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Dispatch 10g

Jiufen Gold Eco Park 6 Oct 2012

and

Teapot Peak A most excelent hike 13 Oct 2012

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The Juming Sculpture Museum

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This building while alluring was inaccessible.

And then there was Teapot Peak, A most excelent hike. 13 Oct 2012

Coming down the other side.

An anonymous fellow explorer enters the grand hall.

I'm not the only one who likes this stuff

Inside the museum they have some gold jewelry and artwork, also this gold bar which they claim is the largest solid gold ingot in the world. You could reach through holes in the display case and touch it. I have not verified the claim about the size but it did look like a pretty big block-o-gold to me.

There was a fairly reasonable fee to enter the mine itself. Tourists are issued hard hats as they enter.

6 Oct 2012 This area, about a ninety minute bus ride from Taipei, offers a great set of possibilities. A pretty nice tourist area revolving around an old gold mining operation, one of the very best day hikes and even a few old buildings to poke into.

Some areas abounds with old processing flues, like giant snakes crawling up the hillsides. It would have been possible to step inside but I refrained. They are said to be heavy with toxic chemicals. I judged it not worth the risk.

An abandon tunnel. Probably safe enough but also not so rich in features. You can see the other end in the distance. I ventured in only a few feet.

An old smelter or processing plant.

This one was easier.

Nearby a popular waterfall with it's dramatic colors provided by the mineral rich mountain.

Oh it's all natural, but they warn you not to touch the water due to toxicity.

As usual on some of the very steep bit's there were ropes installed by local hiking clubs to help make it up or down. It's hard to see the steepness in the photos but let me just say that there were these very useful.

And I was even lucky enough to meet one of these hiking groups. They were ever so friendly insisting I eat some of their food.

Truthfully maybe they were a bit shocked how light I was gear wise. I was not in trouble but I could have had more water with me as I had lost one bottle on the trail at this point.

I had great luck with weather that day.

Look closely at the next few shots. See those tiny little people on the trail?

At the top. Some take the easy route up. I took the long route up and the easy route down.

You know you're getting close to civilization when you find people taking wedding photos along the trail.

Back into the town and here is a temple. They gave this statue a great view of the valley and a nice chair to sit in as he reads. You would think he would have a more relaxed expression on his face.

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10h Chiang Kai-shek Revealed and the Yingge Ceramic Museum

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The Juming Sculpture Museum

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Museums are nice but I do enjoy the less controlled venues of abandons buildings. Here is some rusting cable car equipment I found in just such a building along one of the hiking trails.

The tunnel has been modified to make it safer for tourists.

Below some mannequin miners demonstrate the tough job of digging gold out of rock.

As with a surprising number of tourist activities entrance to the park is free. This is not Miami where everything costs a fortune.

Here is some old mining equipment, an air compressor that supported the mining, painted up and on display.

This family stopped to cook lunch on one of the peaks. Mom and Dad prompted the little girl to give me some candy. I thanked her profusely.