TAIWAN / KEELUNG

Huge budda, across from our dock in Taiwan

Keelung, main port in Taiwan

Fireboat reception at  Taiwan

Container ship at Taiwan

                      

Taiwanese destroyer



Taiwan countryside

Walking on rocks in the rain

Here is a hodge-podge of pictures depicting our visit to Taiwan.  We have trouble positioning them the way we want them, so bear with us.We went into the port of Keelung, a very large port teeming with maritime activity.  Keelung is locaed at the north end of Taiwan and is some 30 kilometers from the principal city, Taipei.  One of the ship's excursions went into Taipei, and we should have gone on it--it was dry.  The excursion we chose turned out to be extremely wet.  Rained the whole damn time, and as we ascended  the mountain to the gold mine area, we were enshrouded in mist.  The flora up there was magnificent--cherry trees in blossom, wonderful azeleas, etc. etc., but the rain and mist made decent pictures impossible. And the road up the mountain was a web of switchbacks, very narrow, on the side of a cliff.   Scary, scary.  When we finally got out of the bus, we had what seemed to be hundreds of steps yet to climb, and I (Tom) don't do well on steps but somehow managed with MA's help.  But the temples and mines up there made the trip well worth while.  Here are some shots of it.  The gold nugget (ingot) is supposed to be the largest

Trying to capture  the  gold nugget

Portion of Keelung at night

 in the world, and we believe it.  When we finally went back down, we went to what our guide called "little Shanghai."  Was a very narrow passageway lined with shops of various kinds that seemed to go on forever.   Was jambed with people, and every now and then some jerk would try to drive his motorbike through the throng.  Crazy.   Then we went to the fish market and finally back to the ship, soaking wet and kind of cold. Today we are enroute to Korea--Inchon and Seoul.  The night we left Taiwan the wind was howling and the seas the roughest yet, but today the sea is pretty calm and the sun is out.  But it is chilly and there is some wind, so walking on the "jogging" track is uncomfortable.  The sea--the East China Sea--is loaded with fishing boats.  They look to be about 100 feet long and are obviously built to spend several days at a time at sea. And we see many cargo ships.  Seems there is almost always a tanker, bulk cargo, or contrainer ship heading south, and we occasionally pass one going our way.

In "little Shanghai"