Orchid Island

2009.7.1

Orchid Island (I)

Lying 91 km southeast of Taitung City, Orchid Island is the second largest of Taiwan's offshore islands, with an area of 44.6 square kilometers and total surrounding coastline of 38.45 km. The island is mostly mountainous, with only narrow alluvial plains along the coast. The island itself was formerly known as Red Head Island because of an unusually colored hill, but the name was later changed to Orchid Island due to the large numbers of orchids that grow here.

At 7 a.m. we went to Hobi Lake Fishing Port and took a cruise ship to Orchid Island.

Hobi Lake Fishing Port

Taiwan gradually disappeared from my eye sight

The voyage took two and half hours, then the Love Mountian(相愛山) of Orchid Island appeared in front of us. We disembarked at Kaiyuan Port, and waited for the host of B&B to transfer us from the port to the B&B.

Love Mountain

Our B&B had a view of beautiful Badai Bay. I took some pictures while I waited for the lunch.

After we checked in, the host lent us a small car and two scooters because of the lack of the scooters. We took a simple round-the-island trip after the lunch. We first went to the Green Prairie, and walked to the path where few people go. We could see the Little Orchid Island in the short distance.

Little Orchid Island: Lying 6 km southeast of Orchid Island, it is noted for its many peculiar rock formations. The local people call it "ji- teiwan", or "mysterious island." Little Orchid Island is a very important fishing area for the Tao and because the swirls near the island are numerous and rapid, it is a very great deed and hallowed job for man to fish there. Little Orchid Island also has many legends. One of them is that if women violate the taboo to go there, the action will cause a heavy storm. Thus, it is still a great taboo for women to go there now. The whril between Orchid Island and Little Orchid Island is rapid, so there is a special way to get there. Moreover, in the period of the Flying Fish Festival it is also prohibited to go there. Nowadays Little Orchid Island is a desert island. Once the military used it to be a missile shooting range, so there are a lot of shell cases or duds on the island.

Then we visited the famous rocks on the Orchid Island from Dragon Head Rock, Elephant's Rock and Helmet Rock.

Dragon Head Rock: It is a coral reef which is raised up above the sea level, and looks like the dragon's head in the Chinese legend. The head, which has a mouth, horn and beard, looks like a powerful fire dragon aganist dramatic backdrop of the roseate sunset. It is a very representative scenic spot on Orchid Island. Local people call it "ji-mazicing"; it means the rock is irregular, sharp and has a lot of holes on it.

Elephant's Rock

Helmet Rock

Our car was almost out of fuel at that time. We took the cross-island highway to the gas station near the harbor. On the way to the gas station, we stopped by at Hutoubo(Tiger's head hill) and took pictures. I thought the bay near Hutoubo looked like a heart shape. Afterwards I had heard people calling it "Lover's Bay"

On the way to refueling, I was suprised to see that the car on Orchid Island didn't have a license plate. They used the plate with the words "God Bless" on it instead. It's really cool.

After refueling we drove on the mountain along Z shape way to see the Orchid Island lighthouse. The road can only fit the width of one car. We were fortunate that we didn't encounter any cars coming from the opposite direction while going up and down. On the way to the lighthouse, I saw the sunshine obliquely glittering on the sea. The golden sea was amazing and beautiful. We couldn't go in the lighthouse, so we took pictures from a distance.

After going down the mountain, we passed by two interesting rocks on the north of island---Crocodile Rock and Tank Rock.

Crocodile Rock(this picture was taken on the third day)

I like to see Crocodile Rock from this angle because I felt it looked like a ninja. What do you think?

Tank Rock with no gun tube. = = So...does it mean that the tank was destroyed?

Then we went to Five Holes Cave which was called the Phantom Cave by the Tao. A path connects the third cave and the fourth cave, and we went through this cold path from the third to the forth. Local people put a huge cross in the third cave, making the air in the cave more horrible.

The fourth cave(as seen from inside)

The fifth cave

Five Holes Cave is a place where the five holes are close neighbors. Each cave was given a name by the Tao people. The first cave is called "vaRai no volai", which means the home of snakes; The second cave is the place of taking rest; The third cave calls "Sumo Cave", which was originated from the legend that if the people of two tribes, Langdao and Yeyou, had conflicts, they would fight here. The fifth cave is called "pangsangsadan", which means the place of pestling millet. Legend has it that the old man in the village nearby used to pestle millet here.

Then we visited Lady Rock, Hen Rock, Twin Lions Rock and Battleship Rock in the north.

Lady Rock
The Tao calls it  ji- mitazizik, which means "lean aganist". It originated from the legend of the Langdao Tribe. Legend has it that Lady Rock was once a very filial child. To stop his(her) parents fighting, he stood between his parents. However, he was scolded so he cried secretly beside the round-the-island highway, and then became a rock. Tao also calls it ji-mavonot, which means tied reed. The reason is because it looks like a tied reed standing on the seashore when you look at it from the sea.

Lady Rock has all sorts of associations because of it special shape and it is also called Husband and Wife Rock or Yi-Yang Rock(I think it can be translated to mean Lunar and Solar) because it looks similar to a couple(What a rhetoric!! HaHa). It was strange that I had a nose bleed after looking at this rock. = =||| Ha~did it mean that I was very pure? It was still a mystery of having a nasal bleeding because I haven't had a nose bleed for decades. Or was it the consequence of visiting the phantom caves??

Hen Rock

Twin Lions Rock
They looks like the auspicious lions in Chinese culture sitting face to face.

Battleship Rock : It is a desert island, and the Tao calls it Jyahawod, which means "hard to attend". Legend has it that in World War II, when the battle ship of U.S. fought with Japan near Orchid Island, the fighter planes of the U.S. mistook the Battleship Rock as the battleship of Japan and then bombed it heavily.

We went through the Ghost Cave and then climbed the Mt. Grass which was on the opposite side to appreciate the beautiful Dongcing Bay.

Ghost Cave
To explore this cave, you need to put your body lower and lower toward the ground, and in the end to crawl out.

Dongcing Bay : The beach at Dongcing Bay is a beautiful crescent of white sand set against a tropical backdrop and native Tao fishing boats. This is a popular destination for diving or swimming.

The bay with no name(you can see the Dongcing Bay and this bay on Mt. Grass)

At night the host prepared the devices of BBQs and food for us, and we then ended the first day on Orchid Island with happiness.

friends in military

If you want to see more pictures about Orchid Island,
click on: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99857&id=697191847&l=81a30f49e7

Special thanks: Elizabeth Leston