Road trip to Fairyland

Spontaneous trips make the best trips. A few weeks ago we decided to rent a car on a whim and drive to Alishan. After making a rather long detour to Pingtung to pick Ria up, we drove through the mountains to our final destination. Words, and pictures for that matter, can't do this place justice. Every turn in the road brought on views that should have been fake. Alishan itself was prettier than I had even imagined. It felt like a fairyland. I was just waiting to see the tiny creatures peek out from behind mushrooms or crawl out of the tree roots. On the way home we drove through Yushan National Park, stopped in various country towns and made a pit stop at Sun Moon Lake to take a single picture. A wonderful road trip with even more wonderful friends. 

The view from the top of Alishan at sunrise

Karlis admiring the view

The road trip crew

A 3,000 year old tree

Wandering through the forests

We found this guy on the side of the road in Yushan

The view from the lookout point at Takata

A random sunflower field we found

The Green Tunnel at Jiji

The only picture from our quick 5 minute stop at Sun Moon Lake

Fields on the way to Pingtung

Driving to Saija

Driving up to Alishan

Hiking up the "Staircase to Heaven"

I mean come on...

Taking the train to the top of the mountain at 5am

A Visit from a Fellow Jayhawk

Just a few days after coming back from Malaysia one of my best friends from my program at KU came to visit. She has also been teaching abroad in Yangon, Myanmar since September. Last February, we traveled to the UNI International Job Fair where we both accepted our positions abroad. It was so great to have her visit and to show her everything I love about Taiwan. I plan on visiting her in Myanmar in October. 

The harbor in Keelung 

Yehliu Geopark in northeast Taiwan

Hiking in the geopark

This lady playing the rock piano was fantastic 

Jiufen, an old mining town on the northeast coast

The view was spectacular 

We hiked up Teapot Mountain on the outskirts of Jiufen 

We found dinosaurs in Yilan 

Biking in Yilan County 

I accidentally booked us to stay at a cat themed bed and breakfast. It was a pretty great accident. 

Malaysia

In April I had the opportunity to travel to Malaysia with Katie and Angela. Our plan for our trip consisted of beaches, multicultural food and sun. Malaysia is a melting pot of cultures from all over Asia and that was highly evident in all parts of Malay life. We spent one day in the capital Kuala Lumpur and then four days on the island of Penang. 

Kuala Lumpur

A highly populated, sprawling city filled with dozens of different types of people. We wandered past Chinatown, Little India, the Muslim Quarter and old colonial buildings. Mixed in with all this were towering modern skyscrapers. The city was a blend of old and new, foreign and native. 

Petronas Towers

A park in the financial district 

A delicious meal of different curried vegetables

Batu Caves

This monkey, at the caves, snatched my water bottle right out of my hand

The entrance to the Batu Caves

Penang
Penang is an island on the north-west coast of Malaysia, close to the Thai border. We stayed at an adorable hostel across the street from the beach in the town Batu Ferringhi. We spent our days hanging out at the beach, eating meals like hobbits and soaking up the Malaysian sunshine.

Katie on the beach 

The secluded beach we found after hiking through the national park on the island

A mass of pigeons in Georgetown 

One of the mosques in Georgetown 

Ninja fighting on the beach

The perfect Malaysian sendoff