This is how it started before I got completely flustered and obsessed with its completion...
I love Taiwan! I better start from the beginning...
Wednesday
We decided to celebrate Michael’s birthday at Luxy in downtown Taipei. We started with a pre-party up at the guys dorms where we had a few drinks and sang happy birthday in multiple languages.
We all pooled together to buy him this delicious cake, a silly Spong Bob Square pants hat and an “I love Taiwan T-shirt” which, of course, he left on for the bar. I think he was really surprised with what we did for him and I’m happy it all worked out. I know sometimes it can be hard celebrating a birthday or holiday without family and friends from home, but we tried our best to make it as good as ever.
When we arrived at Luxy, one of the other exchange students arranged to have a table for us on the upper floor with bottle service and champagne.
The music was great and there were tons of people.
There was a surprise dance/strip show from some of the Taiwanese girls which was also very entertaining.
Emily, Tammy and I
Tammy, ?, Felix, Kaja, Daria, and Pim
Unfortunately for some of us the night ended early (around 2am) as the birthday boy had to be escorted home. To save some people from embarrassment I will spare the details, but it was a messy one. Michael won’t be living that down for a while :P
Thursday
The alarm went off bright and early and I opened one eye to see Claudia (who hadn’t gone out with us the night before) bustling around the room getting all her things together for the trip to Toroko Gorge and Hualien. Luckily I had packed the night before so I could afford to laze around and enjoy my bed for a bit longer. I managed to get to the fountain on time (thanks to Claudia) to meet the others and were surprised to see that only two people weren’t there yet – Pim and Michael (of course.) We tried really hard for about 10 minutes to wake them up with phone calls but it didn’t work. Felix, who lives with Michael said he tried to shake him awake, he even left the alarm clock buzzing loudly in his ear but nothing worked. We figured there was no point in missing our train; they could come later anyways so we decided to take off and start the journey without them.
Being silly waiting for the train
Group shot (minus Claudia who is snapping the photo) of the brave souls who managed to drag themselves out of bed.
The train ride was nice but a bit too short. I had fallen asleep right away and when I woke in Toroko it seemed like we’d been travelling no more than 10 minutes – it had actually been 3 hours.
When we stepped off the train we could tell we weren’t in Taipei anymore – the weather was much warmer, the mountains much higher and it felt much more tropical than where we had come from.
From here on in the whole weekend seemed to move like clockwork. Our hostel lady picked us up and took us to the apartment which wasn’t very far at all.
When we arrived we got all settled in – it was exciting to see these big comfy looking beds, but don’t let them fool you, they were actually really really hard.
We told our hostel lady (well, we tried to at least – she didn’t speak any English) that we wanted to get some food after we changed.
When we came downstairs, we were all a bit shocked to her pumping the tires of six very old, very rusty bicycles that she insisted we take into town...so we did.
If anyone has seen the movie “Now and Then” with the four girl friends who ride up and down the streets on their bicycles, you’ll know how we felt that day. It was gorgeous out and the bikes were way too small for our bodies but we were laughing and enjoying every minute of it.
I got the bike with the basket on the front and with Tatjana on the back. I’ve always wanted a basket, and a lovely lady to share the ride with was a nice touch too.
After a mediocre lunch at a little hole in the wall place (we didn’t have much luck with good restaurants in Toroko gorge) we decided to toot around on our bikes for a little longer.
And luckily we did...
A few minutes into our ride we stumbled upon the beach.
It was really a beautiful sight at the time. I can’t speak for the others but I haven’t been to the beach – a real beach – in what seems like forever. The air was salty, the waves were crashing and there was no one in sight but us. It reminded me so much of all the summers I spent on Cape Breton Island with my grandma and grandpa and the beautiful beaches my Grandma would take me to hunt for beautiful rocks and shells.
I think we all got a little bit of a childhood rush when we saw the water and we all took off our shoes and socks and started dancing and playing on the shore line – it was so nice.
