This is in Jiqi, a one-stop Betel Nut town, after nightfall. We arrived at the campsite only to find it out of operation, so we did the most sensible thing and jumped the fence, skibbed into our skinny's, and body surfed the ocean waves.
This is what the beach looked like the next morning.
The fence behind us in this picture is where we trespassed, about which the owner was not amused.
He found us eating what turned out to be a daily breakfast: a banana, peanut butter, and peanut sandwich. It turns out the reason the campsite was closed was because of a Richter scaled 5.4 earth quake set to hit few hundred meters offshore. In case you don't know, 5.4 is considered massive. We were actually walking on the beach when it happened, but because of the soft sand and distance away from us, we did not feel it.
After we paid the entrance fee and chatted with the owner for awhile, he calmed down and let us stay until noon that day, he even welcomed us to come back! Only East Coast hospitality extends beyond trespassing (Picture taken by/from Dayton).
This is the portion of the trip where we switched to hitch-hiking as our main means of transportation. This is our first pick-up in JiQi, an indigenous family riding a van already far too full without three men and their bags, but the children and grandmother huddled up front to give us room. They dropped us off in a town called ChengGong, renowned for it's seafood, which we ate lots and lots of.
This landmark indicates the Tropic of Cancer.
Our second pick-up (a Mercedez Benz no less!) was this business shark who took us all the way to TaiDong.
Rest stop
TaiDong offers surprisingly little for it's size, except for a free on-the-minute air show as there is a military base near by that test flies jets. We spent the afternoon drinking tea and deciding where to go next.
Because we were in the city we decided to find a bus station and head to the nearest hot-spring town (of which there are tons) to set up camp.
I asked the bus driver to drop us off at a place where we can camp. He told me he knew of three, so I told him we would get off at the one closest to the terminus. It turns out that the one we choose more closely resembles a five-star resort, equipped with a giant pool, warming pool, hot springs, and steam rooms.
This is where we "camped". ZhiBen, Taiwan.
I really like this picture of Kensuke, he's extremely quiet, and always happy.
The facilities were outstanding, we soaked for hours.
Beer and card games
'We are getting close to paradise' - Patrick Watson
