From Hualien I hopped an afternoon train south to Taitung. It was my intention to take the ferry to Green Island. Green island is one of the three places in the world with a hot spring on the ocean.
Annie warned me that the weather could be awful. The Lonely Planet writer said it was the worst ferry ride he had ever been on. He was seasick all the way there and all the way back. The writer calls the ferry the Green Island vomit barge. I didn't get sick but felt a little queezy listening to the man in front of me barfing into his seasick bag.
There also was an old prison I wanted to see. It housed thousands of Chiang Kai Sheks political enemies. Many were tortured and executed there. The current VP of Taiwan was a guest there.
I hired a motorbike to drive around the island. When I reached the east side I had to turn back. The wind was too fierce. I motored down the west side to go to the hot spring.
One night was enough for me. I caught the vomit barge the next morning. On my trek to the boat a man stopped his motorbike and gave me a lift. As I waited to board the boat I realised everyone had tickets. Another passenger explained in Chinese that the ticket office was back in town! In a moment two locals had me in their car and we raced back into town to the ticket office. I got back to the boat with moments to spare. I have been treated with great kindness by people here.
Ducklass
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