Tie Non: Pescadores Day 1/澎湖一日目/澎湖第一天

It's been a while since I updated, so let's make it a big one! I went to the Pescadores Islands (Chinese name: Penghu) back in July, and I've been traveling pretty much non-stop since then, so I haven't had time to write up any posts for the most part.

The Pescadores Islands are a group of islands to the west of the main island of Taiwan. They've been settled by Han Chinese people for quite a few centuries already (much longer than Taiwan itself has). When the Dutch originally arrived in East Asia in search of direct trade with Ming China, they originally attempted to take Macau from the Portuguese. They failed at that and took over the Pescadores instead. However, since there were Han people living on the islands, the Ming considered them part of Chinese territory, and told the Dutch to leave. It was at this time that the Ming suggested that the Dutch settle instead on the island of Taiwan, which they did. Later, when the Qing dynasty lost the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, they ceded control of Taiwan to Japan, and the Pescadores were included as part of the package. As a result, unlike Quemoy--about which I have previously written--the Pescadores have shared their 20th century history with Taiwan. The islands were actually a major port (Mako) for the Japanese, and there are still a lot of military bases there even now, not surprising given the islands' placement right in between mainland Taiwan and mainland China.

お久しぶり！七月からずっと旅しっぱなしなので、あまりポストする時間がなかった。今日は七月の澎湖への旅についてちょっと書こうと思った。

澎湖諸島は台湾本島の西沖に有る。けっこう昔から中国人が住み着いた。オランダ人が中国との貿易を目指して東アジアに遣って来た時、最初はマカオをポルトガルから奪い取ろうとしたけど、失敗して、澎湖諸島に砦を作る事にした。しかし、中国人が既に澎湖諸島に住んでいるため、明朝はオランダに領土主権を主張して、結果としてオランダは澎湖を去って台湾に植民地を建てる事に成った。1895年に、日清戦争を負けた清朝は日本に台湾を渡したら、ついでに澎湖も譲った。日本時代の澎湖には、主な港町の「馬公」は日本の大事な港の一つだった。

好久不貼。七月我去澎湖之後、沒有時間把文章寫好了。那時候之後我一直在旅行。

我為了去澎湖、先搭火車去嘉義、再到布袋坐公車、最後坐船。在嘉義火車站對面有這些電影海報。好像以前的自製海報。現在這樣的海報應該不多。

I went to the islands by ferry out of Budai, a coastal town near the city of Chiayi. Chiayi is about an hour north of Tainan by train, so I got off at the main station there and caught a bus to Budai. I noticed these old-school movie posters (for new movies) on the mall across the street from the train station. These type of locally made, possibly hand-painted posters were pretty common back in the day in Japan and Taiwan (and America? I don't know.) but you almost never see them nowadays. Pretty cool.
澎湖に行くのは飛行機ももちろんあるけど、私は嘉義市まで電車で行って、そこからバスに乗って「布袋」と言う港町に行ってフェリーに乗った。途中の嘉義で、この昭和くさい、手作りの映画ポスターを見掛けた。凄くない？こういうのは現在あまり見掛けないから、吃驚した。

The Chiayi Statue of Liberty in a roundabout.
嘉義のロータリーに有った自由の女神。
嘉義的自由女神

This is one of the four (!) ferries that goes to the Pescadores from Budai. The islands are low-lying coral islands with nice beaches and lots of partially enclosed bays, so they are very popular summer vacation destinations, especially for people who want to go to the beach. The presence of four ferries is probably justified by the summer crowds.
布袋から澎湖までのフェリー会社は四つも有る！以上のフェリーはその中からの一つだ。澎湖は珊瑚で出来た島のお陰で、ビーチも海も綺麗だ。毎年、夏期に観光客が沢山訪れて来る。

民宿的風景
The view from the hotel.
民宿からの景色。

And my ride for five days.
澎湖を走り回るには、バイクがお勧めだ。暑い夏の風は気持ちいいし、自転車より大分楽だ。（自転車もきっと面白いと思うけど、一日行ける距離が限られているので、始めて訪れる人はバイクに乗った方がいいと思う。）

An ashtray at the outdoor seating for a shaved-ice restaurant.
かき氷屋さんの灰皿。

這些照片是馬公島的南部。我到了澎湖就馬上騎摩托車去南部的半島看看。
The first thing I did upon arriving was to drive down to the southern part of the main island, Makung. There were some beautiful views of the surrounding sea and other islands.
到着した一日目、馬公の南に有る細長い半島を走ってみた。周りの景色に美しい海も、小島も多い。

There was a strange lookout structure here.
変な展望台

It was about a month ago already, so I actually don't remember where "here" is actually. I know that this is somewhere on the southern peninsula of Makung.

這裡、蛇頭山、也是風景漂亮的、也是有歷史的一個地方。日本時代、海軍的船出事了、很多軍人過世了。（可是我只記得差不多、忘記了細小的事情。）

"Snake Head Mountain" This was a lookout point near the end of the peninsula. It was also the sight of a major naval accident during the Japanese occupation where a lot of sailors died.
この蛇頭山には何かの事故が有って、沢山の日本海軍人が亡くなった。詳しい事は忘れてしまった。（記念碑の写真を撮れば良かったのに！）

There are a lot of cactuses on the island. Their fruits are used for local delicacies.
在澎湖生很多仙人掌。可以使用它們的水果、做點心。是澎湖的一個地產。

仙人掌が沢山有る。澎湖の人はその実を使って、地料理を作っている。

All this grand, scenic splendor is great and all, but Candy Crash is calling.

我站在蛇頭山就看到一個搭船的人。
Some guy in a boat on the bay.
湾内に舟に乗って人がいた。

Looks like he's doing something!
做起來一個動作、、、

Playing guitar?
下の写真ではギターを弾いている様に見える。
看起來他在彈吉他。

I saw these weird trees (?) growing up like this every once in a while on the island. Very strange.
時々こういう一本の木（木かな？）を見掛けた。

布袋様かな？

以下的照片有一個很特別的東西。澎湖有幾個石柱。但是我忘記了它們的機能。

There were lots of stone towers like this on the islands. I can't remember what they were built for (what good am I?) but I think it was for some sort of ceremonial, not practical, purpose.
澎湖のあちらこちらにこういう石積み物が有った。機能を忘れた。（っていうか、忘れた事多過ぎじゃないか！一ヶ月前の旅だからしょうがない。）

把以上的照片看一下、就看起來這座廟有一條高高的尖頂、不過、、、
Hey, do you see something behind that building?
建物の屋根をよくみたら、、、

看好了、就看得出來其實是一個很大的偶人！他坐在廟後面。
Oh my god, he's huge! (This god's statue seriously was absolutely huge.)
ああ！でかい神様の銅像が有る！

Bananas!

Near the main harbor and central city of Makung, there is this bridge that they light up with rainbow colors. It's a little hokey, but actually really pretty too.
馬公の港にこの歩道橋が有る。夜に成ると、虹色で光っている。