hualien, hiking, rain and falling

from taipei main station ben and i took a train to a town called hualien..the trip was three hours, and both of us planned to sleep heavily..ben slept a lot better than i did..considering i'd been awake all night i thought it would be no problem to pass out..but i couldn't stay asleep for more than 20 minutes at a time..ugh..
anywho, we arrived in hualien, and made our way to a hostel ben knew, he'd visited hualien once before for a party..there was no one to be seen anywhere in the lounge, but ben knew where the beds were..so we walked into the dorms, found a couple empty beds, and went to sleep..again, i thought i would sleep a whole lot more than i did..i only slept a couple hours, but ben managed to get a good five hours of sleep..after a while the owner of the hostel found us, and asked if we were the couple who had come in earlier..of course we were..she said we could move beds (she indicated to beds that had been pushed together, and each bed had a heart pillow on it) as soon as they put new linens on all the beds in the dorms..i told her we weren't a couple in that sense, but i'm not sure she believed me..anywho, we went down and hung out in the lounge for an hour or so while the beds were all being made, then went back up and slept again..well, ben slept again..i just read and wrote part of a letter..
later in the afternoon, i convinced ben to go for a walk..being the guidebook geek that i am, and feeling sluggish since we hadn't done anything all day, i thought we could go find a temple or shrine or something..so we did..we also walked along the river a bit, enjoying the scenery, and continuing to compare teaching stories..we also found a yummy place for dinner..
after dinner we went back to the hostel, where we met a lady who was in taiwan visiting her daughter..since her daughter hadn't been able to take much time off, the mom had opted to travel a bit by herself..the lady had lived in korea in 1985, a time VERY different from now..she had lived in korea when the government was still a dictatorship, and the people didn't have nearly the freedom they do now..it sounds crazy, but at that point south korea wasn't much better off than north korea..it was fun for me to hear what she had to say..not surprisingly, ben and i went to bed early that night..and slept the whole night through..
the next morning we got up and had breakfast nearby..then walked back to the train station, and found a place that would let us rent a scooter..neither one of us had an international drivers license, and most of the rental places in town want one, but we got lucky..the place we found asked if we had scooter experience in taiwan, and ben told her he lives and drives in hsinchu..so we were good to go..
unfortunately, it was raining..ugh..but every 7-11 in taiwan sells cheap plastic ponchos, so that took care of that problem..at times the rain was gusting rather strongly, but ben seemed to have no problems in handling the scooter..the drive from hualien to taroko national park took about 40 minutes..a pretty drive..we arrived at the park easily enough, found the information center, and figured out what to do..there were a couple hikes that sounded interesting, and we intended to drive the scooter all the way through taroko gorge..taroko gorge is supposed to be one of taiwan's crown jewels..and it is really pretty..neither ben nor i was particularly stunned by it's beauty, but we figured both of us are jaded travelers..(him more so than me)..we both found the place beautiful, just not stunning..not like the way the guidebook described the beauty..part of that was also due to the overcast weather..when the rain did let up it was still a white sky..the hikes that most interested us were both closed due to rock falls:(..halfway through the gorge is a little town that pretty much exists only to serve the tourists who come to the gorge..there was a post office, three restaurants, a carpark, and i've forgotten what else..we picked three things off the menu and shared them..the only noteworthy item was stinky tofu..i eat a lot of tofu in korea, and i like it, so i was keen to try to the stinky tofu..it did indeed stink, but the taste wasn't near as bad as the smell..since that's one of the foods for which taiwan is most known, i was excited to have it..
after lunch we climbed up to a temple and took more photos..(that was one thing we had been doing all the way through the gorge, stopping the scooter and taking photos)..after lunch we looked for the beginning to the hike we wanted to try, but didn't see it, and ended up driving much farther than we had intended..that didn't bother us, as we ended up driving quite a bit up, and therefore had some nifty views..then it was time to go back down and back through the gorge to go back to hualien..just before exiting the park we checked out the shrine of the eternal spring, and another smaller shrine in a cave..(don't remember the name)..right around this time it started to rain again, yippee..the ponchos went back on, and we were good to go..along the way back we stopped at 7-11 for coffee and a snack..(i had a smoothie, ben had some starbucksy sort of drink, though a taiwanese brand)..
