Four scooters.
Six people.
One island.
Sounds like the perfect recipe for adventure.
Last Sunday, Carl, myself, and four other friends, Tim, Grace, Dan, and Dalton, embarked on an amazing scooter adventure.
The plan- to scooter over the mountains and then follow the coast back to Taichung. Over 1,000 kilometers to be traveled in six days. Along the way, windy mountain roads to explore, waterfalls to be discovered, and friendship enjoyed.
The day of departure dawned bright and beautiful. Excitement was in the air as we pulled out onto the road at 6:30am.
What would the day bring?
What hidden treasures would be found?
After the challenging hike and long drive it was nice to sit outside enjoying the fresh mountain air and sunshine, not to mention the peace and quiet!
While enjoying the plethora of colorful fauna, I noticed a butterfly fluttering from flower to flower. It stayed long enough for me to capture several pictures.
I am not a great photographer and my camera is simply a point and shoot. I wish Jacob had been next to me with his camera because his pictures would have been amazing!
After another walk of about a zillion steps and dinner, I was completely tuckered out.
Before laying down for the night, I decided it would be best to wash off the accumulated sweat and road grime. It was after this shower that I had another inspiring revelation; another life lesson which should be remembered.
Life Lesson Number Two:
You haven't really lived until you've dried off after a shower using a disposable paper bath towel.
Yep.
You read that correctly.
A disposable paper bath towel.
I wonder who had that great idea?
The plan- to scooter over the mountains and then follow the coast back to Taichung. Over 1,000 kilometers to be traveled in six days. Along the way, windy mountain roads to explore, waterfalls to be discovered, and friendship enjoyed.
The day of departure dawned bright and beautiful. Excitement was in the air as we pulled out onto the road at 6:30am.
What would the day bring?
What hidden treasures would be found?
The first hour found us traveling inward and upward. We were rewarded with this view looking back to Taichung. We enjoyed this scenery with dozens of cyclisst who had worked a lot harder and longer to reach that point.
Any and all breaks were a welcome sight, especially to the two of us passengers. Evidently. the backside of a passenger suffers greater than that of the driver. So when we decided to follow the advice of a local resident and hike to a close by waterfall, I was more than willing.
"It's an easy hike. Just takes 30 minutes," they said.
I believed them.
Which brings me to the first lesson learned today- when someone says the hike is easy, don't believe them. The trek up was one fourth hike and three fourths river tracing. Evidently, with all the rain Taiwan has had the last month, there was more water in the river making the hike much more
difficult.
The half hour quickly doubled to an hour plus some. I am slow when it comes to jumping from rock to rock. We had to go under, over, and through branches of fallen trees.
Unfortunately, we never got to the waterfall. Due to the high volume of water, the waterfall was unreachable, carefully tucked around an impassable bend. We could hear it, but never actually saw it!
.
But, the adventure provided a nice break from the scooter seat!
So back on the road, we climbed. The higher we went, the cooler the air; a nice break from the scorching heat of the summer.
Our goal was not the top of the mountain, but rather a touristy spot an hour down from the peak. On upon reaching our B and B, we were rewarded with beautiful vistas of the surrounding mountains.
While enjoying the plethora of colorful fauna, I noticed a butterfly fluttering from flower to flower. It stayed long enough for me to capture several pictures.
I am not a great photographer and my camera is simply a point and shoot. I wish Jacob had been next to me with his camera because his pictures would have been amazing!
After another walk of about a zillion steps and dinner, I was completely tuckered out.
Before laying down for the night, I decided it would be best to wash off the accumulated sweat and road grime. It was after this shower that I had another inspiring revelation; another life lesson which should be remembered.
Life Lesson Number Two:
You haven't really lived until you've dried off after a shower using a disposable paper bath towel.
Yep.
You read that correctly.
A disposable paper bath towel.
I wonder who had that great idea?
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