SailorJill and I Sail on the Orient Express a.k.a. Millenium's Immersion Cruise

Beautiful pagoda photo, but no seats in a train station! Weird.:(

Glad you are enjoying the photos. We were quite surprised by the lack of seats, but were somewhat prepared because it was the same at the train station in Keelung - just more amazing because of the size of the Taipei station.

Glad you are enjoying the photos. We were quite surprised by the lack of seats, but were somewhat prepared because it was the same at the train station in Keelung - just more amazing because of the size of the Taipei station.

I guess a good investment if you are doing a lot of commuting in Taiwan would be one of those little canvas folding chairs.:D

We have arrived at the Yehliu GeoPark which turned out to be the highlight of our tour of the north coast of Taiwan.

Given the rather raw weather today the park was unbelievably crowded - not only with tours like ours, but mostly with citizens of Taiwan. This park is a must go to destination for people living on the island.

Didn't believe me did you!:D This is the line getting into the park.

Yehliu GeoPark is home to what has been called the most famous eroded rock formations in the world. One of the fist formations we see, however, is a man made formation - the statue of Lian Tian Zhen - a local fisherman who jumped into the sea to save a young student who had fallen into the surging surf.

The park sits on a 1.7 kilometer peninsula that is pounded by waves on all three sides - which helped carve some of the formations in the park.

The high promontory was quite a hike but afforded great views. On a clear date it is said you can see for miles up and down the north coast of Taiwan.

Some of the rock formations.The stratum of Yehliu is mainly composed of sedimentary rocks and the bays for formed due to the impact of sea erosion on softer rock layers.

SailorJack,

First just let me say that I loved your review! We're doing a similar cruise aboard the Millennium in October (Shanghai to Hong Kong) with many of the same ports and found your experiences quite informative.

I did have a quick question about cash - how did you deal with all the different currencies you needed for the trip? Did you leave home with different bills from each country, or was there time and availability to pick some up at each stop? Thanks!

Here you can see where the softer layer of rock has been eroded and the harder layer not so much - forming what they are calling mushroom caps. The formations are also called Hoodoos - but not exactly the same as found in the US.

Of course there are other types of formations as well.

SailorJack,

 

First just let me say that I loved your review! We're doing a similar cruise aboard the Millennium in October (Shanghai to Hong Kong) with many of the same ports and found your experiences quite informative.

 

I did have a quick question about cash - how did you deal with all the different currencies you needed for the trip? Did you leave home with different bills from each country, or was there time and availability to pick some up at each stop? Thanks!

I did not bring any currency other than US dollars with me. I would exchange currency at each port. I am not sure which ports you are going to visit, but almost all of the ports we visited had currency exchange stores right near the exit to the pier. We flew home from Hong Kong and at the airport I went to the currency exchange window and gave them all of my left over money - Vietnamese, Chinese, Philippine, etc. As I recall they would not exchange Taiwanese money. Anyway, I didn't have to worry about exchanging too much money in any one country as I was able to convert all my left over paper money to US dollars at the Hong Kong airport.

I should mention that a lot of places accepted US currency. The buying frenzy on the boat on Ha Long Bay where everyone was buying Tiger Balm, for instance, was all in US dollars.:D Other places took our credit card.

Happy Sailings!

Jack

I did not bring any currency other than US dollars with me. I would exchange currency at each port. I am not sure which ports you are going to visit, but almost all of the ports we visited had currency exchange stores right near the exit to the pier. We flew home from Hong Kong and at the airport I went to the currency exchange window and gave them all of my left over money - Vietnamese, Chinese, Philippine, etc. As I recall they would not exchange Taiwanese money. Anyway, I didn't have to worry about exchanging too much money in any one country as I was able to convert all my left over paper money to US dollars at the Hong Kong airport.

 

I should mention that a lot of places accepted US currency. The buying frenzy on the boat on Ha Long Bay where everyone was buying Tiger Balm, for instance, was all in US dollars.:D Other places took our credit card.

 

Happy Sailings!

 

Jack

Thanks so much!

This is Queen's Head - the most famous rock formation in the park.

And this is probably the most used pose in the park.:D You had to get in line and wait your turn.

This is a replica of Leopard Rock. The original, which was partially damaged during a typhoon, is only visible when the tide is uually low - which only happens 18 days a year. We were not there on one of those days!:D

Thanks so much!

You're welcome. I hope you do a review so that I can get another perspective on the Asian itinerary.

Jack

This is Cute Princess. (She is facing to the right.)

Another interesting point in the park was this slave station for measuring ship speed.

We were not sure which military confrontation this was designed for, but it was obviously set to guard the north coast of Taiwan.

I guess a good investment if you are doing a lot of commuting in Taiwan would be one of those little canvas folding chairs.:D

Great idea. We could have used some of those chairs!:D

Here you can see where the softer layer of rock has been eroded and the harder layer not so much - forming what they are calling mushroom caps. The formations are also called Hoodoos - but not exactly the same as found in the US.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course there are other types of formations as well.

 

I don't think I have heard the term "Hoodoos" since I visited Bryce Canyon. It is interesting to see how the different types of stone weather at different rates.

Adjacent to the park was a very large fish market.

We were not sure what these were but they appeared to be some form of dried fish cakes.

It looked like shrimp in the first row, but we had no idea what was in the second row!

No question about what these are.:D

Or these.

But again,. no idea what these are and it seemed every other stall was selling them.

After leaving the geopark we stopped at Kuei-hou Fishing Harbor for lunch. We skipped lunch and walked around the harbor as the fishing fleet was in.

Getting to the harbor.

Overlooking the harbor.

The hills surrounding the harbor had hundreds of small projections sticking out of the rocks and we were told that these were for draining water out of the hills to prevent land/mud slides. Have never seen anything like that before.

The Fishing Fleet is in, but it doesn't look like it is in very good shape.

I don't think I have heard the term "Hoodoos" since I visited Bryce Canyon. It is interesting to see how the different types of stone weather at different rates.

I visited Bryce many years ago. The Hoodoos there are quite magnificent. The ones in Taiwan, however, are imposing in their own way. It is amazing what nature, wind, and water can do.

Jack

Well, Jack, all I can say is "well done". I laughed so much reading your review, I thought I'd have to be hospitalised!!!!! It sounds like you had a great cruise. Thanks again.

Kath

Some last shots of the fleet before we head back to the ship and our next port. I had really hoped to get some "artistic" shots of the fishing fleet, but their condition was just not up to it.

The ones against the back pier next to the buildings don't seem to be in that bad a shape - maybe they get preferential docking.:D

Our last stop on our tour of Keelung was at Zhongzheng Park. This first photo is of the entrance to the park - which is free to the public. By this time of the day it was raining so we spent most of our time inside the buildings in the temple area. The park actually had three levels - with bumper car rides and other attractions - most of which we could not see do to time and weather.

This is the Statue of Guanyin and is said to be one of the largest statues of the deity in Southeast Asia. She is positioned to look out over the harbor to protect the city and the mariners at sea. You can actually walk up inside the statue and look out from her eyes - something we did not try and do.

We had no idea what this represented, but it was an interesting sculpture.

These photos were taken inside the Zhuputan temple. The lighting was in red so it is not the camera.:D

Well, Jack, all I can say is "well done". I laughed so much reading your review, I thought I'd have to be hospitalised!!!!! It sounds like you had a great cruise. Thanks again.

 

Kath

Glad you enjoyed it! And we did have a great cruise! Next one is in late September - looking forward to that one also.

Kacl

So where are you and Jill going on your next cruise?