Catching Up on the East Coast

East Coast Highway 11 just north of Taimali

I was otherwise engaged for 2013 and thus neglected my posts. So here's to catching up on a few trips we took to the East Coast. I cant go to the East Coast without enjoying the water, either hot springs or trying to surf.

 Last time I posted about Taitung was when I was interviewing at Junyi Bilingual Elementary ("Tantalizing Taitung"). The new semester was about to start, so I went back to Junyi  for a demo and another interview in July 2013 . This time I brought Z, we stayed at Take Your Time guesthouse  (台東市 慢慢來民宿) and did some surfing. The guesthouse owners Kite and Mark and their 2 surfing sons were helpful hosts. Kite watched my daughter during my interview while she played with the boys. They winded up being my good friends and we have gone back for more surfing. Kite and Mark were once high rollers, professionals in Shanghai, he was a corporate attorney, she in advertising, but when they had kids it was time for them to return to Taiwan (her home) and surfing (Mark's "home" he's been surfing  in NZ since a kid). They decided to open up a guesthouse that teaches surfing in Taitung. They have a bit of land and will soon expand into a surfing camp.

At 台東市 慢慢來民宿 we take the blue room

I can definitely see the allure to the sport. Z and I were pretty much convinced we should move to Taitung and surf everyday. Well I tried, but I never did get that job. They gave it to an Englishman who was married to a local and already settled in Taitung.

Outside Taimali

DOUBLE TEN HOLIDAY

 For the Double Ten Holiday 10/10/2013 weekend we returned and explored Jinfong, Taimali and Jhiben before meeting up with a friend in Taitung and heading to Green Island. This time we didn't stay in Taitung but at a small aboriginal village between Taimali and Jinfong. We rented a scooter and hit the 11 highway free birds looking for hot springs. My daughter and I are happiest in the water. I didn't find the hot springs I was looking for, (those I went to later in February 2014), but we did happen upon an aboriginal festival and up the mountain road stopped at Dainty Hot Springs. .

Dainty Hot Springs, Jinfong

 The Paiwan and Rukei (排魯運動會) tribes were having a contest at the elementary school (賓茂國小) in Jinfeng. There were no Chinese people let alone foreigners, so I felt privileged to witness authentic aboriginal culture and not the tourist dances they put on in Taitung. Z was happy playing in the inflatable bouncy castle with the local kids while I checked out the local wares.

Happened upon an annual sport game between two tribes (Paiwan and Rukai 排魯運動會) taken place at elementary school(賓茂國小) in the hot spring village of Jinfeng.

Precious Millet

  

Next to my minsu was a pole construction for swinging

The Little Town we stayed at from highway

Before we headed back to Taitung, we decided to go to Jhiben Hot Springs. The drive along the coast was sublime.

We went up the only road to Jihben , hotels with pools and private baths dotted the road. We quickly found the Dong Tair Spa Hotel. To walk to the changing rooms down these stairs you passed the large, theme park like outdoor pools in the front and then the covered spa with different bubbles. The space was large and covered by palm trees which kept on breaking off in the breeze, making huge crashing sounds on the roofs. One of those giant palm leaves could do us some damage falling from their heights and the local groundskeeper was quickly trying to rake down branches and leaves hanging by  their threads. We pretty much had the place thankfully to ourselves.

The covered spa pools, Dong Tair Resort, Jhiben

The pools like most I go to on the East Coast are pretty devoid of bathers, even during busy holiday weekends which is part of the attraction.

The outdoor theme park pools, Dong Tair Resort, Jhiben

We ended our Double Ten weekend meeting up with a friend and spending two nights on Green Island. We didn't make any reservations. The first night we stayed at a hotel on the main strip, a concrete block with zero charm or customer service. The second night we stayed at Jack's Inn.  We took room 107, the biggest one downstairs on the ground floor with a double and single and french doors opening onto the lawn where Z played with sparklers at night. The beds were so cozy we were almost tempted to stay in. The sporadic rain would of been a good excuse, but rain never stuck, the sea breezes blew them out quick enough and left the island quite refreshed.

Of course there was more to explore, even if we had been here before (in 2011 On Cloud 9), now was different weather, company, accomodations. This time around we dismissed camping for comfort and went to the Zhaori Hot Springs at night under stars, at times in the storms with gusts and scattered rains, that kept us in the boiling springs longer than we wanted. It was easy enough to cool off and go back in. Unlike last time's scorching July sun we had storms that quickly blew out and in and made for spectacular clouds and colors. We took some hikes and hit 2 trails we missed the first time with even more stunning views.

The wildlife was abundant and revealing her hidden treasures. We saw an enormous beetle, poisonous green snake and a wily lizard who bit my companion (good laugh).

