Monday 10th October
This weekend we decided to take a trip to Hualien – a beautiful city on the East coast of Taiwan (it's also the epicentre of Earthquakes).
Yasmin, Angus and I get the 3-hour train on Friday afternoon. Yasmin and I were smart enough to buy our tickets in advance, but Angus decides to buy his at the station, 5 minutes before the train leaves.
Funnily enough, he didn't get a seat.
Our next 3 hours is spent with three people squished into the space of two seats, burdening our fellow passengers with regular complaints of over-heating, numb bums and dead arms.
When we get off in Hualien, we are greeted with a tropical rainstorm that shows no mercy towards three British students wearing jeans and converse – with a severe lack of an umbrella.
Luckily, our hostel isn't too far from the train station, but by the time we arrive, there is not a single dry spot on any of us. We go next door to get the man who works at the motorcycle shop to call the owner of the hostel to let us in – a great system, I know. We finally get to our room, treading our path with wet feet as we make our way up.
The next day, the rain has not slowed at all, so we buy some incredibly fashionable rain ponchos and catwalk them around the shop – whilst shoppers look at us with curiosity and judgement.
Our day starts at 10am, where we set off on our chauffeured path down the Taroko Gorge – and yes, it was gorgeous. By the time we come to our third stop, we are completely awe-struck by the natural beauty and believe that nothing can dampen our spirits (despite the deluge coming from above).
However, standing in front of me is a rickety suspension bridge that leads to a beautiful temple up the mountain. My friends don't think twice and saunter across, unbothered by its swaying side to side with their every step. I step on timidly and make me way across slowly, waddling like a penguin to minimise the movement of the bridge, and of my nervous stomach.
As I make it to the middle, however, all my courage is gone and I start to panic. The handrails are below my hips and the swinging is making me go dizzy, as well as the sheer drop below. My friends try to encourage me with some positive words, but all rationality has disappeared down the cliff edge we just stepped off.
Out of frustration, I'm sure, more than anything else, Angus covers my eyes, grabs me and frog marches me across the bridge. I scream profanities and curse him the whole way across. As I step onto hard ground again, my legs are so full of adrenaline and complete terror that it feels like the ground is still swaying beneath me.
One of them asks me – don't you fly planes? I ignore the question.
The next day, we rent bikes and go for a 5-hour cycle along the coast and up a mountain to a rural village (or 'township', as they call it here). Even though we are only an hour out of the city, everyone stops what they're doing as we go past to wave at us and say hello. I guess they don't see many foreigners here – not surprising considering the number of landslides we had to swerve past on our way up!
We stop at 7-11 for a Pocari Sweat hallway through and keep going until our bikes need to go back to the rental shop. At which point they asked if we went swimming based on our lack of waterproof gear cycling through the rain.
We walk our tired legs to the night market for a well-deserved feast and crash out early in preparation for the train tomorrow – where we will be getting a seat each!
All in all, a very successful weekend trip with some beautiful scenery. Plus, excellent timing because we make it back in time to see the Taiwan Independence Day light show, and the night we get back to Taipei there is an Earthquake that wakes us up at 4am – Magnitude 5.7 in Hualien but only M2 in Taipei!!
