Finally, a conclusion to my awesome Taiwan experience. A grand conclusion.
On the Wednesday, a day before the flight back to Tokyo, Joe decided to take us to the beautiful mountains of Taiwan. In the morning (read: 2pm) we took a train to a rural part of Taipei and continued on foot from there. The first stop was a playground in a park, on which i enjoyed myself thoroughly. Second - a hot spring. What can i say, it was hot and a sulphury spring. Very relaxing and refreshing if you stay in for 10 min. Rinsing yourself with cool water afterwards is just awesome - just like the feeling any beverage advertisement promises. Upsettingly, the spring closed for an hour-break 45 minutes after we got there, so we decided to grab some sushi-express and head on up the mountain. By the way, Taiwanese sushi-express didn’t come close to Japanese sushi; Not even the cheap kind.
To get to the mountain-plateau we had to take a bus - it’s rather far. During the 10 minutes we waited for the late bus to show up, i noticed that in Taiwan it is acceptable to fit a family of 4 or 5 on a scooter. The ride to the top was entertaining - the driver decided to have some fun and drive really fast on bumpy mountain roads and hairpin turns. Getting off the bus was just like leaving a 30-min roller coaster. Once we got there, i was astounded by the view and the greenery of the place. I’ve never seen anything like it - even the air was much fresher. I frolicked around, took many pictures, and ran up many hills until I found this peculiarly small wall with a path leading from it. Of course, I quickly climbed on top and saw the most magnificent mountain view of my life. There was a town far in the distance and beautiful landscape all around. The part that intrigued me most, was the smoke rising from behind one of the hills on the way to the town. I said to my friends “Lets go there!”, and without much thought the real adventure began.
We set off without any thought about what we’re getting ourselves into. Everyone was quickly descending through the rocky mountain path, taking videos and pictures, and just having a blast in the nature-y surroundings. Soon enough we began to notice that the path we followed didn’t quite go to the smoky area, but into a forest instead. We kept treading, still excited by the environment and the tiny creeks and springs all around. Eventually, we decided to stray off the rocky path, get out of the forest, and make our own path to the intriguing smoke. Fighting valiantly through metre-high grass we managed to make to a little grassy plateau nearby the smoky area. The view was as grand as ever, but i’ve already mentioned that. Many videos were taken. As we proceeded towards the smoke, a repeating hissing sound and a foul sulphury smell filled the air. In front of us was this enormous rocky pit. Evidently we’ve discovered the origin of all the hot-springs in the area! Its hard to describe the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, standing in front of such a scene, surrounded by beautiful mountains. Unforgettable.
After the effect of the new discovery passes, we quickly realize that we’re in the middle of nowhere with no certain way of getting home. The last bus from the plateu we arrived at leaves in less than 30 min, and it took us an hour and a half climbing downhill to get here. The sun sets in an hour. Quite a predicament. We retraced our steps back to the rocky path that provided some assurance - someone was here to make the path, so they must have been going somewhere. Further down the road we saw wooden direction signs on posts saying “to Bayan 80min in this direction”. We did not have 80 minutes, nor did we have flashlights, so we picked up the pace and marched on. Along the way some more beautiful scenes emerged, with bridges, waterfalls and the like. Without being able to resist we took short breaks for videos and photos, and then were on our way.
Right at sunset, our rocky mountain path hit a highway. Luckily for us this highway was moderately lit, so we decided to follow it for the next hour. The term ‘highway’ is a bit of an understatement - it was a two lane mountain-road with hairpin turns and the occasional fancy car barreling down at high speed. Eventually we saw signage for a spa-resort town just up on a hill - this was the town i saw earlier on in the distance. It became our destination, as resorts tend to have buses, or at least people and accommodations.
Once we got to the town, the scenery drastically changed. Suddenly we’re surrounded by high-end hotels, fountains, and clerks. It was great, Joe pulled out some of his Mandarin skills and *shoom* we had free bottled water in our hands, and the use of gorgeous (and much needed) restroom facilities. From this resort we were able to find a private bus route that took us to a town, from which we took another bus to get back to Taipei. The entire 2-bus ride took us over an hour. Once we were on the comfortable coach-bus, and no longer worried about our safety, we relaxed and reminisced on the experience. Truly great adventure.
The pictures from this adventure, as well as ‘Taiwan pt2′ are on facebook here:
http://uwaterloo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084095&l=12bd0&id=122602552
Also i made a lovely compilation video of this escapade, and even included background music!
A day after this i left for my second home in Tokyo. Taiwan will always have a place in my memory.