The Year of the Bills

3-0 for the first time since 1992. First place in the AFC East for the first time since 1996. The time has come.

Scroggins at the Park

My weekends are pretty much always spent indoors now reading my stack of text books and writing various assignments.  But this Sunday I decided to take a break for a few hours, and Nok, Scroggins and I headed out to the Taichung Metropolitan Park.  The park sits on a big hill that encloses the city along its western edge.  It’s quite a large park with plenty of grassy open spaces.  It can get a bit crowded on a Sunday afternoon, but once the sun goes down it becomes deserted.

Scroggins at Taichung Metropolitan Park on Sunday evening.

Scroggins takes in the swarms of people and dogs at the Metropolitan Park.

Scroggins discovers the joy of a belly scratch.

If dogs could smile, it would look like this.

Watching a kite as the sun goes down.

Typhoon Sinlaku

Typhoon Sinlaku looms ominously over Taiwan on Saturday, September 13. The northern tip of Taiwan can barely be made out through gaps between the swirling arms.

It is now day two of Typhoon Sinlaku, and it’s a big one.  It was nearly a Category 5 before it hit Taiwan yesterday, though by the time it hit my area it was a mere Category 2.  Actually, the eye never even approached Taiching, but it was still severe enough to warrant nationwide school and business closures on Saturday and Sunday.

Sadly, even with my two days off I’ll have no spare time to write much else.  The new school term is now entering its third week, and I’m pretty stinkin’ swamped.  At least my courses are interesting, though.  More when I can.

Wuling – Day Three

After two months of steady studying, I finally have a break. The next term starts in two weeks, and it was wonderful to spend my first weekend in ages without feeling completely overwhelmed by all the homework I had to do. Can’t say I did much this weekend, though Nok and I did finally head down to the Natural Science Museum of Taichung City. Our goal was to see the I-Max and 3-D Theaters, but it turned out there were no English shows available. Still, the museum was huge and the exhibits were well-made. I may post about that later, but for now I’ll take the opportunity to fill in some more of my now three month old trip with the ‘rents.

The third day and night were also spent at Wuling Farm, high up in the mountains of central Taiwan. It was an astoundingly beautiful place, and one I hope I have a chance to see again to explore in more detail. We spent the third day walking up to a waterfall that I’d read about in the dreaded Lonely Planet. There were a lot of people on the “trail” (if it could be called that — it was wide and concrete for most of the way), but it was still an enjoyable walk. The surrounding mountains were beautiful, and aside from the strange old woman practicing Tai-Chi or some other weird dance at the base, the falls were excellent.

We did see a snake on the walk up. After we’d stopped to take a photo, we happened to look at the ground just behind where we were standing, and were surprised to see a rather large, brownish snake scurrying into a crack in the ground. There are lots of poisonous snakes in Taiwan, and this snake looked at least similar to one of them, so we should consider ourselves lucky that we only had a brief sighting.

Heading up the trail.

Mom, Dad and Scroggins take a break on the side of the trail. Later, we ate lunch at this same spot.

Mom and I stop for a picture at a beautiful lookout. It was here that we saw the snake.

Because it's just so beautiful. Nok, Scroggins and I from the same snake-infested place.

The same excellent view, but this time without the ugly people spoiling the shot.

Approaching the waterfall, we also saw this smaller one across the valley.

A small gazebo just before the waterfall. Mom, Dad and Nok are seen ahead.

Nearing the waterfall. It was actually pretty tall, this picture does it little justice. The strange old dancing woman can be seen on the far right.

A closeup of the waterfall, with Nok on the left.

Heading down the trail.

At the start of the trail was an excellent suspension bridge, where we stopped on the way back for this sweet photo.

After the hike, we walked around the little park in the middle of Wuling "town." This shot may seem rather ugly, but I include it because if you look very closely at the bottom-left corner, you can see Nok and I at the exact moment that we discovered Scroggins had rolled in some mysterious poop. Whoops, there's that word again. I'm working towards a PG-13 now.

