Our last night at home....

The jewel of the pacific will see us again....but for now, goodbye my precious.

One last romp...

One of the final sunsets we will see from our house here in Song-Pu Village. The rice, the mountains and the heat will be with us next year, but it is always hard to say goodbye to a place you made home.

This may well be our last weekend of fun in the sun for the 2009-2010 Taiwan year for us, but the realization that we are coming back to it all very soon is simply delightful. It is so hard to sit in the mountains as the sun dips its limb into the mountains and trees, ending a day of peace and solitude spent hiking in the cicada-buzzing forests, and think that this might be the last time. At some point, it will have to be the last time. But, for now, we know that we will see this country again. Very soon.

Still, it is hard to say goodbye. Even if only for a while. Perhaps the hard part is the people, who we are really saying goodbye to. We know we will be in the tropical wonderland of Taiwan again, but are totally unsure if we will see all the people that made this year wonderful. That is the hard part.

And packing.

That said, our goodbye weekend was spent in Taroko National Park, among the towering limestone and marble cliffs, hiking a brand new trail - river channel - up and up into the boulderfields and pools. We took a chance, parked our scooter and hopped the fence. Walked nervously (snakes.....snakes......bad snakes...) through the underbrush and planted our boots in the stream. Dried now, not a lick of water to be seen. Bare rocks, sun beating down and baking us as we scrambled up into brand new territory.

The clear water of the Shakadang River in Taroko National Park. We made a pit stop here to jump in and cool off before we continued up the gorge.

Us, in said water, during said pit stop.

Us.

Along the many bridges of Taiwan little gaurdian lions are carved into the marble. Each one must have a different face to represent a different protection or emotion. So, what else to do but emulate their many faces!

Eternal Springs Shrine. This temple is carved right into the mountainside and straddles a river. There are actually two more smaller temples above it on the mountain side that complete the temple set. We always drive by this, and this time we decided to take a snapshot.

Bounding from boulder to boulder, climbing up cliff like embankments, squeezing through crevices and mixing a bit of caving and hiking together to solve some junctions. It was hot - so beautifully hot - and sunny and just overall perfect. At the top we were stymied by an impassable group of rocks and the eventual presence of water, so we called it. Paused, took in the air, closed our eyes and listened to the cicadas, the wind, the trees, and frogs and just drank in the overall splendour of Taiwan.

Alone. Just us. A perfect goodbye.

Descending, we made good time and got back to the road and our scooter tired, sweaty, dirty and exhausted but spiritually - small 's' spiritually - rejuvenated. Nature and the adrenaline of exploration is a drug like no other.

Us among the massive boulders along the river bed. Trevor on the left taking a breather, Crystal on the right climbing up to get to the same point.

Crystal walking along with the backdrop of Taroko National Park all around!

More hiking pics of us as we tramped up the river. Us, on the left. Trevor on the right. Onward, upward, forever!

Playing on the boulders.

The turn around point - no further could we go. What a way to end the day, and to have this as the final view of Taiwan for the next while just set our hearts at ease.

Cicada, on the left, and Trevor pretending to drink from the waterfall in the background....its all about perspective!

Crystal cooling off in the waterfall.

Frog and Crystal as she tries her best to find a way up and around the rocks ahead.

Some parts of the hike were more caving than walking. We had to scrunch, duck, crawl and jam ourselves into tight spots to beat the river...she didnt want us up there perhaps but we prevailed and found a way!

We kept going up the gorge, to the village of Tienshiang. grabbed a hostel room and spent and hour or so drinking tea on the roof, watching the sun set and the evening lay its blanket of darkness upon us. In the mountains, with hot tea, alone yet again, waving goodbye in our minds.

Then to dinner. It is impossible to explain dinner in Tienshiang, but it is a treat. Not the food - while it is decent - but rather the atmosphere. Friendly, helpful, excited to have us and always accomodating. We grabbed some bamboo rice, veggies and tofu and a beer and plunked down to munch away. Afterward, we returned to the roof and chatted the night away.

The Tienshiang Pagoda on the left, with two buddhavistas. On the right is part of our dinner, the epic steamed bamboo rice and a beer while watching - finally - a soccer game.

The morning brought with it pure sunshine, and an early wake up. Up, breakfast (yes, on the roof...!!), tea, packed up, to the scooter....further up the gorge to the Lotus Pond hiking trail. We had plans in the city for lunch, so we did a hurried hike across a few bridges, up a few hills and acrosss a few rivers and goa nice, nice view. Back to the scooter, down to the Park gate and out. Stopped by a fruit stand for some watermelon, then to the beach for lunch.

