Jinbu hen man (Making slow progress)

Our internet is pretty fast, but I guess that our uploading is hen man (very slow). But I will try and get some good pics up here of our trip and our activities during our first week in Taiwan.
We went on Tuesday night into Kaohsiung city and saw a Buddhist temple and a night market with a co-worker of Scott's who is also my Chinese tutor. This is an especially cool temple, but really these temples are EVERYWHERE in Taiwan. You almost can't travel more than 5-10 minutes and not pass one. Pretty cool.

On Wednesday we went to Kenting beach down on the southern tip of the island (about 1 1/2 hours away). It is our favorite beach in Taiwan (though truth be told we haven't really gone to others). Scott's mom especially liked some cliffs that we took them to.


On Thursday we hopped a train for Taidong where we picked up a van from a member there who lent it to us. Then we drove up the mountainous east coast to Hualien and stayed the night there. Then the next day we drove into Taroko Gorge (Tailuga). Too bad it was raining (even though it's the dry season), but it was still amazingly beautiful! This is a suspension bridge that crosses the gorge. There are lots of them throughout. And, yes, we have gone packing before and one of our trails took us over 4-5 suspension bridges. Not for those with vertigo!

That night we drove back to Taidong, dropped off the car, and hopped a train back to Daliao (our hometown).
One thing that sticks out to me about the trip is that the Taiwanese love our kids! I think that I finally have some sympathy for Brangelina. I know why they take private transportation; it takes forever to go anywhere or do anything when there are so many people who want to talk to you and take pictures with your kids. It's actually been ok,though; I mean I was prepared for it and I know that the Taiwanese are just being super nice. It actually helps our Chinese for so many people to want to talk to us.