This Blog Inappropriate for Small Children

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• poop (4x)  crappy (2x)  pooped (1x)

Oops… Better watch the language!

Taking a Break

Typhoon Fung-Wong approaches Taiwan on Thursday. Taiwan is the tiny green blip just to the left of the eye.

I haven’t written in over a month but there have been some good reasons.  In addition to moving to a new apartment in Taichung City, I’ve also (finally!) begun taking online classes with the University of Maine.  If I can manage to take four classes each term in addition to a full time teaching gig, I will be able to finish a BS in Liberal Studies by the end of next summer.

The first month was somewhat overwhelming at first, particularly since two of the classes were condensed to only three weeks.  This may sound excellent, but in fact the same amount of work usually done over a 14 week period was instead compressed into three weeks.  Combined with the two six weeks courses I was also taking, June and July were pretty stinkin’ busy.

Thankfully, I have now finished two of four courses for the summer, and have two weeks left on the other two classes.  This means I’ll have completed 12 credits in just six weeks, which is pretty satisfying knowing that I will have just 36 credits left between me and my degree.

To top it all off, typhoon season has just begun here in Taiwan.  We were hit by a “tropical storm” just ten days ago which caused massive flooding, including inside the basement parking in my building.  It also killed 19 people.  Luckily, my building uses a system of strange lifts to maximize parking space (they can fit two cars in the space of one), and by putting the lift in the up position I was able to save my car from up to 8 feet of water.  That was just a “storm.”

Yesterday we were hit by a Category Three Typhoon, though by the time it crossed the 4,000 meter high mountain range in the middle of Taiwan it was a mere Category One.  Still, the winds and rain were fierce enough to close businesses and schools nationwide.  It also cause severe leaking in my bedroom and living room, and the ceiling in my bathroom actually collapsed from the air pressure.

The thing is, July is not really supposed to have any major typhoons.  The big ones aren’t supposed to come until September or October.  The season is just beginning, and we’ve been hit by two big ones already.  Typhoons may sound like fun to some, but in addition to the flooding and damage they cause, they also force me to lose a lot of money when my school closes.  I don’t get paid for typhoon days, and they create a substantial dent in my income.

At any rate, I’m afraid that posting here will probably be light for the next year, with the exception of a few weeks in between terms.  Studying and work will keep me far too busy to update the blog most of the time, though I will write when I can.

PS – congratulations to Mike Mulkeen for his recent engagement to Shannon Graves.

Dakeshan (Mt. Dake)

I know I’m supposed to be writing about the hike to the waterfall at Wuling, but I just can’t wait to share this one. Yesterday, Nok and I headed up to a little known forest recreation area called Dakeshan. We knew nothing about the place and could find no information about it on the web. But we spotted it on a map we have and knew it was within a 90 minute drive, so on Sunday morning we packed for the day and hit the road.

What we found was a spectacular, incredibly isolated hike up some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve yet seen in Taiwan. At the base, there was a little fish farm with some HUGE fish swimming in the little pools, along with a nice restaurant. There were a handful of cars there, but this wasn’t what interested us. On a map near the entrance, we saw what appeared to be a little hike up Dakeshan (Mt Dake). It didn’t look to be that far, so we headed up an old, narrow and winding road. The road was rocky and pretty much impassable by car in many places, so though it was occasionally paved it was still a nice walk.

After a couple of miles, we saw signs for “Dakeshan II” and “Dakeshan I.” Dakeshan I said only 50 meters, while Dakeshan II said 500 meters. We figured we’d hit both of them, but went for the 500 meter trail first. Well, apparently that sign was completely wrong. After passing through a beautiful, sunny valley surrounded by jagged outcroppings of rock, the old road soon turned into a tiny, largely overgrown trail that went straight up. It was incredibly steep, requiring ropes to get up many of the slippery (from the steady trickle of rain) parts.

