Various reports with various different members.
Where do I go from here? Though there is a rival explorer who continually beats me to the very best sites in Taiwan (even beating me on a site which thwarted me on my doorstep for 3 years), giving me something to continually pursue, there is less and less to find in Taiwan. All of the sites I've explored are still there for others to see, but honestly finding new sites to explore is becoming more challenging. Nevertheless, here is the latest update from the exploring jaunts in Taiwan.
Visiting with @Ktotakov and @UrbexCentral. I'd been praying to find fellow explorers to go and check out some sites which I'd not yet properly explored, and my prayers were answered when UC sent me a message saying he was coming from down under to do some exploring in Taiwan. Along with Ktotakov and another non-member, I became their guide and translator in return for a good day's exploring. After a series of delays, we made a list for 3 different sites to focus on. Beginning with 亞哥花園/Encore Garden we headed up into the hills of Dakeng, and headed in without issue. A relaxed affair with no cars rallying around this time, only a jumped up kid spending 60 minutes endlessly doing donuts and destroying his car in the car park. No that's not a joke, it really happened. We managed to see more this time, such as the auditorium and spectator's box before heading down to the heart of the site where two of the abandoned buildings have now been repurposed as car storage and a chicken coop respectively. Yet the site continues to decay. The security guard and gardener who lives on site was also present; we bumped into him pulling away weeds from the carousel as we were leaving. This time however he was too preoccupied with work and chose to ignore us. Afterwards we took a 90 minute long car journey down to the heart of Nantou county for the wood factory. However, this time we were thwarted instantly by a machine of a man.. more on this in part 2.
虎山防空洞/Hushan Air Raid Shelter
Whilst I was very much enjoying the company of the antipodeans, I was fuming to have been thwarted at a site I would've assumed to be a walk in, as easy as the figurative ghost house at the end of the road. So as night fell, we headed back towards Taizhong, stopping off along the way at the bunker. I remember endlessly trying to search for clues in ETUB's video on Youtube about its location and giving up... only for it to be pointed out that a report already exists! So I found the location at the bottom of a hill in a town that can be described only as Silent Hill; the lights were on everywhere, but there was nobody to be seen, even in the hospital. I went for a brief look... only to get in and be chased out within minutes for being alone with merely a phone torch in the company of startled bats.
Fast forward to October and here we are. Nervous as ever, I jumped into the bunker and was instantly greeted with huntsman spiders and insects clinging to the walls everywhere. First impressions were that it was mostly quite empty, with the corridors mostly ending in bricked up or landfilled entrances, but nevertheless highly atmospheric with all the bats flying round silently.
The history is outlined in the report linked above, but as you can make out the bunker was closed in the 1990s, remaining mothballed until 1999 when the 921 earthquake laid waste to anything within reach of its wrath. You can see much of the damage here, particuarly where soil from the earth above has begun to penetrate through the ceiling.
Deep inside the bunker, this was the broadcasting room, presumably the communication point between the military and the rest of the island.
Along another corridor was the meeting room and the lecture room, where generals and intelligence officers gathered to discuss any potential threats from China or any attacks directed towards them.
The portraits of two former Taiwanese presidents, now too heavily decayed to make out.
Tunnel 33, where the ceiling completely gave way to the earth above. Whilst it doesn't present any immediate danger, I dread to think what would happen if an earthquake occurred when anyone was inside.
So we headed back to Taizhong for our final site... only to be thwarted within 15 minutes by the same vigilant watchman from the neighbouring temple whom I'd been caught by 2 years ago. This time however, two police officers were with him. But again, more on this in part 3.
Stay tuned for the next two entries.
Where do I go from here? Though there is a rival explorer who continually beats me to the very best sites in Taiwan (even beating me on a site which thwarted me on my doorstep for 3 years), giving me something to continually pursue, there is less and less to find in Taiwan. All of the sites I've explored are still there for others to see, but honestly finding new sites to explore is becoming more challenging. Nevertheless, here is the latest update from the exploring jaunts in Taiwan.
Visiting with @Ktotakov and @UrbexCentral. I'd been praying to find fellow explorers to go and check out some sites which I'd not yet properly explored, and my prayers were answered when UC sent me a message saying he was coming from down under to do some exploring in Taiwan. Along with Ktotakov and another non-member, I became their guide and translator in return for a good day's exploring. After a series of delays, we made a list for 3 different sites to focus on. Beginning with 亞哥花園/Encore Garden we headed up into the hills of Dakeng, and headed in without issue. A relaxed affair with no cars rallying around this time, only a jumped up kid spending 60 minutes endlessly doing donuts and destroying his car in the car park. No that's not a joke, it really happened. We managed to see more this time, such as the auditorium and spectator's box before heading down to the heart of the site where two of the abandoned buildings have now been repurposed as car storage and a chicken coop respectively. Yet the site continues to decay. The security guard and gardener who lives on site was also present; we bumped into him pulling away weeds from the carousel as we were leaving. This time however he was too preoccupied with work and chose to ignore us. Afterwards we took a 90 minute long car journey down to the heart of Nantou county for the wood factory. However, this time we were thwarted instantly by a machine of a man.. more on this in part 2.
虎山防空洞/Hushan Air Raid Shelter
Whilst I was very much enjoying the company of the antipodeans, I was fuming to have been thwarted at a site I would've assumed to be a walk in, as easy as the figurative ghost house at the end of the road. So as night fell, we headed back towards Taizhong, stopping off along the way at the bunker. I remember endlessly trying to search for clues in ETUB's video on Youtube about its location and giving up... only for it to be pointed out that a report already exists! So I found the location at the bottom of a hill in a town that can be described only as Silent Hill; the lights were on everywhere, but there was nobody to be seen, even in the hospital. I went for a brief look... only to get in and be chased out within minutes for being alone with merely a phone torch in the company of startled bats.
Fast forward to October and here we are. Nervous as ever, I jumped into the bunker and was instantly greeted with huntsman spiders and insects clinging to the walls everywhere. First impressions were that it was mostly quite empty, with the corridors mostly ending in bricked up or landfilled entrances, but nevertheless highly atmospheric with all the bats flying round silently.
The history is outlined in the report linked above, but as you can make out the bunker was closed in the 1990s, remaining mothballed until 1999 when the 921 earthquake laid waste to anything within reach of its wrath. You can see much of the damage here, particuarly where soil from the earth above has begun to penetrate through the ceiling.
Deep inside the bunker, this was the broadcasting room, presumably the communication point between the military and the rest of the island.
Along another corridor was the meeting room and the lecture room, where generals and intelligence officers gathered to discuss any potential threats from China or any attacks directed towards them.
The portraits of two former Taiwanese presidents, now too heavily decayed to make out.
Tunnel 33, where the ceiling completely gave way to the earth above. Whilst it doesn't present any immediate danger, I dread to think what would happen if an earthquake occurred when anyone was inside.
So we headed back to Taizhong for our final site... only to be thwarted within 15 minutes by the same vigilant watchman from the neighbouring temple whom I'd been caught by 2 years ago. This time however, two police officers were with him. But again, more on this in part 3.
Stay tuned for the next two entries.
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I'd been to this area 2-3 times before and seen the wood factory from the train, but only now did I make a point of going there. I hasten to confess, dear reader that I have a terrible ego. Though I can hide it sometimes, it is always there. What does this have to do with exploring, you may ask? Simple: it's not about whether you want to do a site, it's how far you're willing to go to get what you want. 
