Friday September 9, 2011

Monday is a holiday here in Taiwan. It’s Moon Festival, which is one of the four or five biggest holidays in Taiwan. I suppose the closest equivalent in Canada is Thanksgiving. There are traditional stories associated with Moon Festival, and families have barbecues and look at the moon and that sort of thing. I’ve never taken part in any actual Moon Festival activities, but I’ve had to write a few articles about them. I tend to just go off on weekend trips.

This time, I planned to go to an island group called Matzu. I took two extra days off, but then I couldn’t get any flights. That is one of the downsides to living in Taiwan. Everything tends to be booked up – trains, planes, hotels, everything. I really wish I could have gone to Matzu, but instead, I’m heading down the coast to Hualien and then up into the mountains near a town called Lishan.

I thought about taking a train down and then renting a scooter in Hualien. Perhaps that would have been better. In the end, though, I decided to take my own scooter. I can drive it down south and then put it on a train to come back to Taipei. It’s a lot easier to take my own scooter right from my front door. And I save a bit of money. Renting a scooter isn’t super expensive, but it still would have cost about $100 for five days. That’s pretty cheap, actually. It only seems expensive when you are renting something that you already own. The other advantage to taking my own scooter is that it is easier to load it up. You never know what kind of scooter you are going to get when you rent one, and you might not be able to strap down your backpack etc. I have done it many times on my scooter, so I know exactly how to do it. My scooter is pretty handy for that. It is built for two people and has a small backrest. I can put my backpack on the seat behind me and strap it to the backrest. It fits perfectly, and it even gives me something soft to lean against. I even brought my tent and sleeping bag and sleeping pad. I hemmed and hawed about that. I’ve brought my camping gear on previous trips, but I’ve rarely used it. Hotels are not that expensive here and it isn’t easy to find a spot to put up a tent. But it’s a holiday weekend, and hotels might be fully booked everywhere. I thought it would be nice to have the option. I worried that there wouldn’t be enough room for all my camping gear, but it worked out well. The sleeping bag can fit right inside my helmet compartment under my seat. The tent and sleeping pad and sleeping sheet all fit into my small backpack easily along with my clothes and toiletries. It worked out pretty well actually. I almost wish I had taken my bike. I don’t think I’m in good enough shape for that, though. And I can’t cover much distance on the bike.

I wasn’t in the greatest of moods yesterday and the day before as I packed for the trip and did some planning. Even this morning, I wasn’t that excited about it. It seemed like a lot of work and hassle. But everything changed the second I got to the outskirts of Taipei. I was pleased that I loaded up the scooter so easily. My backpack sits on it very neatly and my knapsack sits between my feet on the footrest area. I timed things so that I missed the rush hour traffic. I left my apartment at about 9:30. Traffic was light and in thirty minutes I was outside of Taipei and starting to climb up into the mountains. The temperature dropped instantly, the mountain scenery stretched off into the distance, and my mood soared. It’s just great to be on the road even if it is only for 5 days.

I’m currently in a mountain tea-growing town called Pinglin. I’ve been here many, many times, but I always like it. It’s the very first place I went to on my first trip out of Taipei many years ago. The town itself is nothing that special, but a beautiful river runs through it, and they built trails all along the river and then up into the mountains. The mountainsides are covered in tea plantations, and it is nice to drive around the area. There is only one hotel here that I know of. It’s on the river just outside of town and has a camping ground attached to it. I’ve stayed there three or four times, but I’ve always taken a room. They are just as cheap as camping.

This time, I won’t be staying here. It is only 11 in the morning, and I am going to continue from here to a place called Yilan on the coast. From there, I will either keep driving down the coast or head along highway 9 into the mountains to Lishan. I’m leaning toward the coast route. I’ve been down that coast road many times by train, but only once by scooter. It is a very beautiful road. Yes, I think that is the route I will follow. I’m not sure if I will make it all the way to Hualien today. I might stop off in a small fishing village called Nanfangao. I stayed there once before. It is a quaint little fishing port and years ago it had a small hotel. That’s rare for these towns. I don’t know if the hotel is still there, but I might stop there to check it out.

The sun is out, the sky is a bright blue, and the temperature is moderate. It doesn’t get any better than this in Taiwan. Time to hit the road again. Next report will probably be from where I am going to spend the night be it in my tent on the coast or in some small hotel somewhere.

Tags: Moon Festival Trip, scooter, Taipei, Taiwan, tent