[quote=“plotch”]Thanks again,
That all sounds very appealing, and might make for some good weekend daytrips. I guess that, with the combined factors of traffic and distance, none of thes places are close enough for an after-work early evening trip?
I’m scanning my crap map again, and to the south of Sandimen amd Majia, to the east of Pingdong in Pingdong County, theres’ a large empty green area, whith nothing but a couple of rivers: nearest towns are Taiwu and Laiyi to the west. What’s this area like? anything there to see/explore?
How about the coastline in the Kaohsiung area? Or are places like the Gaoping river estuary and Dapeng national scenic area too shitty-gritty to mention?[/quote]
Taiwu and Laiyi are aboriginal villages in the foothills. The empty areas you are seeing is banana country (flat, scrubby, and hot) althouugh there are some of Taiwan’s best-preserved Hakka villages are out there too. Taiwu and Laiyi are the mouths of river valleys and there are systems of old abandoned logging roads that you will enjoy on a mountain bike or motorcycle. You’ll definietly feel like you are out of the city here! Driving north up the small highway that hugs the mountains here is a real treat. It eventually will take you up to the southern cross highway where you will find spectacular mountain scenery and many of those hairy he-man yomps sandie was decribing.
Personally, I think you are going to be living in Taiwan second-best outdoor playground area (the best being the east coast between Taidong and Hualien). The weather is great down there, and you’ve got the mountains and the sea all within striking distance.
The city of Kaohsiuung may be a bit of challenge. It’s a big industrial town that has fallen on hard times since all the traditional industries have moved to China. The rather silly city government’s solution is to constantly build museums that none of Kaohsiung’s working class citizens seem much interested in possibly because there is nothing in them.
I personally see a lot of charm in gritty old Kaohsiung–the people are very friendly and there are lots of interesting nooks and crannies if you hunt around. Oh, and the betel nut girls are to die for.
Other people hate the place because it isn’t stuffed with poncy lounge bars and over-priced, over-rated foreign restaurants like Taipei. Each to his own, I say.
I’ll try to post an essay about Kaohsiung a friend wrote. You might enjoy it.