Tie Non: Green Island: Lighthouse!/緑島：まずは灯台を見に/綠島：我是燈塔宅男

After coming back from Japan, it was only another couple of weeks until there was another chance to go on a trip. October 10th is a national holiday in Taiwan, and this year it fell on a Friday, so I took advantage of the three-day weekend to go on a trip to Green Island.

Actually, the original plan was to go to Orchid Island, but thanks to a typhoon that passed east of Taiwan on its way up to Japan, all the boats to Orchid Island got cancelled. We were somehow able to get a ticket for the Green Island ferry the day before actually leaving, and we even managed to find a place to stay while waiting in the ferry terminal just before actually going to the island. It was a stroke of luck really, because everyone and his brother in Taiwan used this three-day weekend to travel, and Green Island is a fairly popular tourist location, so we were half-expecting to not be able to find a place to stay when we got there.

Green Island is put down by some people for being too "touristy" and developed, and while this is true when compared to some other places one could go in Taiwan, I was still impressed with the island myself. It is surrounded by beautiful ocean filled with coral, it has beautiful mountains, it has historically significant buildings/ruins; and nothing is more than a short drive away from anything else. Green Island doesn't necessarily have anything that you wouldn't find on other islands around Taiwan (including the Ryukyu islands), but in the case of Green Island, all of these features are concentrated on one small island that is easy to get around. And despite how crowded and overdeveloped the town areas on the island are, if you really want to get away from other people, you just have to go to some part of the island that's not been designated on the maps as a "place to go", and you'll find yourself totally alone except maybe for some goats.

日本から戻って来た間もなく、また旅するチャンスが現れた。１０月１０日は台湾の休日になっているので、三連休を利用して緑島に行くことにした。

本当は蘭嶼に行きたかったけど、この間日本に当たった台風がちょうどその時台湾の東沖を通っていたので、蘭嶼への船は全部キャンセルされた。それで、出かける前日に緑島へのフェリー切符をなんとかして手に入って、フェリーターミナルに待ちながらいろんな宿に電話してみてやっと泊まれるところを見つけた。連休なのによく見つけたなぁって感動した。

緑島は観光化がかなり進んでいると批判する声が多いが、私はかなり感動した。「南寮」という港辺りは確かにけっこうごちゃごちゃした町にはなっているが、そこを離れたら人があまりいない場所も少なくない。（特に観光地図に載っていない場所に行ったらあまり他の人と出会わない。）また緑島に珊瑚礁と綺麗な海、そして険しい山、または歴史的な遺跡など全てが揃ってあります。そのうえ、バイクで移動したらどこにも２０分ぐらいで着く様な小さな島だから、観光するのはやっぱりすごく便利で楽しい。

我從日本回來了等一下，趁著10月10日的放假就去綠島。原本我們想去蘭嶼，但是颱風的關係蘭嶼的船都被取消了。我們前天才買到綠島船票，到了台東的船港才開始打電話找民宿。雖然都沒準備好就出門了，可是最後成功了，找到了有空的民宿。

我聽說有人認為綠島觀光化太進步了，不好玩。變成觀光地是沒錯的，可是我還是覺得很好玩。雖然船港附近的村落遊人如織，但是我發現只要離開南寮漁港一點，沒人的地方就容易地找得到。我也覺得綠島的海，山，都真的很漂亮。除了自然以外也有跟歷史有關係的古蹟。最有魅力的是因為島嶼很小，有趣的地方都很近，騎機車只需要20分鐘到處就騎得到。

As for the trip itself, the first step was to take a train around the southern tip of Taiwan from Tainan to Taitung. Here are a couple of photos from the ride. The trains here--and all along Taiwan's east coast--feature absolutely stunning views of both steep mountains and rocky sea coasts.

台南を出て電車で台東に行った。台湾の南部を通って、東海岸を北上する電車は景色が抜群にいい。山も海も見える。

我從台南坐火車到台東。台灣南部，東海岸的火車非常漂亮。

You can already see how big the waves are. The typhoon didn't hit us this time, but it passed by our east side. We've already rounded the bottom of the island and are heading up the east coast at this point, so the sea was definitely showing the effects of the typhoon.

ここは東海岸になっている。沖にある台風の影響を受けて波が大きい。

這裡是東海岸。颱風的影響看得出來。波浪很大。

I spent the ferry ride over being seasick (and there was no outside deck on the boat we were on) so I didn't take any pictures of the ride over. Here's the view from the place we stayed, which was right in the main town area near the island's main port.

フェリーは外に出れないタイプで、私はずっと船酔いしたので、写真はない。下は泊まった宿の屋根から撮った写真。港辺りの中心地にあった宿なので、便利だった。

因為我暈船了所以沒有船上拍的照片。下面是我們住的民宿。在南寮所以很方便。

The island now has a 7-11 as of this year. It's officially jumped the shark.
今年には７−１１ができてこの島はもう終わりだという人もいる。
今年7才開市了。離島的氣氛越來越沒有吧。

The first thing we did was ride out to check out the island's lighthouse on the northwest coast, near the airport.

最初に行ったところは北西部の灯台。

我們先去看在北西部的燈塔。

１９３７年にアメリカの客船が海難して、船客は島民に助けてもらった。その後アメリカは日本に赤十字が集めた寄付金を渡して灯台を建てる様にお願いした。（当時は台湾が日本の植民地だった。）戦争の時には灯台は被害にあって、１９４８年に改造された。

這座燈塔是日本政府受到美國的要求之後建的。1937年美國船在綠島遇難船。島民很努力救命船客。後來美國的紅十字組職把捐錢送給日本政府要求他們建燈塔。因為戰爭中被害了，所以現在的燈塔是1948年修理的。

I love these leaves. This plant, whatever it is, is really common along sea coasts in Taiwan and the Ryukyu islands.

台湾と琉球列島の海岸地帯でよく見かける植物。この葉っぱが好きだ。

This beach was protected by coral reefs, so despite the huge waves from the passing typhoon, people were still able to swim here.

台風が近くに通っているのに、沖合にある珊瑚礁によって浜辺に近い海は荒れていない。

雖然這天波浪很大可是海裡的珊瑚保護這邊的海，有人在游泳。

A Screw Pine. There were a lot of these all over the island. They grow well on sea coasts.

タコノキの実。海岸にはよくある植物。

綠島林投很多。

I'll admit it. I'm a little obsessed with lighthouses. I can't help but visit them when I'm in an area with one.

灯台マニアだからあれば必ず訪れないと気が済まない。

有燈塔我就得去。浪漫感覺起來。

A sundial. It was accurate too. I checked.

日時計。正確である。

日規。我確定是正確的。

This is the beach from just before. You can see here how all of the waves break against the coral and don't actually come into the area where people are swimming.

先ほどのビーチが見える。沖の波が大きいのに、浜沿いの海が本当に穏やか。

上面的海。站在崖上就看得出來裡面比較平安，外面波浪比較大。