Taiwan's oldest city and it's first capital city. It is a city filled with colourful temples and shrines. At almost every temple we observed locals purchasing paper money (joss) and then slowly tossing the money into a kiln or fireplace to appease the ghost gods who would then bring good fortune and wealth to their family or businesses. If only it was that easy. In any event the local authorities have determined that the burning of several hundred thousand tons of paper every year across Taiwan, is actually harmful to the air quality. However, in spite of several alternative actions, including virtual and collective burning, the tradition lives on. We felt we didn't need any more good fortune after confirming we performed the Dragon - Tiger Pagoda ritual in the correct order, so we held on to our real money. Upon further thought, instead of trying to save the planet we might have been better off to bank more karma since you never know when you might need it. The following day we walked around the historic Anping old city area, near the coast. We checked out the Old Fort (formerly Fort Zeelandia built by the Dutch in 1630) and the Treehouse, a late 19th century mercantile warehouse that has been over-run by ever-expanding Banyon trees.

From Tainan we took a combination train - bus - boat trip to Sun Moon Lake where we now reside in Ita Thao, across the lake from the busier town of Shuishe. Ita Thao has a wonderful Night Market with good street food that has stolen our attention for the first two nights, and likely more. Boneless chicken wings filled with rice and vegetables, wild boar sausage and scallion (green onion pancake rolled up and filled with pork) have been our favourites. The majestic lake has nice hiking trails, both along the lakeside and up into the hills and mountains, which we have embraced. The Shuishe Great Mountain Trail was the biggest challenge. I made it up one thousand stairs before coming to the loop branch and heading back satisfied with a 4 km workout, rather than continuing on to the 2,000 metre mountain top which was listed as an 8 hour return trip. Today we used an all-day boat pass to explore the area around the Shuishe side of the lake (another lakeside trail) along with the Xuanguang Temple which required a short hill walk from the pier. A bit further beyond the temple we were rewarded with a geocache. Tomorrow we will get back to some more hiking trails taking us up to temples and pagodas with enticing lake views. The following day we will make our way back to the coast and the city of Taichung.

Walking around Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, one of the first eye candy temples we came across was the Yuandi Temple. The enormous statue of the High Heavenly Xuan God stood at the end of a bridge extending out into Lotus Pond.

The popular Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond. It wasn't difficult to get the proper sequence correct since everyone we saw was entering through the dragon's mouth and exiting from the Tiger's mouth. We are so fortunate to have even more good luck coming our way.

Near the entrance to the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum in Kaohsiung. The Fo Guang Shan movement has fully embraced modernism, making it a very open and welcoming religious facility.

The bronze sitting Buddha statue above the museum rose to 108 metres. Inside the museum we took in an acrobatic theatre show that rivaled some Cirque de Soleil performances we have seen in the past. The temporary exhibit in front (New Year's friendly rat) had a wish tree inside, now holding our personal thoughts....along with a few thousand others.

This picture was taken inside the Wanfu Temple in Tainan. There were beautiful temples like this one on almost every street we walked along. This particular temple was built during the Ming dynasty (1646-1683) and is now a city-designated historic site.

The Anping Kaitai Matsu Temple, near former Fort Zeelandia (1630) and built shortly after. It is one of the largest temple complexes in Tainan and had a very spacious square in front of it.

Taken from inside the Anping Treehouse. This former late 19th century mercantile building was abandoned after WWII and the banyon trees went to work and swallowed the former warehouse. The fusion of nature and a man-made structure reminded us of the Ta Prohm temple in Angkor Wat.

The Shuishe waterfront at Sun Moon Lake. The boats in the forefront were shuttle ferries, taking mostly tourists but also locals to 3 other piers stationed around the majestic lake that was surrounded by mountains. We spent 4 nights across the lake in the smaller, less touristy town of Ita Thao, which had a fabulous Night Market for foodies.

While walking along the Lakeside Trail from Ita Thao we came across a couple of Cherry trees just starting their blossom season. It is a bit early but we are hoping to see more developed blossoms before we leave this country.

After climbing 100 or so stairs at the start of the Shuishe Great Mountain Trail, my hiking partner suddenly stopped. I tried to point out that we were on the right track but her response was not printable. Shortly after that I handed over the key to our room and had to continue on my own.

Walking around Ita Thao a produce truck appeared with its loudspeaker announcing its arrival to the nearby shops so that they could replenish their supplies.

The tiny island of Lalu in the middle of Sun Moon Lake. Apparently from above, the lake appears to be divided by the island into a round sun lake on one side and a crescent moon lake on the other side, which is how the lake got it's name. Tomorrow we will hike up to the Ci'en Pagoda which is supposed to have one of the best views of Sun Moon Lake. We will take our imagination with us.