Island Boy

By Nigel Krauss

Iwas born on the beautiful Caribbean island of Curaçao. It’s a small island maybe 60 miles north of Venezuela, so I was an island boy long before I came to Taiwan! I came to Taitung in 2016 and soon met Federico, my future business partner at Dulan Cape Café. After only a month I was in love with Dulan, and, as they say, the rest is history!

Fun Under the Sea

Coming from a small island, it’s only natural that my instinct is to seek out more fun, small islands, of which Taitung has two, Green Island and Orchid Island. I took the chance to go to the latter when we had some friends over. Set 65km off the south-eastern coast of Taiwan, Orchid Island is everything a tiny tropical island paradise should be—remote, exotic, beautiful, and exciting. Even the journey there, whether by small plane or ferry, is an adventure! On arrival, we searched for a local B&B and then spent the next two nights and three days on the island.

Orchid Island is famous for diving on its untouched deep coral reefs, but as we discovered, it is also very good for snorkeling. We gathered our snorkeling gear, changed, and then jumped into this amazing world beneath the waves. We found some very cool reef chambers full of fish and marine life including sea urchins, sea snakes, Nemo (clown) fish, sea anemones, and even a barracuda! The reef was made up of a huge range of colorful corals, and best of all, we saw a huge turtle, seemingly unperturbed by our presence, which allowed us to get really close! After getting out of the water we were exhilarated but hungry and found a cozy place for lunch just down the road.

On beaches all over the island, we saw the Tao’s iconic handmade and intricately painted fishing boats, with their distinctive upturned bow and stern. Life for the local Tao people continues to revolve around the annual cycle of catching and preserving flying fish, and battling the black tide to put food on the table. This said, these days cultural and marine tourism play an increasingly significant role, both economically, and as a mode of protecting this isolated and unique culture.

Orchid Island also has plenty of fun to be enjoyed on land. Renting a scooter to ride around the island is a must and presents gorgeous coastal and mountain views. The steep road that cuts across the island passes the weather station, with magnificent vistas, and one of the Japanese-era buildings here is still riddled with WWII bullet holes! Whilst many Tao now live in aboveground concrete houses, descending to Yeyin village on the island’s east coast you will see plenty of traditional sunken pit houses, well-suited to the strong winds and storms that whip across this tropical Pacific island. If you’re interested in getting a closer look at one of these houses, ask at your hotel and they will probably be able to arrange a local guide.

Scootering around the island seemed to present new fun opportunities at every turn. We spent the afternoon there with some cold beers to watch the sunset behind the mountains, which made a refreshing change from only seeing the sunrise back in Taitung!

Fun-Fun at Lulu!

I like to do different activities with different friends, so another time we headed deep into the mountains bound for Lulu Hot Springs. The trailhead is accessed from Highway 20, the Southern Cross, which forges its way across the Central Mountain Range from Haiduan, and recently re-opened after over a decade of closure following damage wreaked by Typhoon Morakot.

To access the springs, you can either hike or river trace, the latter of which sounded like more fun, so that’s what we did! It is strongly recommended to do this with professionals for the first time, so we went with an experienced guide. We got some river tracing kit, geared up, and set off. A few hours and several waterfalls later we reached the springs where we could relax in the lovely warm pools, or cool off in the icy blue river, surrounded by the beauty of the gorge’s orange walls and overhanging greenery. And we had the whole place to ourselves! There were three waterfalls at different stages along the route so on the way back we got to jump down these which was a good adrenaline rush, but is only advisable under the supervision of professionals—safety first!

Firecracker Fun

You could spend months exploring Taitung’s wild backcountry, but the towns and cities also have their appeal, plus there’s a wide variety of events and festivals to attend, the most outrageous of which is known as the Bombing of Master Handan. It always begins on the 15th day of the first lunar month, at the start of the Lantern Festival. As a kid you were probably told to stay away from fireworks, well this is the 180-degree opposite! In this festival, brave young men test their mettle as they are paraded atop a throne and bombarded by thousands of firecrackers. The volunteers wear only shorts, a hat, goggles, and a damp towel to protect their faces, plus branches of a banyan tree that they hold in front of themselves. You might ask how such a tradition began and what inspires people to volunteer, there is a folktale: apparently General Zhao Gongming (趙公元帥) , a Shang dynasty general, later enshrined as the Military God of Wealth, disliked the cold, so people would throw firecrackers at him during his inspection visits to keep him warm! As for why people volunteer, it is a way of (usually) young men showing their courage; and is believed to bring prosperity to them and their families. Whilst there are Bombing Master Handan celebrations in a variety of locations throughout Taitung, the biggest is at Xuanwu Temple, established in 1989. This is a unique cultural event that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the world.

So as you can see, never a dull moment in Taitung! Whether exploring the treasures of the Pacific Ocean that defines the county or watching brave young men being bombarded with firecrackers, it’s fun all the way and I can’t wait to head out on my next fun adventure!