Once we felt like we had taken in the scenery we decided to head back to the hostel so we could grab cabs to take us to the National park.
The drive in was breathtaking.
We had the cabs booked for an hour and a half so the plan was to do the 9 tunnels hike which, as the name gives away, is a hike that takes you along the river gorge through 9 different tunnels.
At the gate we were given hard hats to wear in case of any boulders falling. We doubted that the little plastic hats would protect us from falling boulders, but took them anyways – they looked pretty funny.
Goofing around.
Beautiful views.
The hike that was supposed to take an hour ended up lasting only about 25 minutes and our cabbies refused to wait while we hiked any of the other trails, so we got them to take us back through the park to different viewing platforms before we called it a day.
When we got back we decided to go back to the beach on our trusty bicycles.
Tatjana took off down the beach to take artistic pictures of different scenes; Leslie walked to some big black area that struck her curiosity and then played with stones; I went down close to the water to look for stones; Felix carved our names into rocks and Kaja and Claudia sat talking on the rocks.
When we all came back together it was starting to get dark. I’m sure Felix, who had spent the past day with all women, listening to us talk about babysitting and food, was feeling like he needed to do something a little more manly – so he built a fire.
It was really a great idea because there is nothing like the feeling of sitting around a fire on a beach on a warm night with good friends. And then it got better – Pim and Michael arrived!
We must have sat around that fire for hours, taking turns getting wood trying to keep it going as long as possible. It’s nice because there aren’t many places in Canada where we can have a fire on the beach.
When the last flame burnt out and the last beer was drank (thanks Felix), we took off for dinner. Since off of the restaurants were closed we were forced to eat at 7-11 which meant sushi rolls, microwave dumplings, meat buns, sandwiches, cold noodles and chocolate bars. We’re all a bit embarrassed to say that this was not the last meal we had at 7-11.
Back at the hostel we met up with the others – Emily, Daria, and Marie – who had to take a later train because of conflicts with classes. It had been a tiring day so we all crowded into the room I was sharing with Claudia, Tatjana and Emily and watched a movie. When all the girls passed out the boys figured they should probably leave too.
Friday
The next day we had the brilliant idea of renting scooters to tour around the park.
They were much cheaper than renting cabs (one scooter cost only $14 CDN per day!) and a lot more fun too.
We rode in doubles:
I took Emily on the back of mine.
We were too quick to get a picture. She was such a good passenger - so trusting and relaxed. I was a good driver too, even though it was my first time riding a scooter. The hardest part was trying to predict what the Taiwanese drivers were going to do – they really are crazy here!
So we all took off into the mountains.
The drivers focused on manoeuvring on the twisting hills while the passengers took all the pictures.
It's actually pretty cool riding scooters because you always get to go to the front of the line at a stop light.
It was pretty funny because at some points when we were going through tunnels we were going so fast that my eyes would start to water really bad and I could hear Emily behind me as yelling, “Ew something just dripped on me!”
I didn’t tell her it was my tears rolling off my cheek onto her face until later.
We drove around for quite a while.
Doesn't it remind you Jurassic Park? I kept imaginging that a T-rex was going to walk around the corner.
And even stopped to take some pictures.
Unfortunately most of the trails we wanted to hike were closed due to rocks falling but finally we found one which would take about 2 hours to complete.
It was called the Shakadang Trail and it took us through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.
The river was crystal blue and it ran through some incredible rock formations that had been withered away to show some very incredible colours, layers and designs.
The whole trail was covered in tropical foliage, beautiful flowers and some really neat wildlife – wild chickens, tiny tiny toads and really beautiful birds to name a few. There were also some aboriginal families living on the land. I thought that would be incredible – to wake up in the morning in the jungle, stroll down to the crystal water and take a shower under a natural waterfall.
