Prospecting in ruifang area

i woke up very early morning to try to enjoy as long as i can my trip to what i call the lost/unknown world. i left taipei quiet early.

what you really need is a good backpack, a jacket, water and the correct equipment which is: digging tools/ gloves/ boots/a magnet/ metal detector ( i have a gold bug)/ a couple of boxes/ plastic bags as whatever trash you dig, you keep it ( so in a way i always leave the place i've prospected cleaner)/ and a good pair of headphone.

basic tools

first step of my journey is taking the train direction to mudan. and then i started to walk along the river which lead up north. that was amazing but you feel quickly alone and helpless if something happen. there was nothing except a couple of dogs and i might have seen maybe 6 persons. i have carry on walking for one hour and reach some fantastic place, completely wild, a bit scary but beautifull. the access to the river bed was almost impossible. the forest is not anymore a forest but a JUNGLE. i have seen a huge royal eagle not far away from 40m and that made my day. the area is pure, untouched by human, fantastic but alone, it is never safe enough.

near mudan village

wild wild east

At this point, i decided to go back and try to find a safer place. (i do not mean that it is dangerous but if something happen, i cant imagine dragging myself to anything around there) i will go back there definitely, but not alone for sure and iam sure to have some greater time.

so my next move was to go to sandiaoling, i took the train and decided to walk until houtong following the riverbank. it took me like 40 min but again, i couldnt reach the riverbank as iam in an elevated environment and the river is completely unreachable. it was fantastic and breathing some pure and fresh air ins amazing (sometimes we forget how good you feel far from civilisation :)

once arrived in houton (which was an old coal mine city before), i encountered the same problem of reaching the river bed.

houton river

houton river

there, i met a ranger and explain him my difficulty of reaching the river from the road and amazingly, he took me on his scooter (lol) to a hidden place and showed me the way to go. a very helpfull man. so i unpack my equipment and start prospecting and as soon as i started, the rain started tooooo. i was so pissed off ... incredible. i have stayed there for an hour but digged only trashes and bottle caps. i didnt find any treasure, gold or relic but that was fun for me and i loved it. i will go back soon and continue discovering forgotten places and sharing them with who ever read my posts. and if someone like nature,prospecting or just discovering new places, you are all welcome.

i will try to take more pictures next time.