as we arrived back in hualien we stopped by the train station and checked out times for the next day, we had decided to move on to go hiking..from the train station, we figured out how to get to the "beach"..it was labeled as a beach in my guidebook, but let me tell you, it wasn't a normal beach..it was a shoreline, with a small park, and a small nightmarket, and an area with carnival type games..as we walked along the beach, ben pointed out the wave breakers to me..they are large, cement, x-shaped objects that are put in the water to break the massive waves that come during typhoon season..apparently, if those aren't in the water, the waves do even more damage..taiwan (especially the east coast) gets hit with several massive typhoons each year, they've all figured out how to deal with the destruction..there was a giant statue of matsu, the goddess of the sea in a grassy area, and a stadium of some kind..the stadium looked like it hadn't been used in quite a while..it was during this part of walking around that i was the cause of a bike crash..guys on two different bikes were checking me out and crashed into each other!! hee hee..i wasn't paying attention, but ben saw it happen..awesome..farther along, we found some of those breakers on the beach..me being me, i wanted to climb them and take a photo..so i did..then ben did the same..i decided i liked his photo better, and wanted one for myself, so i began to climb up again..but i fell..i should mention that these wave breakers were rather slippery, from mold and such..ben was picking up the camera as i felt myself start to fall, and he watched the end of the fall..i ended up landing flat on my back on one of the breakers, and scraping one of my legs pretty badly..it could've been a whole lot worse than it was, though with the blood pouring out of my fingers, it certainly looked rather icky..ben isn't the type to lose his cool unless that's needed, so he remained calm..while my fall wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been, i ended up in a rather awkward position, and ben had to lift me out of it..hee hee..from there we walked to a bathroom, where i was able to clean off my leg..at that point i figured nothing was all the bad, but it would sting a heck of a lot for a little while, and i wouldn't be sleeping on my tummy anytime soon..oh well..we wandered around the night market/game area, and opted to have dinner there..steak, spaghetti, and a sunnyside up egg on a hot plate..YUM!!! i couldn't eat the whole thing, but at that point, it was exactly what i wanted..and cheap!! less than $4USD!!
from there we went back to the hostel, and again, i went to bed early..the next morning we got up and used the scooter one last time..(it was a 24 hour rental)..ben had heard about a breakfast place called country mother that supposedly had great breakfast burritos..we both ended up getting quesadillas, and those were good too..pretty much everything on the menu looked good to me..and the portion sizes were big too..
then it was back to the hostel, check out, drive to the train station and return the scooter, buy train tickets, and hop on..we took a main train most of the way, then transferred to a little local train..we got off the second train in a town called daxi, which is known to surfers..(or so i'm told)..daxi was where we planned to start hiking the caoling trail..it's a trail that was originally built in the 1800s, as an easier way for locals to get from one town to another in that area of taiwan..within the past decade, the taiwanese government has built another trail as an add-on, making the full trail a total of 16km..the guidebook described it as strenuous in areas, with lots of beautiful views along grassy bluffs..we found the start of the trail, and started climbing..and climbed, and climbed..the first 2.7km of the trail was straight up stairs..it was during this climb that i began to think the guidebook author hadn't actually done the hike himself..i know i'm WAY out of shape, but geesh..ben had to wait for me a lot, i felt bad..since taiwan is semi tropical, and july is one of the wettest months of the year, it felt like we were hiking through a rain forest..so humid..while taking photos i realized i looked as though i had just gotten out of a shower with all my clothes on..whoops..anywho..we finally reached the grassy bluffs, from which the views were indeed awesome..i don't know that i had had any expectations for the hike, but ben was far more impressed than he had expected to be..we both loved it..at one point, we saw some water buffalo, and started taking photos..the water buffalo behaved the same way most cows do..they watched us..they didn't blink, or turn away..at one point, one came over to us, and we got the idea that he/she wanted us to leave..so we did..we didn't go nearly as fast on this hike as expected, and were constantly confused as to where we were on the trail..there were plenty of signs at the beginning, but at that point we hadn't seen one in a while, and we were wondering how much longer we had to go, since sundown was going to happen pretty soon..we stopped and had dinner, and watched clouds pour over the lower bluffs, and start to obstruct every view..at that point, the trail started