The next mornings hike got us to this vantage point. A bridge among the trees....lost in time and space it seemed.

Us, along the trail just after the bridge.

Same bridge, us on the left and Crystal walking back on thr right.

The trail. On the left you can see the bridge and if you make it bigger you can just make out Crystal in the bottom left along the path. On the right is the end section of the trail, carved right into the side of the mountain!

We met our friend, and my old vice principal, for lunch and tea. During the course of said tea, I managed to drench my shirt in sweat...not just sweat stain wet, but after hockey game wet. Drenched so that it felt heavy on my back. Like I swam in it. Like I swam in it while sweating. Hot day, for sure.

Our watermelon and mango lady, and Trevor and Claire on the right. Note the advanced stage of sweat on the shirt. It only got worse from there.

Well, thats enough of the details. Mostly this is for the pics, so lets let them speak the words. we chose Taroko National Park as our last weekend away for many reasons - nature, beauty, awsomeness, and solitude, but also because it is the place that we stood last time we were in Taiwan and made a pact with each other that we would return. We were then leaving to go to BC and start another life, but we knew that Taiwan was a part of us. We agreed to come back. Now that we are here, it is a special place for that reason. So, when we stand on that bridge beside the buddhist temple and look at the torrent flowing beneath us, we feel truly at home. That is why we went there to say goodbye, if only for the summer.

Maybe another post before we leave, but if not this may take a pause until August....ill let ya know.

Dragon Boat Festival: Our last ride to Wuhe

Just to the west of us is a plateau that is perfect for tea growing - soil, elevation, humidity and sunshine all work in its favour. For us, it is an absolutely beautiful bike ride up and around and back down, allowing us to play in the tea fields, stop by a wonderful tea and coffee shop (it is also a wonderful coffee growing area, but this is a rather new crop - in the 10's of years old - so while it produces some of the best coffee I have ever tasted, it is known mainly for its tea) and poke around the back roads of the foothills.

Today we took what will most likely be our last trip through Wuhe. We leave in less than a fortnight, and as today was Dragon Boat Festival we both had a holiday and decided to make a day of it...to say goodbye and to drink to our hearts content at the tea shop. So, as we awoke to the beaming sunshine and took to the road, our minds were both in the "ahh, this is amazing" mindset as well as the "aww, this will be the last time I see you, Wuhe" mindset. Regardless, a perfect day on the bikes, a nice way to part company.

But, as soon as we got on the road, not more than 100m from our doorstep, I realized that I forgot something very important. My helmet. Then I realized that my rear tire was nearing flat status...so, teamwork...Crystal to the rescue for my helmet and me on my knees pumping life back into my tire. Moments later, we were on our way....

We rode and rode, through the rice fields, along the road, up the hill and reached the tea shops of all tea shops. We were welcomed by a familiar voice calling out "you want me to grind you some coffee beans?".

No, not this time. We want tea....lost of it....give us all you got! We took to the patio, overlooking the valley below and the coffee trees and drank ourselves silly with tea. Ok, two glasses each. But they were big. And tastey. And free. When we tried to pay, she insisted that they were on her and that we enjoy our day.

Ok.

And we were off....

Through the tea fields, with the ladies hard at work picking the best and the youngest leaves that we will, no doubt, someday drink.

To a few scenic stops...

And the necessary stop by the curiously worded sign.....

...then the marker for the Tropic of Cancer. Dissecting the island almost in two, there are three markers for it. Of the two that we are near, this one is totally the nicest. And in the nicest area. And as the official start of summer approaches, this little marker will gets its yearly moment of fame...soon enough....

Then all the way home, past the corn and peanuts being dried in the afternoon sun and through the rice fields back to the front steps of our house, where it all started.

Our goodbye ride to Wuhe complete, we turn to packing up the abode.

Some of the final moments...

Teaching all about the Dragon Boat Festival, showing off my mad chinese skils and horrid artistic skills (I had kids yelling out "horse" "cow" "pig"....). After this the classes at each school made a boat each out of paper and all manner of crafts and we had a legit dragon boat race around the track. Prizes and a life of glory awaited the winning teams!

More of the same class, the same lesson and me doing my Thursday morning thing.

And what about nature you ask? Well, leaving here for the more urban area of Hualien next year means that our connection to both an awsome butterfly region, a wonderful naturalist who turns every Tuesday into a natural history of Taiwan lesson for me (and gives me lots of coffee and fruit...) and has become a good friend and the critters of the forests and the plains will be limited. We will enjoy it while it lasts. Here is a new one to us - a moth, not a butterfly, to be!

See ya soon sluggy...