Some touristic aspects of our Taiwan excursion

After a conference on arc continent collision (IGCP 524) in Tainan, we went on the six-day geologic excursion. We briefly told about the geological aspects of this trip in the previous posting. Nevertheless, we do not want to miss the opportunity to mention also some touristic aspects of this travel.
We travelled from south to north along the east coast, encountering a breath-taking richness of green plants and colorful flowers. Here are just a few examples. (The Bougainvilleas are specially dedicated to Micha's mom!) And Christmas Red seems to be growing exuberantly, more like a weed than a luxurious plant as know previously to us (and - same procedure as every year - suffering inescapably death in exactly one week after its purchase).

We also encountered a delicious fruit, called Buddha-head. They are about the size of a grapefruit, green, and have a bumpy, structured skin. Their taste is very sweet, with a hint of banana and pear. Only one drawback they have indeed: they are really messy to eat!
From rain-forests to the coast: the landscape changes quickly and impressively.



And yes, we also had some really hot and sunny days, here a picture of the tremendously steep eastern coast and the Pacific Ocean.




On our trip, we passed some Buddhist pagodas (here a picture of the "Eternal Spring Pagoda" in the Taroko Gorge). We also noticed, that in almost every house a small altar for different gods and goddesses is lighted by red lanterns in the families' living room, which - conveniently for our observations - always is directed to the street side.

And finally, some nosy monkeys, we encountered on our trip. (Here, we have to tell a small anecdote: Cees, a originally Dutch geologist, now in Canada, exclaimed excitedly on the sight of the monkeys: "Ah, monkeys! Our small relatives!" Alex, his post-doc, cynically answered: "You mean, YOUR relatives. The Dutch have been here colonizing before...")


And before we close this posting for today, here is a small picture riddle: What is this? (Answer follows in the next posting!)