going down, so we ended up in the clouds, not able to see much more than a few steps in front of us..finally, we came to a spot where we had to choose where to go..either go down, and get to the town of dali, and catch a train..or, continue for 7km longer, and end up in the town of fulong..it was nearly dark by that point, so we headed down..on the way down (down more stupid stairs) both of us slipped and slid regularly..finally, ben and i made a bet..the first one to fall had to buy the other a drink..both of us continued to slip and slide, but after a while, naturally, i was the first to fall..it was a slow fall, one of those when it seems like it takes foreva, but you can't stop it..we kept the bet going, of course..after a little while longer we started talking about what the exact definition of a fall was..go figure, while in the middle of this discussion, i fell..wiped out, landed on the edge of a stair, on my butt, and knew i'd have a massive bruise on my arse..that was a fast fall, i was down before i knew what was happening..both of us burst out laughing, i stood up, and we continued going down..fortunately, i didn't fall anymore..unfortunately, ben didn't fall either, so i ended up owing him two drinks..argh..at the very bottom we found a temple that was all lit up by running christmas lights..really pretty i thought, and i wish i was able to hold my camera still while taking night photos..many photos later, we made our way to the train station, where we caught the next train to taipei..and from taipei we took the hsr back to hsinchu..we could've taken a bus, as it would've been cheaper, but it also would've taken an hour longer, and we just wanted to be back..my clothes were still soaked with sweat, and i was cold..
we finally got back to hsinchu, and got to where ben's scooter was parked..also parked there was james' scooter..it turned out that because we had james' bag, (it had been stored with the rest of our stuff while we were at the rave, and we'd been carrying it with us ever since) we also had the key to his scooter..so i drove that back..i was nervous, of course, but we made it w/out trouble..after getting home, we found out that james had made deviled eggs..james has gone to culinary school, and worked as a chef for several years, so the eggs were GOOD..
the next day we took it easy..ben was taking off for three weeks in china the day after that, and someone was going to rent his room while he was gone, so he had some cleaning to do..he had a whole list of stuff to do, so i read, wrote part of a letter, and napped until early afternoon..both of us did laundry..
mid afternoon, we collected james, and ben led the way (on scooters, of course) to a nearby lake with a suspension bridge..it's a reservoir, so we weren't able to go swimming..there were a few locals hanging out, taking photos with each other..we didn't stay long, but it was nifty to see..while we were on the bridge, it got really windy, which was interesting to experience on a suspension bridge..from the lake we drove to a temple..it was actually one temple on top of another..from the lower temple we walked up to the upper temple by going up stairs through a dragon..neither temple was super different from any other temple i'd seen already in taiwan, but every temple in taiwan is much more colourful than any temple in korea, so i love them all..a few photos later, ben and i headed to rt mart (james went home) as he needed to find a murse (man purse) to take with him to china..i found toothpaste and double stuff oreos..rt mart is basically taiwan's walmart..from there we went back home..as it was ben's last night in hsinchu for a month, he got a few people to go out for a couple drinks..he met up with a chinese friend a little earlier, and left me at home..james then drove me a little later when everyone else showed up..i paid my dues, and bought ben his drinks:)..the first bar catered mostly to foreigners, and then we went to another bar which was more typically taiwanese..we had our own private room..the girls (morgi and mari) had lychee beer while the boys went for taiwan beer and beer chiang..i had water:)..ben called it a night around 2300, and everyone went home..
the next morning we woke up slowly, and packed up..then we were driven to the hsr station..ben got off at the airport, i rode all the way to taipei main station..

hsinchu and the gods...and ben

even though i knew when my summer holidays would be, i didn't get around to booking tickets to go anywhere until the month i left!! i ended up deciding on taiwan, for a couple reasons..one, because it is close to korea, and two, because my friend ben lives there..i've known ben since we both lived in garmisch at the same time, have traveled with him before, and he said there was another gapper as his neighbor in taiwan..i looked at lots of different ticket finding web sites, each saying they could find the cheapest tickets, the cheapest were actually to be found on the airline web site!! go figure..
the most recent lonely planet guide to taiwan was published in november 2007, which means the research was done most likely in the first six months of that year..taiwan has changed quite a bit (at least in terms of infrastructure) during that time..