Thinking there was only 500 meters to the top, we continued on for about an hour, straight up. Eventually, we topped a ridgeline and found a fork in the trail. Not being able to read Chinese, we headed right towards the sign with a 2. The trail followed the ridgeline through thick, almost impassable jungle. By this time we were also enveloped in a thick fog, and indeed we started to feel a bit concerned about where we were going. We had no map, no idea where the trail was really going or how long it was, and since the trail was so narrow and overgrown, getting lost seemed like a very real possibility.

Then suddenly, after climbing over a two meter tall rock outcropping, we came into a small clearing. The first thing my eyes noticed was the sheer rock wall not more than a few hundred meters across a valley. The next thing I noticed, with some fright, was the incredible drop off just in front of where I stood, with a forest-covered river passing far, far below. I almost lost my balance.

It was foggy at first, but eventually the clouds lifted for a few minutes, allowing us to glimpse a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The trail continued on, but having gone on the hike with the expectation of just a quick, 500 meter jaunt, we were by this time not in the mood to hike any further. We did glimpse the peak through the fog, but it would have been at least another hour (on top of the 2.5 hours we’d already done).

To top it off, we were soon shocked to find nasty little leeches crawling all over our feet and legs. We headed down the mountain with a jolt, but not before both of us were bitten by leeches. Still, it was a beautiful place without another soul on the trail, and I’m extremely pleased to know it’s just an hour away.

We saw this friendly lizard at the very start of the hike. He let me get just inches away to take this picture, but when I stuck out my hand to grab he bolted.

There were many waterfalls like this along the old road for the first couple of miles.

And this one.

This little spring had a ceramic pot built into it, indicating that it was safe to drink. Some tin cups on a wire were hung to the left.

Giant caterpillars like this were found all along the trail, probably responsible for the multitude of beautiful butterflies in the area.

After a mile or two, we came out into a pleasant valley with beautiful, rocky ridges on both sides.

From the valley, we also had a beautiful view of the mountains and plains stretching all the way back to the ocean, though it didn’t come out very well in this picture.

Scroggins took a break in this cozy bed of flowers while we stopped for water.

Soon afterwards, the old road ended and we headed into thick jungle on a tiny, overgrown trail. The trail went literally straight up. The big-leafed trees here are wild banana trees. At the entrance to this tiny trail, after 2 miles of hiking, the sign said something about 300 meters. We guessed it meant 300 meters to the top and expected a short hike, but we were in for a tiring surprise.

After a mile or so of climbing straight up, we came across this ancient tree shrouded in old rags. The tree must have been several hundred years old, and its vast, antiquated roots stretched across the mountainside. At this point we were certain we were just a few minutes from the top.

After another mile or so of wandering along a ridgeline through thick, fog-enclosed jungle, I was perplexed when I came into a small clearing and saw this view. It was a sheer vertical mountain wall not more than a few hundred meters away. How was this possible?

Then I looked left and saw this foggy view, though I was still a bit perplexed.

Then I looked down and saw the valley floor far, far below me, at least 1,000 feet away. And I realized that I was standing on the top of a sheer wall of mountain just like the one I’d seen across the valley. The trail was incredibly narrow at this point, and on both sides of the ridgeline the mountainsides plummeted straight down. Taking this in suddenly after coming out of the dark jungle, I had a pang of vertigo.

The fog was shifting steadily, and after a while we were rewarded with some stunning views of the surrounding, absolutely gorgeous mountains.

Though the mountain we were on was high, the mountains beyond were enormous, and greatly surpassed our humble peak.

Eventually the fog lifted enough to see the top of the rock wall across the valley, and we surmised that this was the peak our trail was leading to. However, by this time we’d discovered the leeches so I wasn’t able to get a picture of the peak.

This was the view in the direction from which we’d come.

The hike back to the old road and the beautiful valley was a wet, nasty one with a steady rain and a horde of leeches. But when we finally made it back the sun came out and made for some wonderful views.

One of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen.

After stopping to pull all of the leeches out of our shoes and socks, we took the opportunity to get some sunny photos of this mountain paradise.

Nok and I make a point of having a campfire every time we go hiking. We soon found this big old rock and set up to cook a late lunch before walking the remaining 2 miles back to the car.

