Wild Boar Trail

(Xiaoliuqiu, 10/16)

A band of trails curls along the limestone rocks and cliffs that surround Xiao Liuqiu (小琉球嶼). As “Wild Boar Trench Trail” and “Black Spirit Cave” (GoogleMaps even refers to it as “Black Devil Cave”), they offer an adventurous path for tourists, leading through caves and along the shore. At each passage, small signs warn the wanderer to mind his or her head.

There is something mythical about the paths, an otherworldly union of water, air, stone, and roots. Narrow steps carved into rocks. Small gnomes hidden at the wayside. Roots reaching out for the wanderer. Stone turtles rising from the rocks, as if to strive towards the sea.

Indeed, if there is a place inhabited by spirits or haunted by ghosts on the island, it is this area. We will find out why tomorrow.