Today, we had the chance of a lifetime to travel to the island of Matsu. For everyone on the trip, including the camp counselors, this was very exciting since none of us have gone before and probably never will again, due to the distance from mainland Taiwan. Only specific groups of people go to Matsu; typically only men drafted in the army assigned to Matsu post will go to the island for extended periods of time. Tourists are rare and the native inhabitants on the island are limited. On the overnight boat ride to the island, it was interesting to see many army folk on the boat and sort of get a feel for their emotions as they will be stuck in Matsu for extended periods of time for duty.
We were given an opportunity to view the sunrise today also. I got up early around 5 AM but unfortunately clouds were out. However, it was a sense of serenity I had never experienced before, being on a boat in the middle of the Taiwan strait and being able to feel the early morning fog, while being able to see part of Matsu in the background. Despite some people in our group feeling seasick, I felt that this mode of transportation was a valuable experience to interact with real people traveling to Matsu and understand how isolated the island is to mainland Taiwan.
Today, we had the chance of a lifetime to travel to the island of Matsu. For everyone on the trip, including the camp counselors, this was very exciting since none of us have gone before and probably never will again, due to the distance from mainland Taiwan. Only specific groups of people go to Matsu; typically only men drafted in the army assigned to Matsu post will go to the island for extended periods of time. Tourists are rare and the native inhabitants on the island are limited. On the overnight boat ride to the island, it was interesting to see many army folk on the boat and sort of get a feel for their emotions as they will be stuck in Matsu for extended periods of time for duty.
We were given an opportunity to view the sunrise today also. I got up early around 5 AM but unfortunately clouds were out. However, it was a sense of serenity I had never experienced before, being on a boat in the middle of the Taiwan strait and being able to feel the early morning fog, while being able to see part of Matsu in the background. Despite some people in our group feeling seasick, I felt that this mode of transportation was a valuable experience to interact with real people traveling to Matsu and understand how isolated the island is to mainland Taiwan.
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