A group of indigenous Taiwanese left on Monday to paddle to the Philippines on a hand-built wooden canoe across the Bashi Channel, reviving a maritime route dormant for hundreds of years and re-establishing a lost cultural connection.The Tao people of Taiwan's Orchid Island, sitting in the Pacific Ocean some 50 nautical miles off the southeastern county of Taitung, are closely related to the indigenous people of the Batanes Islands to the north of Luzon, the main island of the Philippines. The 20-seat canoe, named Ovayan or "Golden Friendship," was crafted by builders from six…READ FULL ARTICLE
