Hveravellir, iceland

Packed and ready to go to our next destination, our car won’t start, lucky the owner of the cottages, he got the batteries charger for us to charge the car.  Yea, it work but another problem incurred with car, the radiator is not working.

We stop at the petrol cafe and contact the salesman and finally waited for half an hour, he gave us the address of the garage to check and repair the car. We finally found the garage about 10 minutes drive from our holiday cottages. The technical expert was not happy as it is not a minor job and he asked us to come back tomorrow to pick the car.  We told him, we can’t as we already stay extra a day in this town.

For a job to done within an hour or two became 4 hours. it seen it is too risky to drive this car for where we are going.  He told us, he will tried his best to get it done and and we can drive safely but the part won’t last long as he reckoned this will take us safely throughout our journey.  It is quite scary but there is no other option either to contact the salesman again, for a change of vehicle and we have to stick to it.

To spend my time while waiting for the car being repaired. I went for a walk in the town which I haven’t done so. It is quite a small town surrounded with mountains and lake.  The young children go to school as usual and they are at the playground enjoying the snow.  It is snowing heavily with strong wind and we wake up, to see all the landscapes covered in a few inches of snow.

Finally, we are on the road again at 4.30 p.m. and we are worry as it will be another 2 hours or more to reach our next hotel. Hopefully the road condition is better than here. how wrong I can be.  The weather condition is getting worse and our nightmare just begin. look for my next post for more of our adventure in Iceland.

Alishan Nature Park, Taiwan

It took us about 3 hours to reached Alishan Mountains,  half way up to the mountains, it was fogging and the roads totally covered by the mist. All we can see is misty white covered a large part of the mountains and the reserve. We got into park and found our way to check in our hotel, the tour company had booked us into a lousy village hotel, every where we can see dirt and spiderwebs around the walls and floors.

The staff working there were very friendly and we  booked our additional trips to visit the reserve and  morning sunrise with them.  Our driver was not allow to take us into the reserve, it was a regulation set by the reserve, and  we must wake up at 3.00 a.m. in the morning for this mini tour. We been offered 2 tours – one is by the train which we  will see only the morning sunrise and the train trip and another more expensive tour  which covered all the important landmarks in the Alishan and cost 3 to 4 times different.

Ailshan National Scenic Area is a mountain resort and nature preserve in the mountains of Chiayi County. The reserve is about 415 square km in area which include wilderness, four villages, waterfalls tea plantation, Ailshan train station and hiking trails. This place is popular with tourists and mountain climbers, and it become one of the major landmarks in Taiwan.

Ailshan is well known for the sunrises, and on a beautiful day one can observe the sun come up on a sea of clouds in the area between Ailshan and Yushan.

We went for our walk to the train station and in time to see the sunset, then we went to the local restaurant to have our dinner which they offered steamboat and various dishes as a package deal.  Enjoyed our dinner and wine, we back to our hotel to have an early night for the next day excursion. When we reached our hotel,  the place were full of butterflies and moths, I have never see such a great varieties of these before.  So spent a great time time taking photos of the butterflies and moths and totally forgotten I need to wake up at 2.00 a.m. the next morning for the mini tour.

Phoenix Ancient Town (Fenghuang), China

After our visit to Red Rocks Forest, Zhangjiajie, China, our driver proceed to drive us to Phoenix Ancient town also know as ‘Fenghuang’. It took about 3 to 4 hours to reach Phoenix Ancient Town and the hotel which we booked online do not has any car park  so our driver had to let us off behind of the hotel. It about 10 minutes walk to the hotel and once we check in, we took our dinner at the restaurant in the hotel

It was not expensive to eat in the restaurant as my children and one of my friend didn’t want to go shopping in the nite at the Phoenix Ancient Town. We left the hotel around 8.30 p.m. and our guide arranged for the driver to take us to visit the nite market where there were stalls selling local crafts, and embroidery.

There is an entrance fee charge for entering into this town, it used to be free of charge but the local governments want to charge tourists for visiting this town so the monies can be used for upgrading this town.

 

‘Fenghuang’ is Chinese for ‘Phoenix’, the mythical bird of good omen and longevity that is consumed by fire to be re-born again from the flames. Phoenix Ancient Town is so called as legend has it that two of these fabulous birds flew over it and found the town so beautiful that they hovered there, reluctant to leave.

