I'm baa-aack!

Destination: Hualien City, Taroko Gorge, Taitung City
Group: Allyn, Emily, Ma’an (Emily’s sister), Amberlee
Modes of Transportation: Train, Scooter, Eleven Bus
Dates: May 29, 30, 31
Motivation: part-ay, explore nature, memories, eat delicious food


Mayo luh* -- We need oil! Silly Ma’an and Allyn didn’t fill their scooter up all the way. Part of the way down Taroko Gorge, they ran out. So Emily and I drove down to the nearest gas station. Emily rifled through the garbage for some plastic bottles, the attendant filled ‘em up and we raced back up the mountain to rescue our stranded friends. Luckily they were near a scenic spot. I think they took a little jaunt. It took a good hour of our precious time.
*my spelling of the Chinese words for “Don’t have any.”

Bridges – Emily was nervous, Ma’an avoided them, and Allyn was a sport. I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. I wanted to stop at two we saw while driving to our lodgings the first night, but it was getting dark.
We did stop at one the next day….only to find out you have to have a permit to cross it. Gah! Are you kidding me?! How rude. You tease me with this fabulous, long bridge and then I find out I’m not allowed on it. That’s plain rude. {Plus I could see an even more fabulous old, wooden one halfway up the mountain. Yes, I totally wanted to hike up so I could cross that one too.}

Eleven Bus– That’s what you say to describe your legs. I don’t think Emily just made it up. Maybe it is a literal translation of a Chinese saying. I love those.
We did some pretend hiking and some real hiking. I gave Emily a hard time because all the hiking in Taroko was on a paved trail. But we did some more serious stuff in Taitung. Phew.

Beaches – North and South: ‘She sat for hours in front of the beach and was soothed. She did not know how or why.’
I could see why as I sat staring at the ocean. I could’ve stayed there forever (or one day short of forever), but it wasn’t meant to be. The others wanted to move on. *sigh*

Sore Bum! – Scooter riding, and more scooter riding. Wow. There seriously was one time when my rear end was numb. Getting off the bike became difficult. I nearly fell over once or twice. And Emily would say “Amberlee! What you doing?” in her funny way. I should record it. It just makes me laugh. Maybe because she uses a disapproving tone and she says it often. :D

Half a step – I was always ahead of the rest of the gals. Guess it’s the long legs. (I’ve noticed it happens when I walk on flat ground with Emily.) I discovered it is harder to walk slower at their pace! I’m programmed to step a certain length and I can get into the groove – anything less is awkward and I have to think too much. I don’t like it. So I just walked ahead of them.

Trains – We were running so we didn’t miss the train from Hualien to Taitung. And I mean literally running. We hopped off the scooters and sprinted. My legs felt numb from the scooter riding so I was at the back saying “Wait, my legs are broken” {gotta get to their level of English ;) } We arrived at the platform with 1 ½ minutes to spare.
We wanted a seat so we had to take a late train Sun. night. We arrived in Fongshen at 10:20 pm. Yuck. {Yes, I’m tired today.}

Perfect all-in-one – Real hiking followed by a foot massage in a creek. It was grand. The bottom of the creek has different sizes of stones that massage quite well. And there was a natural hot spring we soaked our feet and calves in. {Hot springs are one thing Taitung is famous for.} I wish every hiking place was set up like this!!