Monday, May 28, 2007

Saturday, in the Park...

On Saturday I went out to Fengyuan again to meet Jim of Sponge Bear and hike. This time Thoth Harris came along for the three hour tour.

We met at the Chung Cheng Park outside Fengyuan, a good jumping off point for the area's many trails. But first we had to stop in the market....

...where there were many vendors...

...and a motorcycle with an unusual slogan.

Facing the prospect of a three hour walk in the broiling heat, Dan-dan and Zeb could hardly contain their enthusiasm.

Thoth Harris.

We followed the same route up as last time. But after a few minutes, we took a new path.

Greeted by some local citizenry.

The Mad Graffiti artist left notes complimenting the Chinese Communists and complaining about the 18% interest lost by many government employees.

As it was Saturday, vendors line the trail hoping for the big score.

I'll settle for this; good dragonfly shots are really difficult.

Jim shoots a spider.

A small temple to the earth god along the trail.

Butterflies are also tough to shoot, but I got lucky.

Jim on the trail. This section is under construction.

A temple, a common sight in the hills.

A close up.

Enjoying the hike.

Beautiful flowers lined the trail.

The Great White Hunters hard at work.

The area is full of roads lined with trees and orchards.

A tomb faces south.

Betel nut trees corral a large house.

The long way home.

We reached the high point of the ridge, with glorious views over Fengyuan and the surrounding area. Someone was already there hard at work with his camera.

The view.



This yellow butterfly would never stop moving.

Master of his domain, a farmer looks out over his land.

Watering the orchards.

Slopeland is a favorite site for big temples.

Finally, one sat still for me.

We also saw many lovely flowers.

The kids contemplate the many important lessons they have learned from nearly three hours of hiking with Dad.

This large black bee was quite striking.

Are we there yet?

Because no place in Taiwan is complete without a factory.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't get over the size of that giant spider. Eek!