So, as I mentioned before, I had met a really nice native on the plane who offered to help me out. I had mentioned that I wanted to go to the North Coast and he happened to have a house there. Normally I dont entrust strangers to take me to strange places in foreign countries, but Taiwan is known for its hospitality to foreigners, and this guy was genuine, so I took him up on the offer. I called him at about 930 and he came to pick me up at 10am. We drove about 45 mins north to the northen coast of Taiwan, near a city called Jioufen. He has a weekend house there, which is quite amazing. The scenery of the mountains and the ocean was breathtaking and very beautiful. He drove me to his house and showed me around his little neighborhood. By little, I mean about 45-50 houses, very small. There is an elementary school on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with only about 50 kids. Possibly the school with the best view in the world, or at least close. After checking out his house and view, wedrove through the mountains on to a town called Reifung. On the way, he showed me an old coal mine in the mountains. It is now in ruins, and adds to the mountainside nicely. It is nestled right into the side of the mountain facing the ocean, and looks almost like an old palace in its current shape. As we are driving through the mountains, we look at his town from above, and he points out the graveyard hill. The "graves" are colorful, extravagantly decorated mauseleums, all on the top of the mountain, overlooking the ocean. The entire mountainside is littered with them. It's hard to describe, but there are some pictures of them on the picture site. During this drive is when I decided that I wanted to rent a scooter. He (George was his name) had to leave at 12 to go pick up his son, so I was on my own after that. I was just planning on walking around and hiking, but a scooter was a much better idea. After getting to Reifung, we found a place to rent a scooter (which I never would have found, it was nestled in an alleyway off the main street, with no signs or anything.) So, George helped me get gas, and told me goodbye. He was very helpful and I thanked him for helping me, and he acted like it was no big deal.
So, after renting my scooter for about $8 American, I set off with no plan, and no real idea of where I was. But, I'm not one to get lost easily, so I wasnt worried. I set off along a coastal road from Reifung, heading to the city of Keelung. Keelung is a big-ish city right on the coast, abou 8km from Reifung. I had read that there were some fun things to do there. When I got there, it was just a harbor and some buildings. Nothing pretty about it, nothing extraordinary. So, I took a quick scoot around town and headed back the way I came. Good scenery of the ocean and mountains, but nothing to write home about.
I headed back to the town of Jioufen, since that was somewhere I knew how to get to. I drove along a coastal road, taking in the sights, and sweating like i've never sweated before. It was bout 95 degrees, and the humidity was stifling. Wearing a helmet didn't help, so I made sure to have a huge bottle of water with me to cool me off. It stayed cold for about 10 minutes, then got hot from the sun. It was quite miserable actaully, but I didnt mind at the time. I stopped periodically to check out some interesting things. I found a small island off the coast that I headed over to. I drove off the road, down to the tip and saw some people fishing, and nearly broke my scooter. There was a gap in the road which I did not see til I got up next to it. I stopped just in time, but as I tried to walk the scooter across, but hand accidentally pulled on the throttle, and the scooter took off. I let go, it dropped to the ground and made a horrible clanking sound. Luckily, it was ok, but I made sure to stay on the pavement from there on out ( I wasn't the only scooter in that area, but definitely the least experienced.
I saw a staircase leading to the top of the small mountian on the island, and decided to take it. After walking about 7 minutes, I saw a fork, and took the path to the right. About 40 meters later I saw on old lookout tower. A small enclosed cement cylinder with 4 lookout holes in either direction. I walked in and took a look out through the holes, and understood why they put the tower there. Taiwan was under martial law for 40 years, and were constantly fearing an attack from mainland China, so these things are scattered all over the coast. I trekked back to the path, and headed up the rest of the mountain. Nice scenery, easy climb as it was all wooden planks. After getting back to my scooter I was dreadfully hot and needed some new water. I saw a building which looked like a museum, and went in asking for water. A security guard immediately ushered me out and pointed to a staircase just next to the front door. I went up there and not only found a bathroom, and some water, but a full shower. I filled up my water bottle with the coldest water I've ever tasted (also filtered), then decided to take advatage of the shower. I stepped in with my shorts on and turn the cold water on to drench me. This may have possibly saved the day for me, as I was severly uncomfortable in the hot weather. I soaked my shirt, cooled off, and headed back to the scooter, dripping wet, refreshed, and ready for more adventure.
