Stranded on Green Island -- HELP!

Travel Taiwan Travel
1

Was anybody there? What really happened?

Stranded Green Island tourists return to Taiwan, said the headline today.

And the story reads: "More than 60 tourists who were stranded in the scenic Green Island due to a shipping dispute finally returned to Taiwan yesterday morning.
They were the last group of holidaymakers who fell victim to a shipping service disorder between Taiwan and Green Island, located some 35 nautical miles off Taiwan’s southeastern coast, during the Chinese New Year holiday.

Over 500 passengers managed to return to Taiwan late Tuesday after a five-hour delay and discussions with relevant ship operators.

The Hualien Harbor Bureau sent staff members to Taitung County yesterday to investigate the cause of the traffic disorder. While ship operators claimed that the mess was caused by rough seas, many passengers alleged that the disorder resulted from oversale of tickets.

Some 600 holidaymakers, including scores of foreign tourists, were originally scheduled to return to Taitung Tuesday afternoon after an eco-tourist trip to Green Island.

However, shipping operators abruptly announced that they had to postpone services until the following day due to bad weather conditions.

Two passenger ships berthing at the port were jammed with tourists, while many others were unable to board the ships. Some passengers threw stones at ticket booths to vent their anger.

The standoff continued for five hours. With assistance from the coast guard and Green Island tourist authorities, the shipping company finally agreed to send two passenger boats to transport 500-plus tourists back to Taitung at around 800 p.m. The shipping firm also arranged lodging and meals for those who had to spend the night on the offshore island.

A passenger said the shipping disorder has affected the image of Green Island as a paradise for ecotourism. “The government should take effective measures to improve shipping services between Taiwan and Green Island. Otherwise, the beautiful island will lose its appeal,” she warned.

A Hualien Harbor Bureau official said he felt regret over the incident. “We had held two rounds of coordinative meetings with Green Island tourist offices and relevant shipping operators before the lunar New Year holiday. We’ll carefully probe the cause of the disorder and make improvements in the future,” he added."

I think this was in the Chinoise Postal…

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What is it about plane and ship travel that turns normally tranquil Taiwanese people into the Asian counterparts of English football hooligans?

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JUBA wrote: What is it about plane and ship travel that turns normally tranquil Taiwanese people into the Asian counterparts of English football hooligans?

You forgot road travel, oh wise one.

Never, never have I seen such stupidity as I did this past week–Overtaking on blind corners, in the wet, at twlight, without headlights on, etc etc.–Unfuckingbelievable. We came close to horrible deaths on numerous occassions. NEVER NEVER EVER AGAIN will I drive the East coast during Chinese New Year. NEVER!!!

4

Knowing very well what to expect in terms of heightened booze-fueled and beat-the-jam mayhem on the roads during the hols, I left my scooter locked away in the garage and walked or took public transport whenever I went out. When one of the buses I was riding in crunched into a car that darted in front of us, and a few days later when a car veered into a scooter a few yards away from me downtown (luckily the rider didn’t seem to be badly hurt), I felt even surer that I’d made the right decision, however much inconvenience it might have caused me.

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On one occasion this last week, coming back from Taidong between Hualien and Ilan, this bonehead overtakes two cars on a particularly nasty stretch of mountain road only to stop a kilometer or so further down the road. he risked not only his life, the people in the car he overtook after overtaking us, but also the people in cars coming from the opposite direction. For what reason? None, absolutely fucking none.

What pisses me off even more is that these fuckwits take insane chances to get to whereveer they are going just a few minutes earlier. What do they do with those few extra minutes? They play majchong of course. Curse the SOBs.

I was so incensed that if such a driver had killed himself trying to pull off a mountain road overtaking, I would have spat on his body.

I need therapy after last week, not that I didn’t need it before, but now I need it more than ever.

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If you go to Green Island or Orchid Island. for that matter, there can
be delays of airplanes or boats due to weather conditions. CHECK OUT
information like this BEFORE you go as anyone who knows much about
this area would tell you this. Sometimes you are scheduled to fly/depart from Taitung by airplane/boat and are also delayed due to weather. Problems with weather are a fact of life there. I was delayed in Taitung
a couple days one time, but just thought is was a great way to know
more about Taitung.

I really like to visit Orchid Island around Easter and go to church there
as the aboriginal people are particularly friendly that time of year.
Taking a scooter on Orchid Island was not a hassle at all.

Both of these islands, despite some of the hassles, are worth visiting
as are the Pescadores (Penghu). You have to take the good with the
bad sometimes, especially in many Asian countries.

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Frequent delays also have to be expected when travelling to Matsu and Kinmen.
I remember to be stuck for 4 days because the weather didn’t allow the plane to take off - but the good news is I was still in Taipei at the time. :slight_smile: