Puji Temple (普濟寺)

Whenever you see travel articles about Taiwan, you’re likely to see the same themes mentioned over and over again - This country prides itself on its culinary prowess, its beautiful landscapes, the friendliness of its people and of course the thousands of 7-11s and ornate temples that line the streets of this tiny island nation.

When it comes to promoting Taiwan to the outside world, the food and the friendliness of the people of this country are often good enough reasons to attract a bit of attention. 

There is however a lot more to this country than friendliness and food but you’ll rarely find much else in terms of in-depth articles from official sources or the Taiwanese media which markets the country to both domestic and international tourists in the same way. 

For travellers who only have a short time to visit the country, there is a wealth of things to do here that cater to particular interests and hobbies.

Unfortunately the biggest problem is that information for a lot of these places isn’t readily available or even useful when it is.

As the government aims to promote tourism and attract more foreign visitors than ever before, these issues will eventually have to be solved to help make travelling here much easier for the average non-Chinese speaking visitor.

When I first arrived in Taiwan, one of the first things that caught my attention was the ornate temples that are found throughout the country.

Longshan Temple, Xing-Tian Temple and the Xiahai City God temple for example have all been promoted really well and each of them attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. This made learning about the temples really easy. When it came to the other temples however, I had to spend a considerable amount of time researching their history to learn about them.

So even though those three are beautiful examples of Taiwanese temple architecture and design with interesting histories, you might be surprised to find out that you can easily find larger, older and more beautiful temples in other parts of the country which pretty much receive little-to-no attention from foreign tourists. 

Some might argue that not all of these historic temples want thousands of foreign tourists invading each and every day while others might insist that it would be extremely difficult to promote all of these temples to foreign travellers, but that’s not the point.

No one expects an article about all of these places, but one would hope that the situation continues to improve so that people can make much more informed decisions while visiting. 

Today’s post is about one of Taipei’s under-appreciated temples which is situated only a short walk away from the popular Beitou Hot Spring resort area.

It would only make sense that this century-old Japanese Colonial Era temple, one of the few left remaining in Taiwan, be promoted to tourists who are visiting the area but so far it remains somewhat of a secret despite some vague signage.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last year searching for the remnants of Taiwan’s Japanese Colonial Era to learn their history and take photos.

This particular temple was on my list of places to visit for quite a while but when I finished my research about Taipei’s Huguo Rinzai Temple (臨濟護國戰寺) and realized the historic relation of the two buildings, I decided to make a visit to Beitou’s Puji Temple (普濟寺) as soon as I could find a free day with some agreeable weather!

History - Japanese Buddhism in Taiwan

The ‘Japanese Colonial Era’ (日治時代) began on April 17th 1895 when representatives from the Qing signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki (下関条約) which signalled the end of the first Sino-Japanese War. The treaty, which is still a sour point in Sino-Japanese relations today forced the Qing empire to cede both territory and copious amounts of cash to the Japanese Empire.

When the Colonial Era started, the Japanese were quick to take care of any opposition to their control and also wasted no time in their effort to develop the island with modern infrastructure and also put systems in place to create a thriving economy that would contribute to the Japanese.

As Taiwan was considered to be an important part of the empire, both strategically and economically, the Japanese took special effort to construct buildings of Japanese cultural influence while at the same time building schools, banks, roads, etc.

The buildings of Japanese cultural origin which include the various Martial Arts Halls (武德殿), Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples, etc. were constructed with the sole intention of helping to ‘convert’ the people of Taiwan into loyal citizens of the Japanese empire. The goal was ultimately to have an island of people who were Japanese in everything but ancestry.

Buddhism, having established a foothold on the island several centuries earlier was one of the tools that the Japanese used to help bring the two peoples together. Initially, the Japanese brought Buddhist monks with them to serve roles in the military as chaplain-missionaries offering spiritual guidance during the initial years of the occupation.

The monks who came to Taiwan eventually began to construct language schools and charity hospitals where they would focus on improving the lives of average Taiwanese citizens as well as promoting Japanese-style Buddhism. This effort didn’t last long however thanks to the language barrier and the fact that Japanese Buddhism was viewed by the locals as a colonial system of beliefs which only benefitted the colonial power.

The lack of results in terms of cultural conversion led to funding ultimately being cut off by the Japanese central government and forced the monks who had come to Taiwan to focus less on the native population and more so on the benevolence of the Japanese people who migrated to the island.  

Despite Buddhism being a tool used by the Japanese to help endear the people of Taiwan to their new colonial rulers, the religion had taken a major hit in both its support and its funding within Japan thanks to the Meiji Restoration (明治維新).

The restoration which started in 1868 sought to modernize and reform the country and focused its efforts on aspects of society which were deemed to be ‘feudalistic’ or ‘foreign.’ Buddhism, despite its immense importance to the development of Japanese culture was a religion from outside of Japan and was thus viewed as inferior to state Shintoism.

Interestingly, even though Buddhism was originally used as a way for the colonial powers to endear themselves to the people living in Taiwan, the religion ultimately became a tool for the people of Taiwan to use in an attempt to brush shoulders with the higher-ups in Japanese society to gain political or economic favour and also to use religion as a cover for activities that the colonial powers might frown upon.

Today, most people in Taiwan, if asked would say that they are Buddhist. The history of Buddhism in Taiwan is a long and confusing one and despite the religion being a tool for state control (for both the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists) the legacy of the Japanese Colonial Era can still be felt today as most of the largest Buddhist organizations operating in Taiwan today adhere to the philosophy and practices of the schools of Buddhism brought to Taiwan by the Japanese.

Puji Temple (普濟寺)

The relatively unknown Puji Temple, one of the few remaining Japanese-style temples in Taiwan today sits quietly on a hill above the popular hot spring resort area in Taipei City’s Beitou District (北投區). The temple, which dates back to 1905 (明治38年) is now over 110 years old and is considered one of Taipei’s most important historic sites.

The temple, which was originally named “Tetsu’shinin Temple” (鐵鎮院) was constructed with funds donated by Japanese railway workers and engineers who wanted to celebrate the completion of the project with a newly built temple.

The (now defunct) Tamsui Rail Line (淡水線) was completed in 1901 and followed pretty much the same route as Taipei’s Danshui MRT Line (淡水信義線) today. When the rail line was completed it provided service between Tamsui and Taipei as well having a special off-shoot line of the railway which transported tourists between (the former) Beitou Railway Station (北投車站) and the Xinbeitou Train Station (新北投車站).

Hot Spring culture, known as “Onsen” in Japan has been popular throughout Japanese history, so when the Japanese arrived in Taiwan, they wasted little time developing Beitou, which was then known as Hokutō Village into one of the premiere hot-spring resorts in the empire - one so luxurious that even Prince Hirohito enjoyed a stay!

Puji Temple, which was constructed on a hill above the hot spring resort area belonged to the Shingon school (真言宗) of Buddhism, one of the most history and most widely practiced schools of Buddhism in Japan, founded by Kōbō-Daishi (弘法大師), one of the most prolific figures in the history of Japanese Buddhism.

 Note: Kōbō-Daishi has appeared on my blog before @ Taipei Mazu Temple

The temple which was constructed with traditional Japanese architecture and beautiful Hinoki cypress is extremely well-preserved and is one of the finest examples of Japanese temple architecture in Taipei today. The small temple, which has only been renovated once since its original construction maintains the original design.

The roof of the main hall features a typical Japanese swallow-tail or hip-and-gable roof in its original state and still in excellent condition. The roof has yet to be restored, so the tiles on the top have faded in colour from the original black but despite their age are still quite impressive.

One of the most important things to notice on the exterior of the temple are the bell-shaped windows on either side of the main entrance which are known as katōmado (火灯窓) and are common in Japanese temples, shrines and even in castles built after the sixteenth century but rare here in Taiwan.

The interior of the temple itself hasn’t changed much in the years since the end of the colonial era - the interior design remains the same and the religious ceremonies that are held within still adhere to the original Japanese way of worship. The interior is almost perfectly square in dimensions and when you enter there is an elevated area covered in tatami mats where people sit to meditate. The wooden beams on the ceiling and to the sides are all large single-piece hinoki cypress and even today a century after the temple was finished still smell amazing.

If you have a keen eye, you’ll notice that the two bells to the sides of the entrance are not the originals and are only about 30-40 years old evidenced by the ROC era dates (民國) on the side. I asked the monk who was at the temple what happened to the original bells but he didn’t have any idea and was surprised to find out that the bells in the room weren’t actually the originals.

The temple’s main shrine is dedicated to Guanyin (觀音菩薩) but interestingly the Guanyin that is worshipped inside is a bit different than the typical Guanyin that you’ll find in other areas around Taiwan. This Buddha is a special one that is known as the ‘Protector Deity of Hot Springs’ (湯守觀音) and sits cleverly above the hot springs resort protecting the people who come to visit.

When the Japanese Colonial Era ended in 1945, ownership of the temple transferred to a new Buddhist association which then in turn changed the name to Puji Temple. Initially the temple was used by Tibetan lamas who escaped to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalists. The temple was then later transferred to the ownership of the same Rinzai Buddhist association who control the beautiful Huguo Rinzai Temple (臨濟護國戰寺) in Taipei.

Today the temple sits peacefully and somewhat secretly on a hill above the popular hot-spring resort area. There are signs that lead tourists to the temple, but it seems like most of them are unclear and without the aid of Google Maps, I would have had a hard time finding it myself. The relative seclusion and the beautiful view of Datun Mountain (大屯山) from the front entrance however make for a zen-like experience.

For tourists there isn’t a whole lot to see when you visit this beautiful temple - you don’t need a lot of time but if you are interested in Taiwan’s history, a quick visit to this century-old temple should be able to shed a little bit of light on a period of Taiwan’s history that is quickly disappearing as time goes by.

Getting There

 

Getting to Puji Temple is quite easy if you are visiting Taipei's Beitou District - Simply take the MRT to Xinbeitou Station (新北投站) and when you exit, walk up either side of the road that takes you to the Hot Spring resort area. You'll see signage along the way that will lead you to the temple. It is a short ten minute walk from the MRT station and is very close to Beitou's Thermal Valley which is also a pretty popular spot for tourists. 


Taichung Confucius Temple (臺中孔廟)

A few months ago I took a solo day-trip to Taichung on a beautiful sunny day to check out the Taichung Prison Martial Arts Hall as well as to check out the grounds of the former Taichung Shinto Shrine, which was converted into the Taichung Martyrs Shrine after the end of the Japanese Colonial Era.

Next to the Martyrs Shrine is the Taichung Confucius Temple, one of the Confucius Temples in Taiwan that I hadn’t had a chance to visit or write about yet, so I decided to stop in to take some photos.

The interesting thing about Confucius Temples is that even though they vary in age and size, they are pretty much all designed in the exact same way, which means that when I take photos in one of these temples, I end up taking the same photos from the same angles because I know they are what works best.

Confucius Temples in Taiwan are a stark contrast to the beautifully designed Taoist and Folk Religion temples that you’ll come across as they place more importance on simplicity rather than overloading your senses with design. This in itself is a good reason to visit them, but in some cases there is a bit of a precarious nature to these shines which shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to the politics and culture in Taiwan, which is something I’ll touch on a bit later.

Although this temple isn’t as widely visited as the temples in Taipei and Tainan, it is still worth a visit if you are in the area and I think that the lack of tourists might actually be a great thing if you are into taking photos like myself.

History

Taiwan is home to well over twenty Confucius Temples - The temples, which are dedicated to Confucius, one of history’s most revered educators and philosophers can be found throughout various country’s in East and South East Asia and are a testament to the historic and cultural importance that Confucius and his philosophies have had on Asia.

Here in Taiwan it is common to find a Confucius Temple within each country or major city with some of them being quite large while others can be quite small. Don’t be fooled though, not all of the temple’s are as historic as Tainan’s beautiful Confucius Temple which dates back to 1665. The majority of the temples that you’ll find today in Taiwan were constructed within the past fifty or so years.

The reasons for this are quite simple - Faced with a large population of people who identified more with Japanese culture, the Chinese Nationalists constructed Confucius Temple’s around the nation in an attempt to force Chinese culture on the people of Taiwan while at the same time the Chinese Nationalists considered themselves the protectors of traditional Chinese culture and felt that it was important for them to preserve the practice of Confucius worship. The temple’s therefore can be thought of as propaganda tools and is probably why most of the newer ones, like the one I’m writing about today aren’t as widely visited as the shrines in Taipei or Tainan.

