Want to expand your collection of G-Strings? Think it's more fun to chuck a boat in the air than take it to sea? Get pissed off when someone else drives on the same road as you? If you answer yes to these questions you should follow me to Lan Yu, Taiwan's southernmost Isle.
Here are some of the things I heard about Lan Yu:
'Green Island is better.'
'It is difficult to go now.'
'You will probably throw up.'
Ok, the last prediction was actually in reference to the boat trip. It takes two and a half hours to get there, and after two and a half minutes I was rushing onto deck with one hand over my mouth. Once I'd steadied my gaze onto the horizon, though, my guts were steadier than the vast chopping waves. The same can't be said for the woman standing (fortunately), downwind of me.
Me and Rox stood happily, enjoying the wind, the waves and the sea spray. We were happy, at least, until the spray became more of a horizontal waterfall.
Being hit by a large wave is like getting slapped by nature. Nature is cold and wet, and it doesn't give a damn how long your shoes take to dry.
'Shall we move to the other side of the boat?' shouted Rox.
'Not much point now,' I shouted. I shouted that because I didn't think it was possible to get any wetter. I was wrong. When we stepped onto dry land, it wasn't dry for much longer, and the locals probably assumed we were rescue cases rather than passengers.
The view on arriving made up for that. Lan Yu looks like an island. That might sound obvious, but it really does. There's no other land on the horizon, and from a small distance the forested mountains appear uninhabited.
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| The view from the boat just after landing. |
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| Soaked. |
Our homestay owner turned up in a white van with a kicking stereo system and a bin liner for a back window. He used his seat shaking speakers to treat us to a play list of Western pop songs. If there is one consistent
rule of travel it is this; wherever you go you will hear songs you were trying to get away from.
All I wanted was a piss and a shower. But our host drove us around the thin winding road and stopped in the first village we got to.
'Is this your village?' I asked, observing the one storey houses, the kids, goats and chickens running, sitting, and pecking in the road.
'No,' he said. 'We'll stop here and play.' He got out of the van, and I realised he was drinking a vodka alcopop.
People sat outside houses, and a stall barbecued lunchtime sausages.What seemed to be the village square was full of people sitting around. Many held cameras, and were probably tourists from mainland Taiwan.
'Is there a toilet anywhere?' I asked our host.
'You can use the police station?' he said.
I walked into the police station.
'Is there a t-,' I began. The small, tiled room was full of men dressed like this:
None of them were holding a camera. They were either painting Chinese characters on each others' backs, adjusting the position of their swords, or helping me find the bathroom.
'Yes,' one of them smiled. 'Through there, on your left.'
'What the hell was going on in there?' I said when I got back outside.
'They are preparing our traditional performance. It is very important,' said our host.
'Important?'
'Yes, before we had no clothes on this island, only-. This performance is to signify and remember that.'
Before I could ask more the crowd got bigger and started closing in on the market square.
'Careful, you lot,' people shouted from raised platforms and balconies. 'Leave an entrance, leave an entrance!'
I soon saw what the entrance was for. Wearing only cloth underwear and swords the men charged in , shouting in guttural voices and flexing their fists at each other.
More men ran in, screaming primally, and holding a large, intricately carved, canoe like boat.
Even more men ran in and gathered round the boat, shouting like they were about to fight. Something was going on in the centre. Then something rose up from their middle; the boat. Hands supported it, and pushed it up, up. The boat jumped above the men, and they shouted and cheered with each jump it made.
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| The boat arrives in the village square. |
Then the boat went down and there was more mysterious commotion in the middle. And more near fighting on the outskirts. Then there was an outcome; they had selected a leader.
The man was raised up in the boat to deafening, wordless approval. The hands went up again, the boat rose and fell , and the chief relaxed in his airborne, seaworthy throne.
People began yelling from the balconies again. 'Make an exit, make an exit.'
We made an exit, and the men rushed past us, clenching fists, shouting, grimacing. Some carried the boat and the leader, and took him the short one hundred yards, down to the rocky beach.
With cameras all around, and birds dipping above the waves behind them, they re-created the village square scene, only this time, they let the boat go higher.
When the boat came down, they took it towards the sea. In the water, they stopped the fist clenching and grimacing, and took to splashing each other instead. When the ceremony was finished, the boat, with a few selected locals on board, went out to sea.
'Well then, time to go home and wash,' said our host in Chinese.
'Is he suggesting we're dirty,' said Roxanne in English.
'I don't think so, I've never got a better wash than on that boat ride.'
'Maybe you smell like a fish.'
'I wouldn't rule that out.'
After settling in to our large, cheap, and sunny room, I rented a scooter from the guy in the house next door. It cost more per day that our room per night. I was too happy to bother bargaining.
Riding a scooter in Taipei isn't as fun as riding a scooter should be. If you're not lost in a sea of safety helmets and revving engines, you're frowning at traffic signs or wondering if you should turn left through the visored army of oncoming two-wheeled traffic.
Lan Yu is freedom. Still wearing wet shoes,I turned left at the crowing rooster, and right at the sleeping pig. Within thirty seconds I was out and alone. On my right there were fields and mountains, on my left there was stones and the sea. I shouted with delight, and nobody heard me.
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| Afternoon nap. |
I returned from my test drive and took Roxanne out for a tour of the whole island. We did it in about two and a half hours, and it was only a bit difficult when there was a drop from the road and a high wind coming off the sea. The rest of the time there was nothing to crash into at all.
Usually I try not to eat meat. But the goats roaming the hills, chickens climbing village steps to return home, wandering pigs and fresh seafood, all made my concerns about livestock conditions and factory farming somewhat redundant, if only for the weekend. For lunch we had seafood and goat noodles. For tea our host cooked us octopus he had caught himself the night before. Many nights, he told us, he donned diving gear, grabbed his harpoon and waterproof torch, and crossed the rocky stones to catch his dinner.
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| Drying Fish |
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| Flying Fish Fried Rice |
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| Free Range Chicken |
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| Free Range Pig. |
The next day we rode around again. My shoes were dryer and our pace was slower. Everyone was friendly, nobody spoke English, and I was practicing Chinese at every corner. We crossed the mountain slowly, taking in the lighthouse and generator at the top. There were sharp drops but the mountain goats were unconcerned. We went down carefully and explored the rocks and caves that surrounded the coastline.
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| Our rental. |
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| Traditional fishing boat being made. |
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| The sea. |
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| Typical village scene. |
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| Goat resting on a bench. |
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| An apple. A change from a grass based diet. |
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| Village sign. |
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| Leaving. |
After a week in Taipei, Rox has announced that she is 'Lan Yu sick.'. In Taipei, people stare at us and assume our nationalities and language abilities are directly correlated to our skin colour. In Lan Yu, people smiled and started conversations. Everywhere has it's problems and annoyances, but Lan Yu was a perfect getaway.
Note: Lan Yu (蘭嶼) is a transliteration of the Chinese name. In English it is called Orchid Island. But no one uses that name and it is only useful for searching on Wikipedia.
Our home stay was great value. The owner enjoys local liquor but was always sober enough to go fishing after a day of beverages. His blog (with excellent pictures) is here.
tw.myblog.yahoo.com/ff2800/
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