Northern Taiwan
Taoyuan
A little cloudy today. It's another day of largely open ocean which will get us from the westernmost reaches of Japan (for the moment) to within spitting distance of China. Of course, spitting isn't the national pastime it once was in Taiwan, so maybe we'll say we're getting either within shelling range from China, or just plain within China, depending on whether you are team KMT or team PRC.
I like the way the Japanese print the name of the airport beside the runway, so you can always remember where you are, no matter how hung over you are. Must prevent a lot of aviation disasters.
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Today's going to be a lot of water.
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And some islands. like Tarama. The whole place has been Feng-Shuied apparently. Neat.
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And this is Ishigaki, as you can plainly see. Known for its beaches. And the Habu (viper) jellyfish.
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Taketomi Island. Has a nice traditional Ryukyu village.
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The big island, Iriomote. They have quite a cat problem here.
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Which brings us back to miles and miles of water.
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Here it is. End of the line for Japan. This is Yonaguni Island, the westernmost inhabited bit of Japan.
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Now it's off to Taiwan.
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Which is up ahead.
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Man, this place is really built up. It's like they took all the money they were going to spend on stuff in this country and spent it all up north here.
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Anyhow, this is the continuum that is Taipei, New Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan where we're headed for the night.
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And so this is Taoyuan. It means Peach Garden. Used to grow peaches here. Now it's all high-tech. Progress. See ya tomorrow.
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