while i was waiting in line for immigration at taoyuan international airport, a couple ladies in official uniforms came up to me and asked if i would be willing to participate in training drug dogs..i said yes, and they put a cloth that must've had a particular smell to the trainee dogs in my pocket..i was told to stand in line naturally, while they brought the dog through the area..if the dog smelled the cloth it would sit next to me..and it did..the people behind me in line hadn't been there when the officials asked me, so they were surprised at what happened, and joked that i shouldn't carry doggie treats in my pockets..
getting through the rest of the airport was a breeze..the airport is definitely under renovation/construction, so it seems kinda dark/dingy right now, but oh well..the guidebook said the hsr (high speed rail, otherwise known as a bullet train) didn't go to hsinchu, but according to ben, it did, and i knew he had far more current information..i asked the nice ladies at the information desk how to get to the hsr station, and they gave me directions to the bus company desk that would get me to the station..30 taiwan dollars ($1USD = (approximately) 32NT) later i arrived at taoyuan hsr station..$125NT and 13 minutes later i arrived at hsinchu hsr station..like many of the english teachers in hsinchu, ben has a scooter, and he picked me up with it at the station..it was only out in the sun for a few minutes, but when we came back out from the station, the seat on the scooter was hot hot hot!! ben knew where he was going, and we drove to his housing arrangement..but first we stopped off for lunch, in a small restaurant he said he frequents that has good noodles..yum:)
ben told me ahead of time that hsinchu isn't a very interesting place, that it doesn't have as much typical taiwanese culture..there is a science and engineering "park" there, where quite a few companies have offices, and maybe factories? driving through there (as ben lives toward the back of the area) felt like driving through a business district in any town in the states..ben lives in a complex that operates much like a hostel, only there aren't any dorm rooms..people rent rooms monthly, so he didn't have to sign a year long contract when he moved in..he lives in a studio type room, has his own bathroom, and shares a community kitchen with others living in his building..it's not a bad setup..ben also told me ahead of time that a guy who had also lived in garmisch (overlapping with me by a few months though we never met) also lived in this complex so we tried to go see him..but james was severely hungover from the night before..lol..instead, we got back on the scooter, and ben said he would show me around town..he didn't think it would take long, telling me again that hsinchu is boring and there isn't anything to see/do..not too long after we got into the downtown area, we noticed traffic getting a bit crazy, and we could hear fireworks going off..when traffic got bad enough that we weren't moving anymore, ben pulled the scooter over, and parked it on the sidewalk..(along with tons of others)..we figured it would be easier to see what was happening if we could run around..at the first intersection we came to, people were setting off fireworks..nothing big, just the ones that whistle, and put out a lot of smoke..after getting through the intersection i was nearly deaf, and the smoke was awful..thankfully the wind was blowing..we kept following the parade, and finally saw the gods..ben said he had heard that occasionally the gods are taken for a walk, and it seemed that we had been lucky enough to see it happen..the gods are really big costumes put over the heads of men..the men then walk along for a little while, before they trade places with someone else..i'm guessing it's pretty toasty inside the costumes..it was funny to see sneakers coming out the bottom of each "god"..we were able to walk faster than the parade was going, so soon we moved up and kept finding more people..there were drummers, guys riding in trucks with gods in the bed of the truck, etc..nifty stuff..there seemed to be several groups of gods as well..each time ben and i thought we had circled around to the same place in the parade we realized we were seeing different gods from what we'd already seen..after a while we figured we'd had enough..after wandering through a food market, we hopped back on the bike, and been took me to what he called a country club..i don't know what it is really called, but in a lot of ways, it did seem like a country club..a couple of his friends were lounging around the pool, so we joined them..getting in the water felt fantastic, as the weather was soooooo hot and humid..from the pool we went home, and hopped in the shower..
