Road Trips in Taiwan: Road Trip #4
Travels in Asia Travel Store Taiwan Blog Forums Taiwan Accommodation Visa Information and Taiwan Resources
Taiwan Back
Man and Machine
Yu Shan National Park
Like comic book collectors and role playing fanatics, English teachers crave excitement and danger so once again, over the Chinese New Year break (2003) I hit the highway on my trusty two-stroke heading for parts unknown. Heading North I cruised through the Yushan National Park, stopping off at the park headquarters and to take some pictures of the "wild" Macaque Monkeys along the side of the road. Of course the monkeys were putting on a fine performance for the tourists and naturally the Taiwanese were ignoring the "Don't Feed The Monkeys" signs which were clearly placed there for someone else's benefit. This was the route I'd taken two years earlier to Sun Moon Lake, it's a nice trip winding through the mountains and the scenery is quite superb.
The lake itself, gained some notoriety a while back when a taxi driver from Taichung tried to get rid of the grisly evidence there after chopping up his former girlfriend and her two daughters. There is also rumoured to be schools of piranha inhabiting the lake, no doubt adding impetus to swimmers paticipanting in the annual "cross the lake" swim.
Sun Moon Lake:
On arrival at Sun Moon Lake, I set of around the perimeter, stopping off for a bite on the way. There are quite a few attractions around the lake that I missed on the first pass. This time I visited the Tzuen Pagoda which was built by Chiang Kai Shek in honour of his mother. From the top you can get a great view of the lake. On arrival at the local camping ground I did an immediate about face on seeing the massed throngs of humanity which typifies Taiwan's holiday spots, and opted instead for a spot by the lake down from the statue of the beloved leader Chiang himself. Settling down in a covered viewing platform with a couple of beers and some takeaway food for a quiet relaxing evening I noticed a torch light coming towards me. My first thought was that it was probably some manner of officialdom coming down to shew me away. I was surprised instead to encounter an elderly aborigine with a gun. I assumed he was hunting the small water fowl that live around the lake (and incidentally are quite delicious). The gun looked even older than he did. Guns are illegal in Taiwan though I'm not sure how the laws apply to aborigines on the hunt for small animals. In any case it didn't look like it would do a terrible lot of damage to a human being. He didn't seem to understand any of my Chinese but was friendly enough, giving a slight chuckle at my futile attempts to communicate.
The next day I got away bright and early hoping to cross the mountains into Ilan County. I knew I could get there over the Central Cross Island Highway (the highest road in Taiwan) but having travelled by that route previously I thought I would try the alternative route indicated on my map. I was some way up the "alternative route" when I came to a road block whereby I was informed that the road was still out from the 9/21 earthquake that had wreaked so much havoc in the area some 2 1/2 years earlier. The Taiwan Tourist map strikes again! Plan B meant retracing my steps and heading for Shihmen Reservoir where I could take the Northern Cross Island Highway into Ilan County. It was quite a haul in one day and it appears my poor old motorcycle suffered for it. By nightfall I had arrived at the lake and noticed my bike was having trouble starting. I figured it was probably just a dirty sparkplug but decided to get it checked out anyway as I had a mountain trip planned for the next day. I managed to crash start a few times before it died completely. Being Chinese New Year meant no one really wanted to know, so I was fobbed off a few times before returning to the first mechanic I'd spoken to and pleading with him. Turned out the generator had died. Dang! Old bike - spare parts would have to be second hand and maybe not easy to get, especially at the drop of a hat. He was a nice old bloke though, and he told me he would do what he could and even dropped me off at a local hotel.
The next day, having nothing better to do I visited a local tourist trap "Window on China" which in Chinese is called Xiaorenguo (little people's world). It's a theme park built around miniatures of famous landmarks in China and around the world. There are also a few Amusement Park rides designed to help you lose your lunch. Naturally every man and their dog was there, but it was a fun day out. It was only 4 km from where I was staying but somehow it took me nearly an hour to get back by the time I got on the right buses. Taiwanese have an uncanny way of making things more complicated than they have to be when they are trying to be helpful. I'd already had to take two buses to get there in the first place.
 | I visited the mechanic the next day and it looked like the spare parts were going to be a while coming so I jumped on a train back to Tainan and waited to hear the damage. While I was there his wife and family were very hospitable serving me a generous portions of fried turnip cake (luobuogao), which tastes a lot better than it sounds. They seemed to enjoy having me around. I called him on the Friday and it was all done and he popped it on the train for me, all up NT$2,300 (say US$65) not bad really. The bike's getting a bit old for these shenanigans though so I'll probably have to upgrade before long. Left: Yu Shan National Park |
Taiwan Back
Travels in Asia Travel Store Taiwan Blog Forums Taiwan Accommodation Visa Information and Taiwan Resources