My First Real Vacation Alone

and it was to Ludau (Green Island) in Taiwan!

Here is the wiki on Ludau:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Island,_Taiwan


So here are my travel post recorded each day:
Green Island Day 1, May 7, 2008

I rode the train from Taichung to Taitung and it as so nice! I love riding trains! Then I waited at Fugang Harbour for the ferry and when I got on it and it started, all I could see was blue! It was so cool and I could see little flying fish! The sea looked like dark blue, wobbly "jell-o".!

Then I got to the island and then things got weird. So this guy with betelnut stained teeth (not as bad as his friends which will bementioned later) pickes me up along with his friends (who, I might add, was drunk I'm sure) and kept shouting at me and pointing, "Motorcycle! Motorcycle!" I kept trying to tell this guy in many simplified of ways of English that I knew that I wanted to drop off my stuff at the hotel first THEN get my scooter!!!! So I kept saying, "Hotel number 1, scooter number 2!" Then we arived at the hotel, checked in and went to my room. I looked out to see the view that I paid an extra NT$500 (only€10) and although my room is nice, the view is shite! I kept thinking, "I paid an extra NT$500 for this?!?!?!"But even though the view directly looking out my window was NOT what I expected, I noticed that when I was laying down on the bed...all that shite disappeared and I actually got a good view of the mountains! So then, betel nut guy takes me to get my scooter. It's an OLD orange Mio, and I actually wanted to buy a brand new one of these, same color and everything!

This scooter was a P.O.S. but I quite enjoyed riding it! :)

But after we got gas, the damn thing stalled and so betelnut guy took me to where his friends were until my scooter was ready or whatever. And these guys own a small diving company right by my hotel. Their teeth was even more stained from betel nut! And all I could think was, "If these are my 'hot' Aboriginal snorkeling guys, I quit HERE and NOW!" And so, this one guys keeps trying to tell me in Chinese that there are deer on the island and I haven't a damn clue what he is trying to say so he decides to show me by miming...it was sooooo hilarious!! Finally he drew me an even more hilarious picture of a deer (Chinese pinyin should be Hua Mei Lu) and at that time, it was time to go get my scooter.

This was definitely turning out to be an adventure!!

Then I finally got my freedom and drove around half the island (it only takes about an hour to ride a scooter around the entire island)

Click on the map to enlarge it

After driving around and taking some pics, it started to look rainy cloudy and I was getting tired from all the traveling (5 hours on train, 1 hour on ferry) so I took a nap and slept so hard and good! After I woke up, the hotel manager took me to a BBQ place where you BBQ at your table. When I entered EVERYONE in the place gave the look: "Who the hell is this foreigner, why is she here and what is she doing alone?" (On a side note: I had about 15 people ask me if I was traveling alone. And a few them said "Oh, you are so brave!" These were all Taiwanese people and apparently Taiwanese girls don't travel alone but whatever) It was very awkward and I got sick from food poisoning that Sunday (Doctor said it was probably from fish and the hot pot I had the night before) so the though of frying my own fish sounded soooo good and at the same time sooo bad! But Igrilled up some yummy veggies and got the hell outta there! Plus, the Taiwanese college kids there were drinking and singing really bad KTV/Karaoke and this was NOT turning out to be my Holiday of "PEACE and QUIET!"


Green Island Day 2, May 8, 2008

So I got up and my hotel breakfast consisted of a piece of coconut toast and a small glass of juice...I was a little disappointed at first seeing as I am a spoiled traveler, but got over it fast. So then I took my scooter and drove around the whole island seeing the sights and taking pics! It was so much fun!!!!! I went to Guanyin cave and prayed, met some nice Taiwanese women and took some pics with them on the shore, saw Sleeping Beauty Rock and Turkey Rock and then...did my favorite thing in the world...SHOPPING!!!!!! :) At 14:00 was snorkeling and beforehand I was soooooo nervous!! But my snorkeling really was a "hot Aboriginal guy"! Haha! But I am happy with boyfriend so there actually wasn't an attraction. So it was me, this American guy and his Taiwanese woman. Since "hot Aboriginal guy" had limited English...VERY limited, the couple had to translate for me and although the woman was nice the man was like most westerners here-stuck-up and grumpy looking. So for snorkeling in Taiwan, most wear wetsuits and lifejackets because most Taiwanese can't swim apparently. But the thing is, I really enjoyed having the wetsuit and lifejacket on, plus our snorkeling guide pilled us around while we held on to round lifesaver thingies so that we wouldn't have to do alot of work...I really enjoyed that-haha! Most Westerners do it sans wetsuit I assume, but I liked having wetsuit. As for my FIRST time snorkeling...it was AMAZING!! The sights were gorgeous, the fish were gorgeous and the coral was amazing!! We saw this one coral that was probably 7-8 ft. tall (I estimate this because our guide swum down to the bottom of it and it was WAY over his head) and this giant piece of coral grows about a cm a year! Unfortunately the only pics I took with my underwater camera were of the fish we were feeding before we saw all that damn cool coral!! :( If I'd known, I would have waited.

But...WOW!!!!! I HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!!!! (Author's note: I am going to pick up my snorkeling pics from the photo store today and I am praying they came out!!!!)

After that, I showered and went to the hot springs. The hot springs on Green Island are saltwater and only one of THREE in the WORLD! The other two are in Japan and Italy!!! So I went down to hot spring area(there are only 3 hot spring pools there) and there were some people there and so I went to the empty pool and put my foot in (which had been sunburned earlier that day) and OW!!! So effin hot!!! The people in the pool in front of me were laughing and at the faces I was making every time I put my sunburned feet in there and they finally told me that there was a cooler pool(but still warm)close by so I went over to that one and it was soooo nice!!! So stayed in there for a bit and relaxed. until dark when I drove back to hotel.
Green Island Day 3, May 9, 2008

Sitting in a tiny pavilion(beautifully shaded, I might add)overlooking the beach. The hotel manager gave me a free ticket to the "Sika Deer Ecological Park"and when I arrived I was really the only one there (well, it was only 9am) so this one girl at the park showed me all around. She took me to see the deer, so cute!! They also grow screw pine there which is a type of fruit and so I got to try the juice of course!
Ling Tuo Guo?? Screw Pine

And their adorable little dog, Ito kept following me around and when I sat down to have some ice cream and screw pine juice, he would jump up on the picnic table and then sit next to me and even laid his head on my lap a couple of times! I wanted to take him home! So I just got done walking down the bach collecting small shells and tiny pieces of volcanic rock or coral...I don't think you are allowed, but oh well. The sound of the waves is so nice and the sahde feels good on my poor sunburned face! I have about an hor and a hlaf before I go catch the ferry back to Taitung and I should go to 7/11 to get some snacks and a quick lunch, but it's too hot!! And I pray my snorkeling pics come out! So I got to wade my feet in the water and didn't have to worry about jellyfish after all!

I'm Happy!!! :)




(Author's note: Snorkeling pics (if they turn out) and slideshow of pics coming soon! )