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Monday, Chilan -> Taipingshan
(4/17/2000)
For breakfast I had another cup of noodles while the family
had Chinese gruel (soggy, overcooked, white rice) in the restaurant.
We took a package tour into the Chilan Giant Tree Arboretum,
a restricted area where only authorized botanists and large busloads of
tourists are allowed to enter. Initially we had a group of 6 people, but we
were delayed to pick up 3 full tour buses full of people. We filled 1 large bus
and 12 minivans before travelling up to the arboretum. The ride up was tedious;
the tour crowd consisted of retirees. They were boisterous and several of them
were car sick.
When we arrived at the arboretum, because they had made us
late, we were forced to plow through it with an hour less than usual and stick
mostly with the crowd.
The arboretum consisted of some spectacular views of the
mountains, and some 50 or more "sacred trees" that were over 2,000 years
old.
After returning with the tour buses to Chilan, we drove to
Taipingshan. We had an apparently rare day in that the clouds didn't roll in
until after 5:00PM, and so we had a clear drive up to the resort at the top of
Taipingshan. Taipingshan is nearly 2,000 meters above sea level, and while it
is not even close to the highest mountain in Taiwan, it was high enough to be
forested in pine trees and very cold at night. It was a very refreshing change
of pace from the hot, steamy jungles along the coast.
Along the way, we stopped at a ranger station, where the
ranger's cute little black puppy decided to befriend me. He followed me around
the entire time we were there and didn't seem at all upset that I couldn't
speak to him in Chinese.
Chu-Wan and I spent the afternoon hiking around Taipingshan.
When we returned to our room, we discovered that the heat didn't work, and the
temperature was beginning to drop already. It promised to be a cold, cold
night.
On the bright side, it was going to be a very short night,
as we had to get up in time to see the 5:29AM sunrise the next morning. Since
the prime sunrise viewing spot near Taipingshan is 40 minutes away by car, we
had to set our alarm clocks for 4:00AM.
Dinner for me was, once again, a cup of noodles, as the
Taipingshan resort had the same type of restaurant as Chilan.
Tuesday, Taipingshan -> Taipei
(4/18/2000)
 I didn't need the alarm clock. The freezing
temperatures woke me up a 3:30AM with a dire internal warning that I needed to
raise my body temperature or die. Unfortunately, many mountain hotels in Taiwan
only have hot water during set hours of the day (usually in the evening). My
only recourse was to bundle up and walk around the room, hoping that motion
would raise my temperature.
Although I was alread sick of them, I had another cup of
noodles. It wasn't filing, but it was warm.
At around 4:00 we piled into the car (at least it has a
heater) and headed down the road towards Tsuifeng Lake.
Supposedly, the best sunrise view is at the 14.2 KM
milepost. "14.2" seemed a bit suspicious to me, but I did see a 6.2 one, so I
supposed it was possible. Shortly after the 14 KM sign post we passed what
appeared to be a parking area and scenic outlook. We continued on our way.
Eventually, when we passed the 16KM sign post, we turned around and headed back
to the overlook, arriving only 1 minute ahead of the sunrise .
Once the sunrise event had passed, we finished the journey
to the lake. It was quite picturesque and while the others waited in the car, I
hiked a short trail over the mountain for my morning exercise.
Driving back to the hotel, we saw a Formosan Deer grazing
along the road. I leaped out and pursued it with the camcorder. I ran perhaps
100 meters without much luck videotaping the deer, then something really nasty
sounding started growling and making defensive noises. I never found out what
it was, but I returned to the car. The terrain was much too steep to leave the
road.
In the old days, Taipingshan had been a big lumber producing
area for Taiwan. Now, one of the trains has been converted into a scenic ride.
Called the "Boom Boom Che Chi" because it's a bit noisy and bumpy, the diesel
powered train took us around the steep cliffs and dramatic vistas of the
mountainside.
It was time to leave Taipingshan and return to Taipei, our
round-the-island tour almost at an end. I asked that we stop at the ranger
station to use the restroom, but really I just wanted to say goodbye to the
puppy, who was happy to see me.
Our adventure wasn't quite over yet, as we still had to
cross to the west side of Taiwan. We decided to take the Northern
coast-to-coast highway.
 "Highway" is a flattering term
for this 88 Km of terror. Never in my life have I been on a more twisting,
turning, perilously narrow stretch of road. For nearly its entire length the
road is a series of completely blind hairpin turns. The road rides up the sides
of the mountains with, at minimum, a 500 foot cliff on the side all the way -
sometimes quite a bit higher. The road is well-paved, but only a single lane.
Our most harrowing moment was when we came around one of the
blind corners and met a 2 story tour bus. Both vehicles slammed on the brakes
and we ended, face to face, about 1 foot apart. It was the worst of our close
encounters, but by far not the only one. Afterwards, my father-in-law confided
he'd never travel that road again.
 After getting off the Northern highway, we stopped in
the town of Dachi for lunch at a steakhouse (my first non-cup of noodle meal in
days). Here I encountered a new bathroom experience. By now I had grown
accustomed to ducking when going through doorways, and did so as I entered the
bathroom at the steakhouse. But what was new was, after entering the bathroom,
I straightened up and conked myself senseless. The ceiling of the bathroom was
less than 6 ft high. It was, by far, the worst concussing head-blow I'd
received in Taiwan and stunned me for several minutes.
After eating, we drove the rest of the way into Taipei and
home. (Well, at this point, my in-laws' house felt like home.) |