 



My fondest memory of that holiday, maybe of Green Island was getting stuck in this storm from atop one of the highest points on the island. (I even wrote a poem about it, "We Three Birds of Prey").  From the highest veranda, out of nowhere we watched this rain approaching like this mercurial laser sheet upon the blue globe. We were high enough we could see the earth was round, about a ten minute straight up walk from the scooters, on a wooden staircase. We could count down when it would hit us, so clear was its approach. We sat and watched it coming, inevitable for a good five minutes. It seemed pointless to run down to the scooter for a raincoat. Watching it coming, its blessing of torrents, licking the horizon like a royal seal, we stayed, anticipating being apart of that. There was another family with us, they huddled on one corner and us on the other. The rain slapped us, we were drenched and laughing.

Here comes the rain

2/28 HOLIDAY WEEKEND

 In February 2014 some friends and I took the train to Taitung, rented a car and explored Jinluan, the Rift Valley and the eastern end of the South Cross Highway at the Wulu Gorge.We ran into my daughter's home room teacher and her sister on the same train, small world. We passed the time together chatting, playing cards. Upon arrival in Taitung, we went straight to the hot springs in Jinluan, at the East Sun Spa Spring Hotel whose numerous outdoor pools overlooked the Pacific. The place was surprisingly empty. We all vowed to return and stay a night here, next trip.

East Sun Spa Spring Hotel

We didn't make reservations at Take Your Time Guesthouse when we stayed in Taitung, as we were just "winging it". We ended up our first night at a cheap mom and pop hotel around the corner, across the street from Subway for 800NT a double with TV. In the morning we left early for a bike ride along the coast. I was attacked by swarms of midges, called "little black mosquitos" here, but they are a million times more itchier. My legs and arms were covered in excruciating welts, as I get a reaction to them. Bugs and me don't really mix. So we drove north to Dulan, checked out the Sugar Mill galleries and ate pizza for lunch. I was going to have us drive to Wulu Gorge from there, but my friend used his smart phone and suggested it would be faster if we returned to Taitung and used the South Rift Valley Highway 9.

Dulan Sugar Mill Galleries

First stop was the 2nd largest suspension bridge, the Heavenly Dragon Bridge, behind the Chief Spa Hotel. We walked the trail up a few minutes from the other side of the bridge, then headed back to the spring pools. For dinner we just ate the left over pizza from Dulan. Like the other springs, this was relatively empty. We checked prices for the rooms but what was available was beyond our budget.

The Heavenly Dragon Bridge, Wulu Gorge.

Chief Spa Pools,Wulu Gorge

I had made a reservation by phone at a Bunyun aboriginal minsu in Lidao (tel.089-938067), so when it was well into the night we headed there, stopped at the only mom and pop store/restaurant in town and they called our minsu to confirm our reservation. It was cold, we warmed ourselves by the fire, the owner and another man were drunk and Z was frightened, so we just headed to bed. The plan was to hike to the Lisong Hot Springs in the morning.These springs were my raison d'etre, as far as this weekend for me was concerned.

Our  Bunyun minsu in Lidau

Bright and early I made us coffee and the owner had our breakfast. One of the aboriginals was a tour guide taking a group of Taiwanese to the elusive Lisong Springs and he said he we could follow as its kind of hard to see the back road from the main swerving mt road. When we found it, it was pretty much dirt, rocks, one lane on the edge of a precipice. It was foggy, tree branches obscured our vision. The little road ended at a flat plateau, there were several cars parked and tents. This was the hardcore bunch. The trail to the river started here and was a steep hour descent to the ground.

 The man gave us each a pair of work gloves as the entire path was roped on both sides and we seriously held on for dear life. The trail was wet, slippery, full of roots and thus slow going. I felt invigorated, an early morning hike. For Z it wasn't easy or that fun, but she could still do it. Because of her slow pace, time was a factor. Would we have time to even enjoy the hot springs before turning around and hiking the mostly vertical ascent and make our 1 pm train to Tainan? It wasn't looking that way. Suddenly the trail just abruptly ended and the rope hung from a rock and you had to go down 30 feet or so on just a rope. Z was terrified and the whole experience wasn't fun anymore. If she was to fall, we had to carry her up the difficult trail and even at the car we were far away from help. It didn't seem worth the risk. We all headed back to the car. I secretly vowed to return and see these evasive Lisong Hot Springs someday soon.

On our way down the South Cross Highway, down the Wulu Gorge towards Taitung, we stopped at roadside public baths for a foot soak. And just outside of Taitung, we found some new springs, Mountains of the Moon and had a well deserved soak before returning the rental car and making our train back to Tainan. Charmed again, we had the pools to ourselves.

Mountains of the Moon Shot Springs, Hongye

Mountains of the Moon Shot Springs, Hongye

CHILDREN'S DAY/TOMB FESTIVAL WEEKEND

The last time we were in Taitung was in April this year for more surfing and biking. We stayed at Take Your Time, made some new friends, ate dinner at the Night Market, even did a little KTV.

Taitung in April 2014

Summer Soujourn

 
 With the parting of summer and somewhat cooling climate, its only fitting I reap the harvests of my summer journey both outer and inner, they somehow reflect each other. It began in May, going to Kenting with friends and staying in an opulent resort in the mts. Cabins and pools, kids playing, wine at night, me addicted to archery.




