A World Apart--Desert Castle

No matter how you're traveling, the East Coast Highway from Hualien to Taitung is full of wonderful scenery, and once you get to Shihtiping, even if you don't have its address you should have no trouble finding Desert Castle, which stands solitary by the coast.

Some say it looks like blocks of tofu, others like a ruin. Still others liken it to the haunted house of Wuthering Heights. Regardless what they think of it, it gives the impression it's been here a long time, and certainly doesn't seem like something that's just popped up out of nowhere.

At Desert Castle there are no audiovisual stimuli, no restaurant, no spa; in their place there is silence broken by the calls of birds and insects.

One with the ocean

It doesn't have Scandinavian flair, nor is it a quaint wooden cottage; it doesn't have flashy Baroque beauty, nor the elegance of a traditional Chinese building. Desert Castle's style is more one of cement grouting and unrepaired roughness.

Its thick concrete walls haven't been painted or bricked over, and the building is surrounded by cacti with creepers climbing the walls. Inside and out, Desert Castle has a postmodern minimalism.

But while the building may be postmodern, the facilities and owner are much more retro. There's no television, air-conditioning, or Internet. The light fittings jut out from the walls and ceilings, and steel bars lie open to the air. Everything is natural and simple, but it does have a few "luxuries"--there are huge scenic windows in the guest hall, and each room offers a magnificent view of the ocean.

Kao Yuan-chen, owner and operator of Desert Castle, rarely has any direct contact with guests, leaving that to her assistant.

"I prefer to reach out to the guests through my art," says Kao, who is also a ceramic artist. She considers this venture a way of sharing spatial aesthetics and ceramic art with her guests, rather than as a customer service thing or way to make friends. As such, there are some people who've stayed there three or four times and still haven't laid eyes on the boss.

And food is also far from a main focus at this hostelry.

"Food's available everywhere, there's no need to come all the way out to the backblocks for it," remarks Kao. Desert Castle is about repast for the soul rather than the senses. A stay here is a simple kind of break--looking out at the ocean, staring up at the stars, and listening to the insects, a vacation here is all about getting closer to nature and to one's inner self.

"You need to break off all old connections to see new possibilities," Kao explains. To get a real rest, you need to leave behind everything you're used to and head somewhere totally unrelated to your normal daily habits and indulgences. To this end, Desert Castle doesn't provide meals, just a kitchen for guests to cook simple meals for themselves. If you want to dine out, there are some food stalls and seafood restaurants to choose from in the vicinity.

At Desert Castle there are no audiovisual stimuli, no restaurant, no spa; in their place there is silence broken by the calls of birds and insects.

Port of call

This unique, mysterious place has been in operation eight years now, running even before guesthouse management laws were fully developed in Taiwan. It could be considered a pioneer in this industry.

Back then, Kao had just returned from three years traveling around Africa, having left her job as an administrator at Taipei's Municipal Jen-Ai Hospital. After her return, she got interested in the idea of making pottery by the seaside, and with a few friends found a fixer-upper on the Hualien coast. Once the place was all fixed up, her friends could no longer make it over, and so Kao chose to use the empty rooms as a guesthouse.

"When I was traveling overseas, I often headed out of the cities to find somewhere quiet to unwind for a few days, to just be with myself for a while," Kao recalls. Based on that experience, she chose to make Desert Castle a place of solitary, undisturbed peace. Gradually a number of like minds were drawn to the peace of Desert Castle.

"Not everyone can handle peace and quiet. Some people even get kind of frightened by too much quiet and too much space," notes Kao. A good third to half of the guests here are repeat visitors.

In order to maintain the simplicity of the place and really appeal to those who need and appreciate such places, Desert Castle has not been built onto, and sets limits on the number of people who stay and which people are allowed to stay there. "Gatecrashers," who drop in without a reservation, are also not welcome. The majority of guests are individuals, couples, or pairs of girls, while families are few and far between. Least welcome are families with young children, as they make it "too hard to keep the peace and quiet."

For eight years now Desert Castle has offered a port of call for those who need to get away from home or escape the city for a while. Some people stay for ten days to a fortnight, doing nothing but staring out at the sea, sleeping, and losing themselves in thought, while others come to listen to music, read, or write with no-one around to bother them.

Kao is fully aware that people like this are in a minority, but she believes that attracting this kind of guest who can put everything aside and take a break outside holiday times will help the place stay afloat.

"In what do we find the significance of travel? In having things that strike deep in your soul; these things are the greatest harvest from travel," says Kao. Desert Castle, eschewing superficial visual and auditory stimuli, often does touch the soul of people. Has it touched yours? Perhaps next time you're considering getting away from it all, why not try Desert Castle?