There were lot of locals and tourists in this town and it was surrounded by the river. We were shocked to see that lot of night clubs or bars have notices that Japanese are not welcome in their clubs. The shops and the streets are brightly light up and there are bridges for tourists and locals to cross over the the other sides of the river.

We did some shopping and went back to the hotel around 10.30 p.m. as our guide will meet us at 8.30 a.m. the next day. This is quite a different experience as we didn’t expect night shopping in this ancient town and all the shops opened till 11.00 p.m.

Day 4 – Furong Ancient Town, Zhangjiajie, China

Our Day 4 at Zhangjiajie, one of my sister’s friend is ill with flue and our tour guide Tung also got the flu. Even they were ill but our tour  was still on. Today we were to visit Furong Ancient Town when we reach the Furong Ancient town, our guide leaded us to the restaurant just next to the entrance to have our breakfast of Rice Tofu dessert as it is the most popular dish in this town. Once we went into the Ancient Town, our guide arrange for the guide working in this old town to guide us into this old ancient town.

Furong Ancient Town, Furong (Hibiscus) Town is originally named Wengoun. It is an ancient town where Tujiazu people live together. Until now, in the town, pavement laid with black flagstones and ancient domestic house (mainly Diaojiaolou) are well preserved. The famous movie Furong Town directed by Xiejin is shot here. At Furong Town, the local specialty, “rice tofu” it is said that the most genuine shop is in the vicinity of toril. That shop is the rice tofu shop in the movie

The scenery in the town has unique bearing. Shops with trap dorrs are on both sides of five-mile street of black flagstone. Tujia Diaojiaolou {stilted house} are set up against the slope. The simple bearing of Tujiazu is very charming. In the Warring States Period, “Xizhou Copper Pillar” set as a war covenant made between the emperor of Chu, Maxifan and the King of headman remains as before. On “Xizhou Copper Pillar”. key cultural relic under state protection, more than 2300 characters are inscribed, the covenant of dismissing troops and reconciling made between the emperor of Chu, Maxifan and the King of headman in 940 A.D. is recorded.

 

It is a precious object of studying nation relation in ancient China. Beside there is Wangoun waterfall which is about 60 meters high and 70 meters wide here. Walking behind the hanging screen of the waterfall is like placing oneself in a crystal palace.

Furong Ancient Town is a town where lot of locals still living in this town but the local government change the policy of entrance charges  to collect revenue for this ancient town. The locals used the side entrance and they don’t have to pay for the entrance fees.

Furong Town, Zhiangjiejia, China -芙蓉镇, 中国

Our tour guide arranged for us to take our breakfast at this beautiful town – Furong Town (芙蓉镇)  also known as Hibiscus Town. In the town  the pavement laid with black flagstones and ancient houses. The  famous movie Furong Town directed by Xiejin is shot here. In Furong Town the local specialty is rice tofu and the genuine shop is in the vicinity of toril. We have our breakfast of the rice tofu and it was delicious. The shop is the rice tofu shop in the movie. The scenery in the town has unique bearing. The stilted houses are set up against the slope.

The Wangcun waterfall is about 60 meters high and 70 meters wide. Walking behind the hanging screen of the waterfall is like placing oneself in a crystal palace. We have the local tour guide from this beautiful ancient Furong town to guide us and also letting us know the history of this ancient town. Enjoying ourselves walking behind the waterfall and visited the ancient town where we can buy the local specialty and dried sea foods. There is a  tea room where we can sit and enjoy the beautiful view of the waterfall. The tour take about 1 to 2 hours and we are free to walk around the town.

The local guide only speak in chinese so it will be quite boring for those who don’t understand the language to understand the history of this town. This ancient town worth a visit as I would love to stay longer at the waterfall but unfortunately only the locals can go down to the waterfall or near but not for tourists.

 

Street Life

A day visit to Shrewsbury, England.

Lichfield

My daughter ask me this question : “Why do you keep taking photos of the same place?” My reply to her is every time I come to the same place, I take photos from different angles, perspectives, tones and contrast. If I lucky I get some beautiful shots and if not, I will try again the next time.
I having my lady luck on this day when I visit the Three Spiral Church in Lichfield. Let  me know if all the photographers doing the same as what I do or what you think about this.