Anik cancelled her Taiwan trip at the 11th hour. Needless to say I was terribly disappointed. All that planning gone to waste. Hours spent researching B&Bs (in trad chinese websites!), googling forums for reviews (in trad chinese!!), planning hualien roadtrip route (borrowed GPS!!)... all my beautifully laid plans put on hold. For a while all I could feel was my own disappointment.
Then i told myself to snap out of it. SELFISH BITCH!!
Anik: I know this is much harder for you then it is for me. You were looking forward to Taiwan just as must as me. It's ok. There will be a next time. You may feel overwhelmed right now. And helpless. And even alone. But you can survive this. Just remember: No point keeping the rotten fingers!
Oct 25, 2008
Oct 20, 2008
Lake Jiaming 嘉明湖
Lake Jiaming: A tiny meteor lake some 3310m above sea level. Formed after a asteroid collision thousands of years ago.
To get to the lake we had to trek through some really gruelling terrain - hours of steep uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill climb like this...
and this...
But it was definitely worth the effort
But this trip was also somewhat spooked by the disappearance of a female hiker just one week before I went (eve: the weekend you wanted to go!!). Apparently she got separated from her group & simply disappeared. And many are convinced that she was "taken".
It was then that I was told that Lake Jiaming has one of the highest casualty rates among all the mountains in Taiwan. Mainly because the area is prone to extreme weather changes. But some also say it's because the place is haunted...
Years ago a Jap plane carrying an American POW crashed around Lake Jiaming. The Jap amy sent in search & rescue to try & locate this American POW. However that year Lake Jiaming snowed & the entire team died in the freezing cold. A 2nd team was sent in & they too perished. Hence till today many locals believe that the Lake is haunted.
I felt my hair stand when I was told this story. But for me, this piece of history merely added to the mystical appeal of the place.
To get to the lake we had to trek through some really gruelling terrain - hours of steep uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill climb like this...
and this...
But it was definitely worth the effort
But this trip was also somewhat spooked by the disappearance of a female hiker just one week before I went (eve: the weekend you wanted to go!!). Apparently she got separated from her group & simply disappeared. And many are convinced that she was "taken".
It was then that I was told that Lake Jiaming has one of the highest casualty rates among all the mountains in Taiwan. Mainly because the area is prone to extreme weather changes. But some also say it's because the place is haunted...
Years ago a Jap plane carrying an American POW crashed around Lake Jiaming. The Jap amy sent in search & rescue to try & locate this American POW. However that year Lake Jiaming snowed & the entire team died in the freezing cold. A 2nd team was sent in & they too perished. Hence till today many locals believe that the Lake is haunted.
I felt my hair stand when I was told this story. But for me, this piece of history merely added to the mystical appeal of the place.
Oct 19, 2008
I went I went I really went!!!
Just came back from a 3 day round trip hike to Lake Jiaming - a place I have been DYING to visit. Damn shack. But the terrain is beautiful, very different from my other hikes. Will post my beautiful photographs later. Now need to do laundry. LOADS of it.
Oct 13, 2008
My blog is NOT dead
It just that I was back in Spore heehee
One month flew by just like that. Back to UCL I go...
One month flew by just like that. Back to UCL I go...
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