Can you see the waterfalll, falling in the middle of the water? I kept joking that one day I will have a home build into a rock like this one with vines to swing from and natural water holes to bathe in. Oh I like the sound of that.
On the way back through the trail it started to rain....hard...and harder still.
We were soaked to the bone.
Some of us got inventive trying to keep dry.
Our next plan was to ride just outside of the park to a nearby beach with caves and short distance trails. That didn’t work.
Just as we were on our way it started to pour again and we got caught under this rickety building outside of a very sketchy restaurant on the side of the road. It was soon getting dark and we decided to turn back and get an early start on our ride to our next destination - Hualien.
Hualien was only another 30 minutes by cab from Toroko Gorge. It had much more of a city feel than the first place we stayed. Right outside our hostel door was restaurants, movies theatres, massage parlours, fruit stands etc.
We chose a nice looking place to eat.
I felt pretty bad because I suggested everyone try the Kung Pao chicken (I had it at a place near campus and it was amazing), but it ended up being so incredibly hot that some of us couldn’t even eat it.
We were actually sweating. Sorry guys.
Our hostel had a really cute feel.
We all shared one big room with bunk beds on the upper floor. Downstairs the lounge area was a made of wood tables and chairs and comfy couches and a big book shelf in the middle where travellers had left all different sorts of books as they were passing through. I actually picked up Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and am really enjoying it so far. The hostel was always pretty packed with many European travellers (mostly from Germany) who were all very interesting to talk to.
The first night there after mostly everyone went to bed, Leslie and I stayed up talking with two travellers – one boy from South Africa and one from Switzerland. They had met that day and in their search for companionship had toured around the city together. They really reminded me of what it was like to travel alone. It brought back tons of memories from when I backpacked around Europe after my semester at Neuchatel, and it reminded me how much I loved it. Just like these two boys, I felt very free. Travelling alone, I remember, really opens you up to others– partially because you want to and partially because you have to. I remember feeling closer to some of my hostel mates than to some of my friends from back home. It may be easier to open up and expose yourself to these people because you know there is a good chance you will never see them again – I think that’s what it is. Anyways, after speaking with them I decided I want to travel alone again – I’m not sure exactly where or when, but I am sure I will.
Saturday
Saturday morning was bright and sunny and the perfect day for a scooter tour down the east coast of Taiwan. It was a bit of a slow start as we couldn’t find a gas station and a few of us ran out of gas, stranding us on the side of the road. Emily and I were the second group to die so we pulled over for some breakfast until Tatjana and Pim came to rescue us and took us to get some gas.
$3 CDN to fill up - figure that.
Mom and her kids - it's so weird, some parents actually bring their babies on these things. Aren't they supposed to be dangerous?
Getting out of the city also wasn’t an easy task.
The crazy drivers and long street lights made it feel like forever.
Then we got lost once.
Twice (not saying it's a bad thing, the views were all still lovely.)
Then we asked a man who led us in the right direction.
When we finally got on track it was easy sailing along the shoreline. The views were beautiful, the weather was hot and none of us could imagine any other place we’d rather be at that moment.
We stopped at a gorgeous beach right along the highway and had to walk down about 20 minutes to get there.
It had a really neat feel to it – it was sort of like a tiki resort, but it was great because we were the only ones there.
I don’t think my words could even describe the beauty of this place, so here are some pictures to help me along:
The waves were incredible – just big enough to give you a few little scares, but small enough that you didn’t feel threatened.
The water was crystal clear and so salty to the taste.
By the way, thanks for the underwater camera mom and dad! It really came in handy over the next few days. This is my attempt at taking some underwater photos...I’ll have to work on my skills.
After our swim we lay on the beach for a while to get some sun (I am still so pasty white.)
And then we sat at the beach bar for some drinks.
Our next stop was The Sugar Factory!
On the way we made a stop at a beautiful lookout spot.
Then we had lunch in a town we passed through– look at how burnt Tatjana got!