a week or two before i arrived, ben had asked if i wanted to go to a massive rave with him..even though it's not my normal cup of tea, i figured why not..that was scheduled to happen the first night i was there, it was called the white party..obviously, you had to wear white..and there were supposed to be thousands of people there..after cleaning up, we met up with james, the guy who had previously lived in garmisch..james and i figured out that we had overlapped by a couple months, but hadn't ever met..fun to catch up with someone who lived in the same place as you, and knows a lot of the same people..anywho..james, ben and i drove to a bus station and caught a bus to taipei..we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for the bus to leave, yahoo!! the bus took us to taipei main station, which is a giant transportation hub in the middle of the city..two subway lines come together there, lots of buses end/begin there, and the hsr goes there..at this point ben, james and i had been hoping to get hostel beds for the night, since it was going to be super late in the morning by the time the party was over..unfortunately, the hostel ben knew, (the cheapest hostel in taipei) was full..at least, that's what the guy said..while we were trying to figure out where to stay, ben and james were getting texts from mari, who had just arrived at taipei main station, she had taken the hsr from hsinchu..the three of us went to find her at the station, which took a lot longer than anyone expected..the station is pretty big, and to get from the hsr station to the bus station involves going through a lot of stuff underground..it's confusing, to say the least..then we went back to the hostel (which was only a 5 minute walk) to preparty and continue figuring out the sleeping situation..after a while, it became clear that hostel beds weren't going to be easy to find, and they would be over $20USD..which seemed ridiculous, especially since we wouldn't have been going to sleep until sunrise or so..in the end, james ben and i decided to go to the rave with our bags, and find a way to store them there..that was an adventure in itself..
the party was held in a conference center near the base of taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world..nifty..i was amazed when we walked in, just seeing all those people (5-10,000) all in white..i attempted to make a meeting time/place for ben, james and i, but that didn't happen..and i knew i would lose ben, as he has ADD when it comes to partying..since i knew where we had stored our bags (james didn't know, and ben had already been drinking) i figured i would just wait for the boys there..two djs split the night, and kept the music going the whole night..fun times..it didn't bother me that i completely lost everyone i had arrived with, i knew eventually things would work out..plus, i was sober..i danced the night away, moving around a bit myself..when 4 o'clock rolled around, and the party was over, i realized i was completely knackered..i can't remember the last time i voluntarily stayed up all night! maybe when i lived in germany? anywho, i went to the security guard booth at the carpark where ben and i had left our stuff (along with james' stuff) and decided to wait..0445 came, and still no ben..i got a bit creeped out by the REALLY DRUNK guy who decided to sit next to me and try to make conversation..three problems: one, i could smell him from 2 meters away..WAAAAAY too much alcohol..two, english wasn't his first language, and in his condition, he wasn't able to say more than ma'am, and beautiful..three, he moved where he was sitting so he could sit across from me and look at me directly..after realizing he wasn't going to go away, i stood up with all our stuff, and went walking..i found a foreigner who let me use his mobile phone and called ben..ben was passed out on a bench in a small park somewhere, and didn't know the answer to "where are you?"..ooops..fortunately, he was able to come to where i was, and we figured out a new plan..
we ended up deciding to go straight to hualien, instead of going back to hsinchu..sooooooo, we walked to the closest MRT station, waited for it to open (the MRT opens at 0600) and took it a few stops back to taipei main station..i should mention that while we were waiting, ben behaved like a local, and "rested" on the ground:)

cheongwadae (청와대)

it seems that most of my adventures start with emails asking if i'm interested in a particular activity..in this case, mel had sent out a mass email (to four of us) asking if we were interested in a tour of the blue house, which is basically the korean version of the american white house..of course i was interested..i love history and politics..so after giving mel all my pertinent information, she made the necessary arrangements..the tour is something you have to set up at least 10 days ahead of time, though according to mel, setting it up isn't difficult..just a few emails..anywho..
maria, mel, sheila and i met up at a particular subway stop, then found our way to the bus, and check-in area for the tour..after checking that we had proper identification (passports and ARC cards) we got on the bus..we were the only foreigners on the tour..(not a surprise)..the bus took us to cheongwadae..(the korean name of the complex)..the presidential office is in the area, and supposedly so is the presidential residence..after going through security (xray scanners and metal detectors) everyone was ushered into a room where an introductory video was shown...since we had to wait a few minutes for another busfull of visitors to arrive, we were given mp3 players that allowed us to have the entire tour in english..(we could've listened to the chinese or japanese versions as well)..subtitles were shown for chinese/japanese/english, so it didn't matter that we couldn't understand what we were hearing..the most amusing part of the video was the shot of the president riding a bike..the subtitles said something about him being able to ride each day, but seeing the video made it clear that the man hasn't spent any real time on a bike in a looooong time..the video also encouraged us to take lots of photos.