The history of the Taichung Confucius Temple dates back to 1899 when a small temple was constructed in the downtown governing area of the city. The small temple which was next to the historic Taichung City Hall (台中州廳). When the Japanese Colonial Era started though, Taichung became an important place for development and the Japanese tore down quite a few buildings in that area to widen the roads and construct modern buildings for governmental use.

The current Taichung Confucius Temple is a beautiful one, but as mentioned above, it is one of those that was constructed well after Japanese Colonial Era on reclaimed land and no where near where the original was once located. Building a Confucius Temple in Taichung was important for the government at the time due to the fact that Taichung was the seat of the so-called “Provincial Capital” (台灣省政府) of Taiwan and because it was useful for the propaganda campaign mentioned above.

Construction on the current temple started in 1972 and was completed in 1976, a year after President Chiang Kai-Shek passed away. The temple, which is situated on 23,000 square meters of land directly next to the Taichung Martyr’s Shrine which was constructed on lands that were once home to the beautiful Taichung Shinto Shrine (台中神社) which paid honour to the fallen members of the Japanese imperial forces.

After almost forty years, the Taichung Confucius Temple has a quiet park-like atmosphere where you won’t see a lot of tourists or many events taking place. It has become a place for local residents to come and enjoy a bit of nature and to do a bit of exercise. Like most Confucius Temple’s however, the place comes alive each year on September 28th, otherwise known as “Teachers Day” (教師節) when the temple holds traditional ceremonies to honour Confucius and is quite a sight if you are a tourist.

Design

Confucius temples tend to be uniform in their simplicity - Unlike the overwhelming beauty of Taiwanese folk temples and Taoist temples - Confucius temples stand alone in their almost "zen-like" nature in that they don't have shiny gold or bronze decorations and murals all over the walls with hundreds of sticks of incense creating a haze throughout the temple.

The simplicity exhibited in Confucius temples throughout Taiwan and the rest of Asia is meant to be a show of respect to Confucius as well as the importance of his philosophical views of education and his influence on Chinese culture and history.

One of the common features of all Confucius temples is that there is no imagery or statues of Confucius. This is a rule that goes back almost 500 years to the Ming Dynasty (明朝) when the emperor decreed that all Confucius temples should be uniform and only have "spirit tablets" (神位) rather than images of the sage.

The layout of the temple follows the design of the original Qufu Confucius Temple in China’s Shandong Province (山東省) where Confucius lived and follows the temple-style architecture of the Song Dynasty (宋朝) - although some of the designs and murals on the walls are a bit different with this one having murals of flowers and grass painted in beautiful colors on the walls and roof trusses.

Dacheng Hall (大成殿)

Dacheng Hall is the main shrine area of any Confucius temple. The hall sits in the middle of a large granite courtyard with a large elevated platform in front of it as well as on the sides. Inside the hall is a very simple set up with the Confucius spirit tablet propped up on a nice red table-like shrine.

The simplicity of the main shrine room in a Confucius temple is a stark contrast to what you'd see at a Taoist temple but there is beauty in simplicity and if you have the chance to walk inside the shrine room (it's not always open to the public) I recommend stepping in and checking it out.

As with all Confucius Temples, there are an additional two shrines in the room which sit upon the west and east side walls and are dedicated to the four sages (四配) Yan Hui (顏子), Zengzi (曾子), Zisi (子思) and Mencius (孟子) who were Confucius’ most well-recognized disciples and who authored books which improved upon the philosophy of their master.

Dacheng Gate (大成門)

The Dacheng Gate acts as the entrance to any Confucius Temple and although it is a gate, it forms a perimeter around the courtyard and the Dacheng Hall. In most cases the gate is likely to be the most ornate part of the entire temple with murals to the sides of the main entrance as well as intricate designs on the roof.

In the case of the Taichung Confucius Temple I think that the gate is probably one of the most aesthetically pleasing parts of the temple. The colours on the gate mix in beautifully with the surrounding nature and allow tourists to feel like when they walk through the doors that they’ll be transported to a different time and place.

Chongsheng Shrine (崇聖祠)

The Chongsheng Shrine is situated behind the main Dacheng Hall and is used as a shrine room to venerate several generations of the ancestors of Confucius as well as the various Confucian sages and philosophers. This shrine room is not unlike a shrine room that you'd find in any large Taiwanese home and is an important place for ancestral worship.