Unfortunately we arrived at the Sugar Factory half an hour too late – it had already closed.
Luckily we found a nearby ice cream parlour to satisfy our sweet tooth. Nice Felix.
The menu was very strange because there were set flavours and combinations to pick from – no choosing. If you wanted a mint and chocolate scoop you had to have a cone. I chose the vanilla and strawberry with red bean –mmmmm. I think Leslie and I are the only ones who have taken to the red bean flavour over here. I can’t get enough of the red bean popsicles and the ice cream was just as good. They are sweet and tasty in the food here, I promise!
By now it was getting dark and we had to move on. It was going to be about an hour before we hit home and it was highway driving the whole way.
It was a really strange feeling driving in the dark past all of the cars. On the highways there is a designated scooter lane close to the right shoulder and everyone on scooters go much faster than the cars. By now we had two days of practice so we all felt pretty comfortable keeping up. It was a bit hard though, driving without sunglasses with all the bugs and sporadic rain drops bouncing on and off my face. You keep feeling bugs ricocheting off your face just millimetres from your eye and all you can do is pray that the next one doesn’t actually go in.
We all made it back to the hostel safe and sound and completely burnt (literally) out grabbed some food and went to bed.
There was this really nice gorgeous girl from New Mexico that we had met that day and she happened to be staying in our room that night. I woke up in the middle of the night to a mosquito buzzing in my ear and after I killed it I realized there was someone snoring very heavily – it turns out that it was this girl. Anyways she kept me up all night - which explains why I look so puffy eyed and tired in the upcoming photos – and we all joked about it the next day. Just goes to show you that everyone has their little faults.
Sunday
Today was our last day and we had planned on going on a group rafting trip; Unfortunately, the water is too low in this season to do it, so we went Canyoning instead (I don’t actually know if this is the right word for it – everyone has their little accents and I can’t quite make out the exact word.)
Canyoning is a sport where you get all dressed up in wet suits and helmets and hike up a river, dodge rocks, slide down rock formations and jump off cliffs. We booked it with an excursion company and paid $900NTD for three hours.
I was so completely out of it that morning that I put my wet suit on the wrong way – twice! Anyone who has worn a wetsuit can imagine how annoying that would have been. We also had to get dressed in these tiny pop up tents that I was wayyy too big for and almost made collapse numerous times.
When I finally got myself together it was picture time. Ugh.
Then it was time to go into the not so warm water.
Then climb a cliff.
Then a rock formation. Not the best morning for me and this kind of activity.
Finally I came out of my daze and started to embrace the challenge.
It was hard not to have a good time though because we were all laughing the whole time – the tour guides were cute and constantly taking pictures of us and splashing us with water; I, for some reason, couldn’t keep my footing so I was constantly falling which, in these suits, looks very similar to a fat kid falling in slow motion ; Claudia, who is the one least likely to participate in something like this (actually she was against doing it at first and had to be convinced by the rest of the group), was actually doing very well – she jumped off the tall cliff (after a few motivational speeches) and allowed herself to fall backwards blind sighted into a water hole. That’s where she made the cut though – no water sliding.
As we were making our way back to the buses, Leslie and I looked around and reminded each other of how much we felt like we were in Canada. As I looked around again I realized how similar my surroundings looked to the valley in my backyard. Actually, my dad used to take me on river hikes all the time, very similar to this one – cool.
So that was the end of our trip. Getting out of that wetsuit was another challenge I assure you.
This is us back into our warm clothes. I am the legs in the back – I forgot to jump.
So now I am back at NCCU, and finally I have finished writing this entry – I may as well just write a book. I’ve spent the day tying up odds and ends and practicing Mandarin for my verbal test tomorrow (eek.) I am also happy to announce that my parents have successfully downloaded Skype and we are well on our way to communicating on a regular basis. That’s about all for tonight, hope you enjoyed the pictures of my last few days and really got a feel for how beautiful this country actually is.
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