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.

Astonishing Alishan

Alishan is one of Taiwan's must see attractions after Taroko Gorge and Kenting and I finally made
it. Its a mystical mountain, cloud and tea country and home to the indigenous Rueli tribe. Now its pretty touristy and there was an eye sore of a car park full of mainland Chinese tourists and their smog making mega buses. I am already aware of the reputation of mainlanders, from the personal accounts of local Taiwanese and the confessions of traveler's tales. What was interesting is the Taiwanese steering me away from buying oolong tea that was sold only to mainlanders (cheaper quality). When we dined in Fenchihu, my friends also checked a few restaurants and told me we couldn't eat there because they cater to Chinese tourists.Quality for the locals, nice to be on the receiving end. (For all the pics click here.)I finally made it to Alishan. Ive been meaning to go since Z and I first came to Tainan, especially since she was into Thomas the Tank and wanted to do the old steam train from Chiayi, but that was destroyed by the floods of Morokat (major Typhoon a few years ago.) My friends took us, Allen and his family, Vicky and hers. Allen's wife has a friend whose sister and husband have a home stay outside of LongMei off of road 129. We left Tainan Sat morning, had lunch in Chiayi sampling some of its famous Turkey rice (huo jirou fan) before heading up the winding mountain roads. I braved the black jelly egg (skin egg).

We quickly checked in and were welcomed, getting to know one other over several pots of oolong, and oversampling some local varieties. Their home stay was in a modern, all glass building, with 3 large bedrooms, 2 with double queens and the other a family room with 2 large doubles, all with their own bathrooms TV, wifi. The place is called "53.1" and surmounts  a mountainous valley, complete with a hiking trail through misty tea farms. They have a little cafe in the back that serves the included breakfast (you will be satiated) and a shop in town that sells tea, hand made glycerin soaps, etc.(For their website click here.)

My room was great, actually it was Vicky's but she kindly traded with me since my glass walls commanded the glorious views. Our rooms were 2800 NT per night including breakfast which was hearty and dinner.Two of my walls were all glass and overlooking this grand mountain view that dropped along side the hiking trail. The trail cut through terraces of lush tea and white powdery bamboo full of butterflies. Z and I climbed it the next morning after breakfast while all the others went back to sleep after watching the sunrise.


 It started to rain as we left out homestay and we assumed it would clear.  We bought rain jackets at 7-11 an I had a much needed coffee and we waited for 30 minutes or so and decided to go for it.  It really was coming down hard and the kids were whining to go back and Allen thought we were crazy  to try (maybe we were). We checked out some local eateries. The kids  had bamboo soup and we adults had strong ginger tea. The rain was hard and the kids didn't want to hike so Allen and his wife took them back to our homestay and the rest of us, Vicky and her husband and Allen's mother in law decided to brave the downpour and walked around the park.

Our feet were soaked, but the scenery inside the ancient forests was stunning. The trails were empty but for this young couple we happened upon and we made new friends. Isabella is a finance attorney in Taipei and her ex boyfriend is a lower district judge in Kaohsiung. When we first entered the ancient Cypress forest I was of course amazed when I saw the first few 800 year old Cypress trees. Then we walked along and there were 900 year old specimens, 1000, 1600 and when we started to be in the presence of 2000 year old trees I was awe struck like in the presence of something sacred. I thought about the Rocky mountains that are always growing and they are  millions of years old,  but was is it about trees? Then I thought about a road trip I took when I was 18 to B.C and our chance and private encounter with the Redwoods somewhere on the CA/OR border, all misty and majestic. The darkness of the forest, like in Germany or England the feeling of timelessness, it was dark like that under that tall foliage, the sound of water and birds then the rain stopped. I took off my raincoat for the rest of the day still using my umbrella as the trees were dripping from the recent downpour. I liked how seedlings would land on an ancient stump and revive the stump, make a new and more interesting life. There were 4 seedlings that landed on the same stump and thrived. Some Taiwanese person named them The 4 Sisters and it stuck. There were some funny signs, how this Cypress resembled an elephant head or a dragon and phoenix but there was one tree that had 3 generations all growing from the original stump which was interesting.

In the middle of our excursion we reached a temple next to a small market catering to tourists selling locally grown wasabi and aboriginal wild boar jerky, so Vicky bought 6 bags of the jerky for gifts and gave one to me. We went into the temple and Vicky's husband explained that on that particular god's birthday (the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month) all the forests moths of this particular species come pay him a visit and land all over his idol. There was  a poster showing his beard and costume all covered in moths, kind of weird and creepy and Id like to see it.

When we emerged from the thickness of the forests, we were greeted by a smiling rainbow. I expected it to disappear quickly but it stayed around the remainder of the day to look over our shoulders and watch the sunset w/us. When the sun was setting over the clouds and mt tops obscured by firmament, the rainbow only deepened her hue.Near the parking lot we climbed to a viewing area for the sunset which of course was just as stunning as our day had been. There wasn't this clean sea of clouds like a blanket that covered the earth, like you see on pictures everywhere in every shop and restaurant, but the clouds were curling and moving, with wisps like hair and changing color like a blushing girl or a garden, coral, lilac, rose. Overlooking everything was the aboriginal holy mountain which I instinctively knew was sacred as I couldn't keep my eyes off of it.

We returned in the rain, famished, my feet blistered from walking in soaked sockless shoes and were greeted by a big pot of noodle fishball soap, dragon fruit for dessert followed by hours of endless Oolong. Our host was a self confessed expert (as is every Taiwanese' friend I have haha), but he really did know hi s stuff and his English was excellent.  Im so well educated in tea from my friends, thanks for teaching me to taste if the tea was picked in spring or winter, from the high Nantou peaks to lower tropical Taidong. (High is best). Drinking a pot of oolong is like having a body high, alert yet calm, like smoking a spliff w/o the paranoia or coughing. The sweetness, after a few good cups my whole palate is sweetened, refreshed.

I had our host swear to wake us for the sunrise. He said 5:15. My body is always on farmer time so I woke at 4:45, made myself some instant Alishan coffee and when I saw day breaking at 5,woke up Vicky. We were ready by 5:15 and walked 5 min up the road to a grand pavilion, empty but for us and our hosts 3 dogs. I had to carry Z on my back, she was tired. We waited til 6 am and the clouds all but obscured it. It wasn't the photo perfect blanket of clouds and this golden orb but it was still mystical and magical and I love early mornings. We returned and everyone but me Z and Jeremy (Vicky's son) stayed awake and ate. I was pretty beat but Z and I hiked the top of the mt behind our guesthouse. Of course at the top was all white clouds. On the walk down I power napped at a few rest stops. We checked out and took lunch at one of the better rail stations, Fenchihu, with its old street, reminded me of Anping or Makong. The kids had fun climbing all over the old steam engines parked in the garage. We ate at an old wooden restaurant that served Japanese style worker lunches from times gone by. Walking along the shops and sampling some of the snacks we were tired and returned home Vicky's husband driving like a speed racer and us asleep in the back a lovely weekend with friends what can be better?