As the descendants of Confucius have spread out throughout China, Taiwan and Korea, it's important for them to have a place to worship. The shrine room isn't often open to visitors but you can look through the front door which usually has a waist-high gate in front of it to see the inside. The Chongsheng Shrine isn’t usually the most widely visited part of a Confucius Shrine but it has historical significance and is an integral part of the temple, so its always a good idea to check it out.

Getting there

If you are visiting Taichung and don’t have access to your own method of transportation, I’d say the best way to get to the Taichung Confucius Temple is either by YouBike or bus. The temple is a short ride away from the Taichung Train Station and is also close to the beautiful Taichung Park where you’ll find the Mid-Lake Pavilion. If you decide to take the YouBike route you can easily stop by both the park and the temple as well as the Taichung Martyrs Shrine.

If you decide to go by bus, you can get there by taking Bus #1, #21, #31, #41 or #67 from Taichung Train Station.

 

Address: No.30, Sec. 2, Shuangshi Rd., North Dist., Taichung.

台中市北區雙十路二段30號

If you are visiting Taichung, the Taichung Confucius Temple in conjunction with the Taichung Martyrs Shrine are probably nice destinations to stop off. They are conveniently located a short distance away from the Train Station between the beautiful Taichung Park and the popular Yizhong Street (一中街) making them an easy stop along the way between a few of Taichung’s top tourist attractions. You don’t really need a whole lot of time to see either and if you’ve seen a Confucius Temple in Taiwan before, you’ll likely notice that what you’re seeing here is a lot similar to what you’ve seen before. I guess that’s what makes Confucius Temples interesting - they are historically significant but stay relatively uniform in their design. If you have time, stop by and check it out.

For more information about Taiwan’s Confucius Temple’s please check out my Confucius Temple Guide.


2017 in Review

In preparation for this blog post, I went back to the previous years post to see how I was feeling at the end of 2016 - Interestingly quite a few of us it seems were screaming for the year to end hoping that 2017 would bring better fortune. We however we pretty much screwed on that one though. This year turned out to be one for the record books in terms of just how horrible it was for everyone.

Between all of the abhorrent stupidity coming out of the White House, mass shootings, bombings, natural disasters, celebrity deaths, etc. It’s been a year that people will probably look back on and hope to forget as soon as possible.

Living here in Taiwan can be a bit difficult sometimes when I think of all the stuff happening back home in North America. Something that most people don’t realize is that whenever anything happens, be it a mass shooting, a concert bombing, or whatever the massacre of the day is, it is always the first thing I wake up to.

Constantly waking up to bad news is a bit hard on the old heart, so I’ve started to change my habits. Something I’ve had to change in 2017 is that I no longer reach for my phone when I wake up in the morning. I make sure to wake up, have breakfast, play with my dog and drink some tea before even looking at anything happening in the world.

Another thing I’ve learned this year is that while social media is extremely helpful for what I do as a photographer and blogger, its certainly turned into a different kind of monster. People are constantly arguing, they get offended over every little thing and they even sue each other over frivolous little things. It’s tiresome. After having my first experience with a troll and being constantly harassed, I decided it was time to rethink how I approach social media and that has resulted in me pretty much removing myself from it in quite a few ways.

I usually don’t talk very much about my personal life, but its been a weird year for me with a lot of changes that I wasn’t really expecting to happen. The last few months too have been a bit trying with a bunch of stupid uncontrollable things happening. I’m starting the new year out however with a nice month-long trip to Europe where I’ll be visiting several countries and reacquainting myself with being fully immersed in an English environment!

On a positive note, not everything has been terrible - I’ve kept up my productivity travelling all around the country taking photos. As a photographer it was another successful one with a couple of successful Photo Exhibitions (Taoyuan, Taipei), lots of sales and a dream come true - selling a photo to National Geographic!

One of my personal projects this year was to visit as many buildings left over from Taiwan’s Japanese Colonial Era and take photos and write about them. This project had me travelling all over the place and has allowed me to learn so much about Taiwan’s modern history. I’ll continue the project in the new year as I still have quite a few places on my list to visit.

As for 2018, I plan to spend more time on the road - My January trip to London and Rome is the first of what I hope to be a year of travelling as I plan to make it back to Canada and also to Scotland and Iceland as well. I’m staying positive and hoping that 2018 will turn out to be a much better year and that the world will get out of this slump that its currently in.

Let’s get back to using our brains and our hearts. Respect and have compassion for one another. Let’s not keep going down this destructive path with identity politics and taking offence to every little thing. 

 Favourite Photos of 2017

1. Taipei flanked by Mountains

This shot of Taipei’s Hsinyi District (信義區) is one of my favourite shots of the year. There are many mountain vistas in Taipei where you can take beautiful photos of Taipei but this one from Jinmian Mountain in Neihu (內湖) is one of my favourite thanks to the layers of mountains flanking beautiful Taipei City. 

2. Birds flying at Huguo Rinzai Temple

This shot was a bit of an accidental one but turned out to be one of my favourite shots of the year. I was at the Huguo Rinzai Temple trying to take photos of the Bell Tower but my shots kept getting messed up by all the pigeons which were hanging out on the roof. A friend I was with clapped really loud and the birds automatically reacted and this was the result.

3. Flags in Longgang

Longgang (龍岡) is a culturally and historically important area here in Zhongli where I live. The area is full of army bases and is quite patriotic as things go. This shot was taken before the National Day celebrations when the community put thousands of ROC flags on display. I’ll be posting a series of blogs about the area in the new year which should be quite interesting!

4. Lee Teng-Fang Courtyard

This shot isn’t really that special and there is a lot that I could have done to fix it, I enjoy shots like this with specific lines and shapes which is why it won me over. The Lee Teng-Fang Mansion re-opened to the public earlier this year after what seemed liked years of being closed. The historic mansion near Daxi Old Street is a beautiful example of traditional Hakka architecture and its restoration project is a testament to the local Taoyuan government’s dedication in restoring many of Taoyuan’s historic properties.

5. Sunset at Dadaocheng

I spent quite a bit of time in Taipei’s historic Dadaocheng area over the summer preparing for the Dadaocheng Photo Exhibition that I collaborated in. On one of the days that I was in the area taking photos I decided to stop over at the wharf to take photos of the sunset and was lucky enough to experience one of the most colourful sunsets I’ve seen in quite a while.

 Top Instagram Posts of 2017

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Top Blog Posts of 2017

1. Sakura Guide / Sakura at Tian Yuan Temple

Something I did this year was put together a map of places where people could find sakura cherry blossoms blooming around Taiwan. I spent quite a few hours compiling information and adding pins to the map to achieve the results I wanted. The completed map was used extensively by locals and foreigners-alike and even made it into the news. In conjunction with my post about the cherry blossoms at Tian Yuan Temple in Taipei, these two posts ended up being the most highly visited of the year.

2. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂)

My post about the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall featured photos of the highly visited Memorial Hall but I couldn’t really write a typical ‘travel article’ when it came to this place. Most articles you’ll see online glaze over the troubled history of what happened here in Taiwan over the past half century and focus more on the immense scale and beauty of the park. I feel that I offered visitors a more balanced approach with the good and the bad and gave hope for a future where transitional justice will turn this beautiful park into something more representative of the Taiwan of today!

3. Qingshui Cliffs (清水斷崖)

My post about the beautiful Qingshui Cliffs wasn’t actually even posted in 2017, but this post continues to be one of the most highly visited posts on my website. I hope that I can make a return visit sometime this year to get some new photos of the new pathway that was recently completed!

4. Jinmian Mountain (金面山)

Normally my mountain posts don’t get that much traffic, but this one turned out to be a bit different thanks to the power of social media. This mountain went a bit viral on Instagram earlier this year and posting this blog when I did ensured that all the people wanting to know how to get there had the proper information. Some of my favourite shots of the year came from this beautiful little hike, so if you haven’t tried it, make sure to visit.

5. Mugumuyu (慕谷慕魚)

One of my most popular posts continues to be my post about Hualien’s serene Mugumuyu. This post is not only one that attracts a lot of traffic but also quite a few inquiries from viewers. The beautiful area has been closed to the public for quite a while due to typhoon and environmental damage but hopefully it’ll open up again soon. I didn’t post this blog in 2017, but it continues to gain more and more attention due to the fact that there are very few resources online in English that help travellers.