Taiwan - Taroko Gorge
On my second day in Taiwan I went on a guided tour to Taroko Gorge. Early in the morning we took a flight from Taipei to Hualien on the east coast. At the airport in Hualien our guide met us and we travelled by bus to Taroko Gorge. We spent the day driving in the gorge and watching the beautiful scenery. Despite the rainy weather, it was very beautiful. In the afternoon we took the train back to Taipei.
The entrance to the gorge.
Walking along Shakadang Trail.
Shakadang River.
Shakadang River.
Liwu River in the most narrow part of the gorge.
Taiwan
I felt like I needed a break from work so I took one week off and travelled to Taiwan. I didn't know much about the country before I went there, so I bought a Lonely Planet guide book and started to read. I found out that there actually were a lot of things to see in Taiwan.
I was there for a little more than one week and I travelled around mostly by train and bus. In Taiwan they have a high speed railway on the west coast which makes it very convienient and fast to travel from north to south. You can see my itinerary drawn on the map of the country.
The flag of Taiwan.
Brunei
After climbing Mount Kinabalu, Linda and I travelled to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of the small sultanate Brunei. We spent a weekend there exploring the town. It's a small town and easy to walk everywhere, however there are not much to see there to be honest. You can easily cover all during a weekend.
In Brunei alcohol is banned, so you can't get a nice glass of wine with your dinner... The best thing we drank in Brunei was lime water, which was really nice. :-)
The flag of Brunei.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque.
My beautiful friend at the waterfront.
The water village, which is a part of the capital.
We also went out on a boat trip. We travelled upriver to an island where we stopped to look at proboscis monkeys. The males have big noses and look very funny!
Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in South East Asia and is called the Roof of Borneo. The highest peak is 4095 meters high.
To celebrate my birthday this year my friend Linda came to visit me on Borneo. We had decided to climb Mount Kinabalu together!
Before our climb we stayed one night in a cabin in Mount Kinabalu National Park. From our balcony we had a nice view of the mountain.
On the way to the summit we slept one night at Laban Rata Resthouse, at 3270 m a.s.l. We had dinner and went to bed early, since we were going to start the last part of the climb in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep at all... We got up around 2 a.m. and in the light of our headlights we walked up to the summit. At the summit we stopped to watch the sunrise before we walked down to Laban Rata and had breakfast.
After breakfast we started to walk down to the National Park Headquarters. Walking down was the thoughest part of the whole climb. My knees really hurt from all the high steps.
Here are some pictures from our mountain adventure.
Posing in front of the mountain.
Beautiful nature.
Lunch break.
At Laban Rata Resthouse.
View from Laban Rata towards the summit.
Looking at the sunrise from the roof of Borneo.
Low's Peak is the name of the highest peak!
South Peak, 3922 m a.s.l.
Donkey Ears Peak.
