I think it was the best weather we have had since moving to Guanshan, 關山. It wasn’t too too hot, only in the 80s and the sky was a bright blue this past weekend. The good weather and the day off from school meant that I could finally go for the hike to the waterfall near us. I had originally missed the hike to the waterfall because of my trip to Taipei for the Moon Festival, and my friends kept talking about how cool it was. Google maps estimated it only being a 15-minute scooter ride away, and then a 20-minute hike. It seemed quite easy and simple. From previous hikes I know that Taiwan’s label of a “easy walk up the river bed” is probably closer to a medium hike in the US. So, I was already expecting something a little harder than the 20-minute stroll Google maps publicized.
With two bottles of water, my hiking boots, and Sean on the back of my scooter we were off. As much as having a passenger on a scooter throws off the balance, it is nice to have a navigator that allows me to solely focus on the road rather than trying to hear my phone in the cup holder over the wind on the highway, let me say for someone who already has difficulty hearing their phone on a regular basis- trying to hear it over the wind is a whole other challenge. I digress, after a while on the highway we turned off and started towards the mountains. All I knew was we were looking for was a chicken coop because my friend Crystal mentioned having parked her scooter near a chicken coop. Having followed the Google map instructions to a “T”, I still hadn’t come across a chicken coop, but instead a beginning of a trail. We parked the scooter and started to hike thinking we just might’ve taken a different path through the small town or something. We didn’t even get ten steps before a truck came barreling down the mountain path. The driver asked us if that was our scooter and what we were doing. Having never taken the time to learn the Chinese for waterfall, its 瀑布for future reference, we explained that we wanted to go to Jiana water, 我們要去Jiana水。We looked daft as we were moving our hands trying to show a waterfall while saying the Chinese for water. Somehow the driver and his passenger understood us- thank god- and informed us we were on a completely different mountain.
Yes, you heard me right. Google maps has Jiana Waterfall on a different mountain than it actually is. The driver thankfully offered for us to follow him and he could show us the path. We drove around a small little town and kept climbing higher and higher. The road went from paved to gravel. Having never taken a scooter off roading I didn’t know its limitations. Each new rock was a jolt and I grew more and more nervous that we would just break down on the side of the road from a rock getting stuck in the engine or something. We finally passed two chicken coops and it all started to make sense. Although the truck kept driving, I pulled alongside the chicken coop and parked. If the chicken coop was good enough for my friends to start hiking, I had no problems doing that too and it limited the amount I would have to drive on the gravel on the way down. However, the driver parked and kept saying that we needed to continue driving. Sean tried to explain that we would hike from here because my scooter couldn’t go any farther so the driver instead had us get in the back of his truck. Yes mom, even with all your stranger danger lessons I got in the back of a stranger’s car. At least I wasn’t alone!
We kept getting jostled, but the trip farther up was fun. I took a tumble in the back as I tried to capture the trip on my phone, literally getting saved by Sean as he grabbed by wrist before I fell completely sideways in the bed of the truck. The kind stranger was able to get us all the way to the start of the river bed. He literally drove us what would’ve taken another 20 minutes to walk. It was all out of the way for him. It is small acts of kindness like this that happens in Taiwan that I don’t think you would get in America. I feel like back home I would be apprehensive to ask for help and I would definitely think there would be ulterior reasons for taking me to the start of a hike. But here, once they heard I was a teacher and Sean is a student they offered help, no questions asked.
The hike was more like a bouldering session. There was no path. Instead, you climbed over huge boulders on your way tracing the river bed.
Two Environmental Science/Studies majors + a lot of different kind of rocks = a very, very long hike to the waterfall.
We stopped every little bit. Pointing out rocks for their color, shape, and at times crystals. As we moved further up the river you could start to hear the waterfall louder and louder knowing we were getting close. The water was freezing, but felt nice on a hot day. We took our shoes and socks off and walked in the water and climbed on the rocks. It was so beautiful. The pictures don’t do it justice. I would’ve taken my real camera, but with the water splashing from the waterfall even my phone started to have difficulties when the water leaked inside the case. Despite a minor fall when I misjudged the distance between two rocks, it was an amazing and challenging hike.
The weather didn’t stop on Saturday. Sunday was brighter and definitely hotter. Despite my LET telling me the ride was very far on a scooter, Sean and I rode to 三仙台, a bridge designed to look like a dragon with 8 humps in the architecture to represent the 8 immortals of a story that walked to the island. Even though when looking at the map the bridge isn’t that far from where I live, there are no good roads that go through the mountains connecting 關山to the coast. Therefore, what could potentially only be a 50 minute drive turns into a drive that is 1.5 hours, almost 2 if you count all the stops to get off and stretch your legs. I have come to the decision going on road trips with my friends will be difficult because I hate the feel of the engine in your arms that you get when you drive a long time. Every little bit I like to pull over and turn off the scooter. It not only helps me regain feeling in my body, but gives me the chance to actually appreciate the scenery that you can’t look at that much while driving.
By the time we actually got to the bridge I will say I probably wasn’t in the best of moods. I get more and more annoyed and stressed the longer I drive on mountain roads and coupled with the heat I was in desperate need for food. Sadly, despite all my research on google for restaurants and food nearby Taiwan’s restaurants don’t typically adhere to their business hours. What should’ve been a town filled with little eateries was actually a closed up town with nothing open. All we had to eat was the Ritz crackers that were in my backpack and bought some waters. I think the whole lack of food and need for water impacted my appreciation of the bridge, but I still think it is a little over-hyped. It literally is a bridge with some tidepools to an island that you can walk to the lighthouse. At least I can say I’ve done it and maybe the 4 hours of driving that made me feel like I rode a horse forever was a little worth it in the end.
