🌅 “Isle of Tao Winds: A Summer Day on Orchid Island”

#summervacay Orchid Island doesn’t shout—it breathes. Lanyu, just off Taitung City, is a remoteness you feel first in the air’s salt and warmth. I arrived by ferry, then claimed a scooter—essential for the 36 km loop that reveals every hidden nook . Morning began at Dongqing Bay, where azure waves lapped quiet shores. A grove of Tao canoes, painted red, white, black, stood in ceremony—guardians of heritage and sea . I paused at Crocodile Rock and Jade Girl Rock, natural sculptures that feel like ancestral storytellers . Midday, I dove into local life at Yeyou Village—a bowl of seaweed‑sauced snow-ice studded with flying fish roe wasn’t dessert. It was memory . A stroll through traditional underground Tao houses reminded me that culture is built beneath the surface—literally . In the heat of the afternoon, I cooled off at Yeyin Cold Spring, a natural stream cradled by volcanic rock . Then, I climbed to the Lanyu Lighthouse, its white tower standing sentinel above the swirl of Pacific blue . As the sun dipped, I watched Iranmeylek Bay ignite in orange—all alone, wind in my hair, goats grazing nearby, time stretching into eternity . Orchid Island isn’t a stop. It’s a slow breath between worlds.