Taiwanderful

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Last week I was supposed to go to Borneo, but after looking at the weather report, I decided that thunderstorms everyday would really put a damper on my beach vacation. So, I decided to postpone my trip and go on vacation around Taiwan instead. On Sunday night, I took the train up to Taipei where I checked into my hostel and then went to have dinner at a Greek restaurant... oh how I've missed falafel!

I went to bed early that night because the next day I caught the first train out to the east coast where I hiked the Caoling Historic Trail. The trail starts in the town of Fulong and then goes to Dali, but I had heard that the best part of the trail was to continue and go from Dali to another town called Daxi. I had decided to get an early start because my guidebook said that if you wanted to complete the entire trail, it would take about 5-8 hours. The shape I'm in, I knew it would definitely take me 8. My biggest fear was that I'd still be hiking by the time it got dark. So, at 5:20am I boarded the train with about 20 local fishermen and we all made our way to the town of Fulong. Getting there early was a great idea, but I didn't think things out too well... I was so early that the visitor's center didn't open for another 3 hours. Fortunately I had my guidebook which assured me that the trail was very well marked and there was little chance of getting lost. So, I found the trail signs and started making my way up the road past several farms and houses. After more than an hour, the road ended and I had nothing but a house in front of me. I went back to the last sign I had seen and tried to retrace my steps, but it just led me back to the same place. Since I didn't know where to go and I don't know enough Chinese to be able to ask anyone, I decided to change my plan and walk back to the train station. From there, I caught a train to Daxi (where the trail ends) and started the hike again in reverse. By then it was about 10am and it was already getting pretty hot, but it was okay because the trail was in the shade most of the time. The beginning of the trail was made harder by the fact that I was going up step after step that was covered in moss. I definitely thought I was going to eat it. Also, I didn't see anyone for several hours which was good and bad. Since there was no one else hiking, I ended up walking through over a dozen spiderwebs. At one point I was actually hiking with my arms flailing about in front of me. About halfway through the hike, the scenery changed and suddenly I was walking over rolling hills with beautiful views of the ocean. I sat down to eat lunch and I realized on the next hill over there was a couple having their wedding photos taken. I wondered how they'd gotten up there and it wasn't until later that I realized there was a parking lot around the hill. I ended up passing by another group of Taiwanese people that had driven up there and were having lunch. They didn't speak much English, but they clapped and made strong man motions at me which made me laugh and gave me momentum to keep going. Soon after that, the fog started rolling in and then I couldn't tell if the next hill in front of me was going up or down. I started to get a little freaked out that it was going to get dark even though it was only 1pm. By the time I got to Dali it was 3 o'clock and raining a little. I got on the train to go back to Taipei and passed out.

When I got back to Taipei, I quickly showered and got ready to meet up with a friend of mine for dinner. If you've been reading my blog, you might remember that when I was in Korea I met a Peruvian girl who was living in Okinawa and traveling in Seoul. Anyway, she was in Taipei the same time that I was, so we planned to meet up. We went to the night market and walked around for a bit and then we went to eat at a restaurant called the Modern Toilet where the chairs are toilets and the tables are sinks and bathtubs. We shared the mozzarella sticks which came in a little squatter toilet and then I ate hot pot that came quite literally in a pot. The next day, I met up with my friend again and we went to the top of Taipei 101 and then went to eat dumplings after.

Then I went to the train station to make my way down the east coast to Taroko National Park. My original plan was to stay at a hostel that was in the park, but the next train didn't leave for another 3 hours and wouldn't get me to there until it was already dark. Instead, I decided to change my plans and catch the train that was leaving in 5 minutes and go to Hualien (the biggest and closest town to Taroko). I ended up staying in a hostel that was near the train station and it was fabulous. The owner was so nice and friendly. While I was asking her about where I could get something vegetarian for dinner, another girl (Judy) came up to ask her the same question. Judy is from Taipei and she was riding all the way around Taiwan on her little 50cc scooter. The owner of the hostel ended up telling us about this great veggie restaurant that was a little far away, so I went with Judy on the back of her scooter. The restaurant didn't have an English menu and I told Judy that I wasn't a picky eater, so she ordered about 5 dishes (for just the 2 of us 😉 and everything was so amazing! I think it was the best meal I've had in Taiwan.

The next morning I woke up to get on a bus to go to Taroko when Judy offered to drive me on her scooter. So, instead of a 2 hour bus ride, I was there in 30 minutes on the back of her scooter. It ended up working out perfectly too because my original plan was to do a few hikes while I was at the gorge, but I was still so sore from the hike on Monday and there had been an earthquake a few days before, so many of the trails were closed for inspection. We did a scooter ride through the gorge and got off occasionally to walk around and look at the views. That afternoon we went back to Hualien and then Judy made her way up to Taipei. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Hualien, ate dinner, hung out with the lady who runs the hostel and tried to figure out the rest of my trip.

My next destination was Sun Moon Lake and when you look on a map, it's southwest of Hualien. Unfortunately, the road is super steep and windy and there aren't many buses that go, so my options were to have the trip take 2 days with a different bus on each day, take a bus to some town and then hitchhike, or take the train back up to Taipei and then take a bus to Sun Moon Lake. I decided to go back up to Taipei and after a 7 hour journey, and a 15 minute uphill walk to my hostel, I finally made it! Unfortunately, the hostel that I was going to stay at told me it was 500nt, but what I didn't realize was that I had to have some kind of youth travel card in order to get that price; otherwise it would be over 1000nt (that's like going from $15 to $60). Normally I wouldn't have freaked out in this situation, but after traveling for so long, I had a little breakdown in the lobby of the hostel. Walking back down the hill, I said screw it: Sun Moon Lake was a tourist trap and it was foggy at that time anyway. I decided I'd spend the rest of the afternoon walking around and then I'd get on a bus to a bigger town where I'd spend the night before heading home. Luckily I saw the tourist information office before I saw the bus station, so I asked if they knew of a place near the lake where I could stay for 500nt. With the amount I was willing to pay, I found a hotel room that had a window with a lovely view of the kitchen down below 😉 That afternoon, I did a short hike, ate some noodles and drank some wine. The next day I woke up early and did another walk near the lake where there was nothing but me, the chirping birds, and foggy views of the lake. My walk ended in front of a temple where I took a bus to the southern end of the lake. I decided not to hike up to the pagoda since it was so foggy, so I just took the bus back to the station and then headed to Kaohsiung. Even though I didn't have the best weather during my vacation, I'm just glad that it wasn't scorching hot. I'm now keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have good weather in Borneo next week.

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