But first, here's two of my favourite students (Baku and Helen) posing with a card their class made me! (notice all the dinosaurs! one kid said, "don't worry teacher, they are GIRL dinosaurs!")
Mike and I drove our scooters first to a place called Daxi and spent the night on the ocean listening to the waves! The following day we drove to a place called Yilan where we learned there isn't much to do. We walked through a market and made quite an impression on all the vendors (my blonde hair is a magnet for attention in small towns). After I took this picture, the butcher yelled to his friends in Chinese, "I'm going to be on the internet!" (and he is...)
After Yilan, we drove all day through the East Coast mountains. Driving through the mountains is really something else. Everywhere I looked, I saw mountains. The roads were curvy and we had to stop many times so that we could really take in the beauty around us. It was raining for part of the journey... rain isn't very enjoyable on a scooter. But nothing makes me laugh more than how ridiculous I look in my Taiwanese rain-gear (perhaps the greatest indicator of how Chinese I'm becoming!)
Here is one of the fantastic views that we pulled over for. It's really quite something to ride through this scenery!
We spent the next night in Hualien City in one of the worst hostels I've ever stayed in! The bathroom floor was flooded with 2 inches of water all night, our "room" was a basement (with no door) that had zero ventilation and 4 people sleeping in it and to make matters worse (this one's my fault) I lost my earplugs and there were 2 loud snorers in the room! ah! I did manage to sleep a bit though and woke up to my birthday! We spent the morning at Liyu Lake eating Taiwanese food and watching dragon boat races! We were quite far away from the action as you can tell by this photo!
In the afternoon, Mike and I got back on the bikes and drove to Taroko National Park where we spent hours driving through Taroko Gorge. Taroko means, "magnificent and beautiful" and that's exactly what it is! As we wove through the marble walls and tunnels (the gorge contains an abundant supply of marble and even jade) I was in awe. I couldn't believe how much beauty there was to see! While so much of this island has been tainted by humans, the gorge remains almost entirely untouched. It was so refreshing to explore this part of Taiwan!The following day, we took a train back to the city (and shipped the bikes back too). It was sad to leave the beauty behind me, but I know there will be plenty more in my future! My time in Taiwan is coming to an end. I will be leaving on September 1st and flying to Hong Kong for a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. After that, I plan to explore some of South East Asia before I fly to Australia to meet up with my little brother Derek who has been there since Dec '08. I'm not too sure what I'll do in Australia yet, but that just makes things more exciting now doesn't it!?
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