Then in June, spending Dragon Boat weekend in Green Island.
Camping beside a rocky coral cove beside a dramatic cliff wall, lush black sky full of milky stars, a primordial fire to watch us while we slept, then recovering in the rare sea water hot springs.


Salt water hot springs



 In July we spent 14 days in the Malaysian peninsula and ending in Singapore. I met 2 wonderful men I had a kind of connection with, whom I’m still in contact with. The first a Syrian in KL, who is doing some rare stones trading between Sri Lanka and Dubai who is now trying to get a Taiwanese visa to come visit. The other a roving Irishman I met in a bus to Cherating, where we stayed and traveled down to Singapore together. He did come for a short visit just last weekend here in Tainan and hopefully will return before Christmas.

Pulau Pankgor



I am well acquainted with my own company and don’t mind being alone, but one night in Pulau Pangkor,  I had this excruciating experience. I was so utterly lonely and so acutely aware of it. It was so incredibly painful, a piercing rawness that this night, it was as if the Universe held an enormous galactic mirror up to me. I thought I might burst into tears right there on the paradise beach where all the European holidayers where having dinner with their families watching the pink sunset. I never felt so odd and out of place before, even the monkeys were pointing their fingers at me. To slightly make up for it, I was blessed the next day with a free snorkeling trip to a nearby coral island, by a local, who gave me enough attention and was still a gentleman. Still,  I was recovering from the previous night, of being slammed by the accumulative past 5 years of being independent, being alone, all of it overwhelmed me like karmic avalanche.

So we headed back to the mainland to the other side of the peninsula to Kota Bharu. The difficulty of the travel, waiting for buses hours late, crowded buses w/o seats or AC, night buses w/o sleep, filled that space. Then the magic of traditional Malay culture a few days in Kota Bharu strengthened my spirit. Soon, I met a kindred spirit again, as a kind of blessing. The easy togetherness also threw off my equilibrium, I got used to it, so did Z. I realized I need other people to be my sledgehammer and break through my walls, the illusion of being this strong, independent, single mom.
 
Traveling solitary its like this dance of being alone for a while, which is fine, because its so temporary, then I meet up with lovely company and I certainly did in Malaysia. If that Malayisa/Singapore trip taught me anything, its there is this wide world outside of Tainan full of available, single men of quality (there were some nice Frenchmen along the way too I'll briefly mention).


Singapore Zoo



Universal studios, Singapore

In August, me and some Taiwanese friends went to Alishan. They organized everything. It was like a pilgrimage to this ancient cypress forest with 2000 year old trees, a gorgeous sunset, waking for sunrise, hiking in clouded tea terraces, great food, happy kids, coming home tired and happy.


In early September, for Moon Festival's 3 day weekend, Z and I took a weekend to Guanshan to see the blooming Daylillies in the East Rift Valley in Taiwan's East Coast. Later in September, I met up with an old friend from my Taipei days a decade ago and we went camping in a farm in Kenting. BBQ, more wine, great company, our kids, her great husband, great fun in finding this past friendship and picking up where we parted. I felt lucky. Then, recovering in the Pingtong hot springs, the original Japanese structure, hinting of October.

In October for 10/10 holiday, I took an extra day off and flew to Tokyo for a 4 day stint. Autumn was just beginning to breath her first breaths into this phenomenal city. Z and I didn’t want to come back to Taiwan and even now I’m considering moving to Tokyo in a year or two if I can wait. I know what neighborhood I’d like to live in more or less. There is so much to see, so much under the surface, calling out to me, “explore me, stay here.” The magical part is I had no desire to even go to Japan until like a month ago, and now I can’t get Japan out of my dreams. I simply liked looking at the faces. The people bent over backwards to help me, locals went out of their way to make me stay. Tokyo is this paradox of ancient medieval Endo with uber-modernism, the bustle of crowds on their way, belaying an inner gentleness. There is this gentleness and then you sense this hidden cruelness. I can’t put my finger on it, especially after only 4 days, but I’m hooked.

I’ve been to a lot of countries, exchanged in many courtesies ad currencies but only a handful of places sort of grabbed me, beckoned me to linger a while. After 2 years of working around Western Europe, Galway totally conquered me. I couldn’t leave, I grieved when I had no way to stay there permanently, legally. Guatemala, I was there all 90 days of my visa and mourned leaving. I’d probably be living in Kashmir and married to a Kashmiri if it was more stable. Now after living in Tainan 3 years, 5 years total in Taiwan, I feel that itch again. Ok I admit when we went to KL I exclaimed I could live in KL too (I could, Z could continue her Mandarin, and I could have my piece of Indian culture). So who knows?


Z’s stability, and continuing her Mandarin is paramount. I just feel like the poetic eagle, phoenix being reborn and itching to spread her wings. If that means growing in a new territory, moving, or staying in Tainan and having this inner journey, remains to be lived out.