Disappointment and wetlands

I have been reading a bit about several abandoned amusement parks in Taiwan, and I would dearly like to visit some. The most famous one, katoli world, was taken down some years ago but a place called Encore Gardens was rumored to still exist. Me and Yini managed to find it on the map so we took the car and headed out. We did eventually find the place, but it seemed the owners were planing to do something with it because there were some workers there preventing us from entering. Since we were in the area we decided to check up a few other abandoned places nearby. Some workers had parked their car at the entrance to the next place, but I decided to walk in anyway, and after a short walk found  some kind of abandoned hotel.

It wasn’t much but at least we didn’t drive there for nothing. Exiting this hotel I walked further along the road to check if there was anything else worth seeing. Just around the corner I looked out over the valley and saw this:

Such a marvelous looking abandoned housing community was a feast for the eyes, my somewhat low spirits were lifted and i immediately decided to explore the place. I went back to the car and we drove the few hundred meters to the community entrance, where we were stopped by a guard. I cannot believe the bad luck, finding two abandoned places in one day, only to be turned away by guards at the door. I must say it was a bit disappointing. Being in central Taiwan, we explored a bit more by car, then drove back to Yini’s parents house for the night.

The next day turned out far better. There are some wetlands a short drive away from Yini’s parents place. We have been thinking of going there several times but never got around to it. Now though we took the chance. We drove out in the morning and, Yini’s parents being somewhat well known in the area, we got an old grandpa to take us out to his oyster farm. He drove us out in a special three wheel, diesel powered, motorcycle tractor hybrid. we jumped off in shallow water near his farm, then walked around in the low tide mud, digging for clams, catching crabs and generally getting dirty all morning. It was great fun, definitely worth while for anyone not afraid to get a bit of mud on their feet.