11.30.2014

the temples of Lotus Lake


the Lotus Lake area of Kaohsiung is packed with temples, pagodas, and pavilions. [I've already shown you the Confucius temple and the Dragon Tiger Pagodas - but there are plenty of temples not marked on the tourist map that I still found beautiful and photo-worthy.

I've said it before and I'm sure I will say it again a thousand times over the course of living in Taiwan: one of my favorite things is that you can find temples while wandering just about anywhere.


all of these temples were visible just by walking around the lake path - and we could spot plenty of dragon-topped roofs just a few blocks further back. just another reminder to keep your eyes open and look beyond the guidebook.

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and now I'd like to introduce you to my featured sponsor this month. Olivia is the Australian traveler behind the blog Halfway Somewhere, where she shares her travels and tips on everything from taking photos while traveling solo to how to survive an overnight train journey. I'm also in love with this clever DIY project she imagined - turning leftover foreign coins into magnets. read on to get to know her better, then stop by her blog for more!

I'm Olivia. I'm an International Studies student from Melbourne, Australia, although I try to get out of the country as much as I can. I like to move overseas and spend 6 months or more in a place as opposed to taking trips where you're constantly on the move, so that's what I write about the most on Halfway Somewhere - moving overseas, studying overseas, taking a gap year, all that fun stuff.

what are some of your favorite posts, and why? I recently wrote one called An Australian's first impressions of America that was both really fun to think up while I was in the States this year and seems to have resonated with a lot of people, both Americans and visitors, which is always nice.

Another one I really like is Can Harry Potter teach you a new language? I grew up on Harry Potter and basically love everything about it, so using it to learn Spanish was a lot of fun. Turns out it's not an uncommon thing to do, which is awesome.

what is your favorite trip you've ever taken? While I've never had a bad trip yet and I love all the trips I've done for different reasons, my favourite is probably my first big one when I moved to Ireland after high school. It was the first time I was on my own and out of my parents' house and I was living and working with some great people who I still see as much as I can, even though we're all spread out across the world now. I'd always wanted to spend my life travelling and that trip was like confirmation that this is what I want to do.

where would your dream trip take you? My dream trip is to buy an old Winnebago and spend months (years?) driving slowly around the world. I'll have to get it in the States since they're so cheap over there, so I'll explore Canada and America for a while and then bring it home to Australia somehow. That's probably two years away now, but I talk about it all the time. I try not to write about it too much since it's not happening soon, but every now and then I can't help it and dedicate a post to that dream.

learn more about Olivia on her blog: halfway somewhere
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