It has been a while since we did our last road trip and I was very much looking forward to this holiday. And it delivered and has been special on more than one level.

i) Our very first road trip with our baby; who at 7 months is our little world explorer

ii) Spring time! We have not been disappointed. The weather was just nice, ranging from a warm and sunny 25 degrees in Taichung and Chiayi to rather chilly and partially foggy weather at 1700m above sea level in the picturesque Alishan region

iii) Back to a Chinese speaking country and back to practice our basics. This was our second trip to Taiwan and I am still amazed as how friendly, warm and open-hearted the Taiwanese are. They are also particularly baby friendly and make traveling with a little one a breeze.

Upon arrival we got our rental car at the airport and made our way south to Taichung, where we only stayed overnight before we headed further to Chiayi, a small and very likeable town at the foot of the Alishan mountain area. Chiayi has a small but cozy night market which we all had fun exploring. Our little one was fascinated by all the different smells, sights and noises and loved to try the delicious snacks.

We drove further up the numerous bends and arrived in Fenqihu where we stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast with a breathtaking view. Which we did good to enjoy as long as it lasted before the oncoming fog enveloped everything! Despite the weather it was particularly lovely to spend time outdoors and breathing fresh air.

From the mountains we headed back north to Sun Moon Lake. This is a very touristy spot which however has its own charme if you bother to scratch the surface. There we spent a wonderful and relaxing few days, crisscrossing the lake on a boat, going for long walks and taking the cable car to the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village (which I can highly recommend as a very nice outing for old and young!).

After a week we dreaded that it was already time to head back to the airport. We made the best of it and enjoyed one last stop at Daxi, famous for its Old Street where we got our last fill of delicious snacks, beautiful buildings, temples and the welcoming people of Taiwan. We left with the promise to be back again!

As a consequence, I often opted for black and white photography which was – in my opinion – a great choice as fortunately both Tianjin and Dalian offer very interesting and distinctive architecture with lots of contrasts. In comparison with other Chinese cities, they seem very European.

Tianjin is China’s third biggest city and has a rich history, impacted by foreign trade in the late 1800s. You find plenty of buildings with British, German, French, Italian or Japanese influence and it seems that the Italian concession houses the biggest cluster of old Italian architecture outside of Italy.

Dalian is China’s northernmost sea port and due to its ice-free location has ever since been a very strategic harbour town. For long, Russian or Japanese occupied the city and it was only in 1955 that it was returned to China. Still today, you see the influence of both countries and I was surprised to find that many Russian still spend their holidays there. The architecture with its old buildings and numerous squares, restaurants and even souvenirs stalls clearly show this influence.

Tianjin

Dalian

After a lazy Sunday morning, we opted for some afternoon activity and made a trip to nearby Pulau Ubin. Here are some colourful impressions from our bicycle trip.

For unknown reasons, the place has been left abandoned sometimes in the 1950s. In the 60 years since, Mother Nature has taken over and the mansion now lies hidden in the jungle.

As I love such discoveries, I got friends and camera ready and we went on the search of this hidden and abandoned place. What we found is eerily beautiful and lets one imagine its former glory!

Last but not least, I rounded off the weekend with a super interesting and funny one day photo workshop with A Day of Photography in Chiang Mai. The workshop focused on street portraiture and allowed me to get up close to the local people and their daily life and experience very precious moments with and without my camera.

Arriving in Perth, we did not spend much time there and swiftly headed to Fremantle (or Freo), a great place to unwind and start this trip in a typical Aussie manner – with fresh muesli for breakfast, burger for lunch and a trip to the prison to learn more about the convict era.

We then headed down south along the coast, enjoying the stunning coast line at Geographe Bay. Luckily, we arrived just in time to witness a gorgeous, coral red sunset and even spotted some whales on their way up along the coast.

We spent the remaining time in the Margaret River Region, keeping us busy with wonderful activities such as:
– Trying to capture the perfect wave during photo sessions at the rugged coast line of Canal Rocks and Sugarloaf Rock
– Tasting white, red and sweet wine! And chocolate!
– Climbing to the top of a lighthouse and the bottom of a beautiful limestone cave
– Breathing fresh air while walking all the way out into the sea on the 1.8km long Busselton Jetty
– Whiling away time in restaurants, pairing fresh fish and seafood with local wine and talking about anything and everything

Hopefully, see ya again soon, Australia!

I have actually spent more than two days at the beach and was not bored! Having spent time with my sister, her husband and their two kids surely contributed to this… nevertheless, I was quite astonished.
I did a lot of shopping and had fun doing it! As I usually hardly buy anything, this was quite a change.
I travelled much less than normal and enjoyed to stay at the same place for several days.

There might be different explanations and reasons and one might event think that it is simply because I’m getting older. Who knows?

It is however not as if we would not have seen anything from the country. Hoi An and Hue are very different places, but both beautiful in their way. The below pictures try to convey my holiday feeling which in words would be summarised as follows:
friendly and helpful people, beautiful beaches and landscapes, interesting historic and cultural sites – all in all an excellent mix!

You see some first results below.

Power nap
Arriving after a night flight l I was tiredly walking trough the streets of Seoul on this hot and sunny October afternoon, when I found this man taking a nap while sitting on a bench in the shade. After his power nap, also known as “Siesta del Hidalgo” (Gentleman’s Nap) in Spain, he was surely more awake than I was for the rest of this day.

Wandering through the dark and narrow lanes of Bangkok’s Chinatown I was taking pictures of the stalls and items they sell. A thin line of sunlight caught my attention and I turned my head up to the sky to discover artfully intertwined cables ensuring the power connection of the stalls selling their curiosities.

‘Power nap’ was finally selected as winning photo of the competition! Yeah!!