Snake 🇹🇼

I then continued south along the east coast of Taiwan. About 1 1/2 hours by bus from Taipei to Yilan. In the new hostel I even had my own mini room in the dorm this time and was able to spread out a bit. But then I headed straight into town to the night market to get something to eat. After what felt like an hour I was finally able to make up my mind, I sat down in a park nearby and enjoyed the good Taiwanese food. On the way home I passed a local fruit and vegetable market and did some serious shopping for breakfast for the next few days. After that I would have tried to meet people in the hostel and chat, but well, apart from the owner who doesn't speak English, I stayed alone in the lounge. So I went to bed. The next day I set off on my first hike in Taiwan. The plan was to go to a waterfall and then possibly do another trail from there. Unfortunately, renting a scooter here wasn't going to work because they wanted to see my motorcycle license, which I don't have, so I took the train to the next village. From the station I walked to the waterfall. I had expected a lot, but I really didn't expect such impressive nature in Taiwan. I ate what I had bought yesterday at the waterfall. After that I just hiked a bit further along the trail. But then I turned around before it got dark and got something to eat in town. The next day I set off a little earlier. I rented a car for the day to drive to a national park further inland. The first time I'd driven a car since New Zealand, what a super cool feeling! After a 2-hour drive through breathtaking landscapes I arrived at my hiking trail for today. The goal was a tour around the highest mountain lake in Taiwan. In between I enjoyed my lunch with a view of the lake. As soon as I got back to the car it wasn't long before it started to rain. I then decided to drive a little further through the mountains and look at the landscape from the car. When it got dark, I went back to the hostel full of great impressions and beautiful mountain landscapes in my thoughts. The next day I wanted to use my car again in the morning and went to a nearby beach shortly after sunrise. I had the whole huge beach to myself and was able to really enjoy my breakfast there. The first time in the sea in Taiwan was also pretty cool in this place where mountains and sea met. There were a few surfers out there that I could watch. After I returned my car, I went on to the next town. At this point, my initial skepticism about Taiwan had vanished and I enjoy the country a little more every day! 🫶🏼