I was dry in about 10 minutes, so the wetness didn't last long. I drove back to the Jioufen where George had taken me, as the mountain roads seemed very intriguing to me, and looked fun to drive as well. I drove around, and came across signs for "Gold Ecological Park." I had read about this park in a tour guide, so I decided to head that way. About 30 minutes later I arrived in the parking lot and headed to the gate. I went to go purchase a ticket when I looked at the hours and saw that there were closed Mondays. Very dissapointing that the only day they are closed was the day I was there. No worries, though, becasue they kept the grounds open. The park was a gold mine back in the day, and its based on a mountainside with a bunch of exhibits and artifcats, and even a couple old tunnels that you can go into. Obviously, these attractions were closed, but they left the grounds open for people to walk around. So I went in and explored. I saw the old gold cart tracks, which people can walk on, and the entrance to one of the tunnels. There was a mountain to climb with a platform on top where there used to be some sort of shrine or outdoor pavillion. I coulndt tell, and the signs were in Korean, so i had to guess. But, I climbed up there and saw some columns and other cement shapes in the form of what used to be a building. A great view of the ocean and town, and I met 4 people from Singapore who all wanted to take a picture with me individually, so I obliged. I meandered back on down the hill and back on to my scooter to explore some more.
As I was heading to the next mountain I saw signs for the "Ruins of POW camp." I was intrigued, so I headed that way. At the bottom of a hill, in a very nondescript location, next to someones house, was a little memorial park with the old Gate post and outer wall of a Japanese POW camp they had during WW2. Turns out there were over 1,000 Taiwnaese and foreign people tortured there. They made them work in the mines and fed them very poorly, beat them, etc.. The Japs were incredibly ruthless over here during the war, and people still hate them for it both there and in Korea. Anyway, after snapping some photos and reading the description, I headed on.
The last part of my day took me to the best part. I saw a huge, massive mountain right on the coast that I wanted to get to the top of. I was prepared to park my scooter at the bottom and trek up the paths for 3 hours. However, at the parking lot, a small, paved path led on. So, I followed it, and I followed it...and it kept going. I thought for sure it would stop at any moment, but it was nearly all the way up the mountain. It took about 20 minutes to go up the path, and once at the top, the peak was onle a 500 meter hike away (not height, distance). I saw a little pagoda on the peak, and headed that way. About 15 minutes later I reached the pagoda and realized it was not the peak. Another 100 meters away was a rock formation that was the true peak, about 30 meters above the pagoda. The pathway stopped, and getting to the base of the rocks was a rope to pull yourself up. Crawling up the rope, I realized that the rope led directly under a very very large rock. I went in, and saw an opening just big enough for me to climb up through. I also saw spider webs, so it had been a while since someone had been here. I swatted them away with my shit, and pushed on through the hole. Now I was truly on top. I sat on the large rock and just took in the view for about 15 minutes. One of the best views I have ever seen. Gorgeous blue ocean in front, with the town of Jioufen right on the shore. Mountains all around, lush greenery, and a view of graveyard hill. The picture in the post is from the top of that mountain. One of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.
After resting and catching my breath, I headed back down the scooter and back to Reifung to catch the train back to Taipei. I returned the scooter, and then i looked at my arms and realized they were incredibly burnt. Thats what happens when your arms are outstretched for 6 hours and exposed to the sun. Either way, I headed to the train station and got a train back to Taipei for my last night in the country. That night I just went to a nice restaurant and got a good meal, sampled some local Taiwan beer, and headed home, as I was very well spent from the day.
My last day was a short one. My flight left at 5, so I had to leave Taipei by 2 to get to the airport. I only did two things the last day. First I went to a museum of Taipei history, which was free of charge. Not much interesting going on, just some artifacts, articles, diagrams, typical museumy stuff. I wanted to watch a movie in their history theatre, but the last showing was at 10am on Tuedays, and I got there at 10:30. Bad luck again. It was there I learned that the city was enclosed in a wall and had 5 gates, of which only 1 remained standing to this day. So, after seeing a map of where they were, I headed to go see the last remaining gate.
Another dissapointment. After finding the gate, I couldnt get very close. It was under renovation and surrounded by a work fence. Nevertheless, I was able to get up to the gate and take a picture of the entrance adn its surroundings. I find it funyn that literally 6 inches from one side is a highway bridge going right past it. So close that if someone pulled their car over next to the gate, they could easily hop on top of the gate. The past meets the Present for sure.
Anyway, thats the end of my trip to Taiwan. A great trip, very fun, very exciting, I learned a lot, and I saw a lot of great things. Not bad for a trip planned with 24 hours notice. Next posting to be coming soon!
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