Low-Grid Camping/Living With a Musical Instrument in Taiwan

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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I just got back from a hippy festival in Hualien. It was one of the best events I’ve been too, maybe the best ever. I’d describe it as Ewoks meets Lost Boys by the beach.

Writing this up now so I don’t forget.

I took:

Iodine, White Flower Oil, Turpentine, Blue Plastic Bucket, 7 sachets of soap, spare soap, 2 T-Shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, Puma sports bag, Epiphone SG, slide, 7-8 guitar picks, Oolong tea, non-fluoride toothpaste, Boss Octave-Fuzz, Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah, and some other things.

I literally stuffed everything in my bag and ran out the door. I was surprised about how little I needed to be happy. I don’t have a smartphone, and I just slept under the stars.

The main thing I wanted, was to be clean all day. I don’t want to do that festival thing where you just say “Oh screw it, I won’t wash for 3 days.” Im not 17 any more.

I spent about 2-3 hours a day washing and cleaning things.

I’ll write about the actual festival later… I want to write down what I’ll need next time…

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Things I wish I’d brought:

  • Lots of plastic bags. I used about 40 plastic bags during the festival. They’re useful for keeping your bag in order.

  • Alcohol/Mint/Iodine spray. Any spray bottle would’vve been useful.

  • Thin bamboo canes. If I’d had some of these, I could’ve made a kind of homemade tent.

  • A way to make salt water bathing bearable. I’m going to research DIY desalination right now. I figure you can bathe in the sea, then run in the house and have a quick 5 minute fresh water shower to get the salt off.

  • Small buckets or saucers. That would’ve been amazingly useful. If you have a tent or camp, you can stick all your various things on saucers, and get organized quick. As it stood, I just had everything stuffed in a bag. It took me about an hour to get organized every day.

  • A way to cook black rice on the road. Researching this now.

  • A dry source of protein. Maybe some pea protein would’ve helped.

  • Twice, I had to take the bus into Hualien City, to buy nuts, beans etc. If I could’ve cooked rice at my camp, that would’ve saved me a ton of hassle.

  • All my passwords written down on a piece of paper. Igot locked out of ALL of my accounts because Google said I was “suspicious”.

  • A pen and paper. People were always recommending all these world music afrobeat bands, and I couldn’t remember their names. I remember Bombino, for one… but no others.

  • My contact details on a card.

OK, that’s all for now.

All I know is… walking out the door with a musical instrument is an often incredible experience. It’s an easy door for people to talk to you. My guitar must’ve started 15-20 conversations in one week.

You just sit by the side of the road, play some fuzz-blues…

… and

… wait for something to happen…

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Did anyone try to hook you up to play at a musical festival in Cambodia? :grin:

Jk. Good to hear these stories. yolo

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I can picture it now.

‘Hello naked man, what kind of guitar ya get there?’

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Man, I can almost smell the BO and patchouli oil…

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One word.

Bongos

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haha no. Why Cambodia?

I figure within a year, I’ll be good enough to do a street show.

Actually the place was kind of Apocalpyse Now meets An Unknown Fairytale.

Imagine if a bunch of Care Bears took over Kurtz’s compound and sold Doufu wraps instead of sacrificed bulls.

It was kind of like that.

I have a ton of small stories. I want to write them up while they’re still fresh.

All I know now is:

- Get off the net.
- Get out of Taipei.

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hahaha. Actually everyone appeared impeccably clean. And I detectted no patchouli. I actually love that stuff.

I spent 3-4 hours a day getting my stuff clean. 2 hours a day lugging buckets of water to my camp, to wash. I used soap, Iodine, Oolong tea, mint oil, limes, and even borax … a four phase shower… is that acceptable for you?

Do you have anything constructive to add to this thread, Milker?

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Sorry, absolutely nothing. Oh, wait: “Turn on, tune in and drop out!”

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Stay away from Cambodia, there’s some kind of human trafficking ring there now that’s making the news

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haha. No one said that…

but…

The place was so damn remote, it was 15 minutes from the nearest 711. I didn’t think that was possible in Taiwan.

On Friday the aboriginal cleaning lady gave me a lift to 711. I spent 1500TWD on batteries.

Then her colleague bought her a Bar beer. She drank it all and got drunk. So I had to drive her back. I have barely driven a scooter.

When we got on the highway, going about 50… she started groping me, when I was driving and trying to balance us. haha. Christ. I told her to stop 7-8 times, but she wouldn’t, and kept on groping. I couldn’t remove her hand cos we were going 50-60kph and I was trying hard to stay stable. One sudden movement, and we could’ve careered into a passing truck.

So I just screamed at her in Mandarin that I’d give her five years of bad luck if she didn’t lay off. Zao Gao de Nushen, ni yao wo geeir ni wu nian de eyun? - Not sure if the grammar is right, but I think she got the message.

Then she stopped.

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I was curious what is the white oil for and also the turpentine?

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That’s been going on for decades, sadly. Cambodia is a trafficking hub. There are some pretty disturbing videos, even on Youtube.

The fact that it’s making the news might mean they’re getting cleaned out. I hope so.

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Thats a hilarious story , this reminds me of my early years in Taiwan. Free spirited.

15

1 beer and she got drunk?
By lady, you must mean near oba-san age.

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Police to get called for noise/illegal busking :joy:

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White oil is a pretty good general purpose cleaner. I’d wash my clothes with Iodine, a few drops of white oil, and some limes, every morning… I used soap on clothes every 3-4 days, but a quick Iodine/Mint/Lime wash every day seemed to keep them fresh.

The Sun did the rest…

The Hualien Sun burns like a mofo. Literally roasted me awake at 8am every morning…

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Hahaha.

  • I don’t ask for money. But people kept taking photos.
  • I keep my amp pretty low.
  • I found the sweet spot for public woodshedding (like Sonny Rollins on the bridge) is about 5 meters off the road. Too close to the road, and you’re forcing your music on people, too far, and they have to detour to talk to you…

But just a little off the main drag… quiet but still accessible… that’s the zone.

I would just sit and play for 30 mins, and people would magically walk up.

Lugging a guitar and amp in the heat around is a drag. I was always worried it would get stolen. But if you can put up with that… it opens up some many doors its untrue.

I just have to delete Facebook and do this every day now. Taipei is a little more low-key than Hualien, but it can still be fun.

I just realized that social media etc is sucking 3-4 of my life force every day. Tragic.

Writing this thread so I remember to get off the damn net and LIVE more.

I feel like I just escaped an aetheric zombie prison.

Peace on Earth!

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It was one of those massive Bar cans.

She seemed sweet.

I thought she was just giving me a lift to 711.

TBH she prolly would’ve been hot when she was younger.

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Screw it, I might just sleep rough in Hualien City tonight. Really tempted to just ignore the last Puyoma, and just play all night.

I have responsibilities, and a job in Taipei too.

I have had more experiences this week, then in a month in Taipei.

More later…