On the walk back, we noticed this waterfall was much bigger than we had thought and was backed by a beautiful rock outcropping.

It was getting dark by the time we reached the car, but this is one hike I won’t soon forget.

Day Two — Wuling Farm

I’m really falling behind in my blogging. Ever since I got the car I just don’t seem to have any spare time for it. And I’m afraid things will get much worse, since from next week I’ll be starting a distance learning program to finally finish my Bachelor’s Degree. So even though this trip was more than a month ago, the ‘rents are already back in the States and I have four newer outings to report, I present to you day two of the spectacular cross-Taiwan tour with the ‘rents.

After spending the morning in Sanxia looking at the old temple, we hit the road and headed east across the northern tip of Taiwan. Once over the mountains (or through, I should say, as there was an extensive tunnel system), we headed south and then west, curving back up into the mountains from the East coast.

It was a seven hour drive to our next stop, Wuling Farm. I didn’t really know what to expect at Wuling, but I knew it had a nice campground with stunning views and at least a few decent hikes in the area. The drive was pleasant, but we got socked in by fog after a few hours. Who knows what spectacular views we missed along the way.

Once in Wuling, we were appalled to see hordes of tourists and tour buses. However, even though for some strange reason the tour buses dropped the herds off at the campground for a quick look around, after their  fifteen minute stop the campground was largely empty. We rented little pre-set tents arrayed on a hillside surrounded by beautiful mountains.

We spent two nights there, using the days to walk around the surrounding area and take a short hike up to a waterfall. Wuling was a beautiful place, and I hope to be back in the future to go on some of the longer hikes.

Stopping for a rest on the drive to Wuling. The mountains here were still fairly small, but we would eventually hit 9,000+ feet.

Most of the drive followed along this wide riverbed, which was lined with strange, dusty farmland. We couldn’t figure out what they were trying to grow.

The “tents” at Wuling Campground. This shot looks back towards the office and parking lot. We stayed as far away as possible, at the end of the rows of 30 tents. Though it was cloudy for most of the stay, we were treated with this crystal clear view on our last morning.

Mom pokes her head out her tent. The ‘rents stayed in #27, and Nok and I stayed next door in 29. Crazily enough, renting these tents was more expensive than any hotel we stayed in during the entire trip.

When we woke up on the last morning and poked our heads out of the tent, this was our glorious view. This shot was literally taken from the entrance of the tent.

After arriving on the first night, we went for a walk around the campground. The campground is also the starting point for a two day hike up one of Taiwan’s tallest mountains, Snow Mountain. Obviously, we didn’t make it that far, but maybe next time.

Also on the first walk, we headed up this wooden walkway. The walkway was covered with what appeared to hordes of gobs of poop. Yet, the poop was all over the railings, too. What could possibly have done it?

We soon discovered the poop-culprits. Look closely at the trees beyond the fence, and you’ll see our very first Taiwan Monkey sighting. Actually, as we approached we’d seen at least four-five monkeys standing on this platform, but they ran away before we could get a picture.

Mom and Nok act out what will happen if a monkey attacks.

On the walk back to the campground. The whole time, Scroggins kept eating things he found on the trail. Little did we know, monkey poop is a tasty treat for dogs.

We came across a little pond during our walk with this sign of a guy enjoying a swim. But in spite of the Engrish, we eventually figured out that the sign was a warning and not an invitation to have a swim.

Dad and I came across this giant moth while walking to the camp store to buy some water. It was easily the size of my hand.

Later that night, we found this giant bug on the path to the bathroom. It was a good four inches long. Note the giant pinchers and fully functional wings. Imagine this beast flying at you from the dark!

Dinner time!  We had mistakenly planned on the campground having a restaurant, and as a result we brought no food on the trip. Not only did the campground not have a restaurant, but in addition the shop only sold instant noodles and canned mystery meats. Still, Nok did her best with the available supplies and managed to cook up a pretty tasty feast complete with what we later learned to be canned eel.

After dinner, Dad and I talked while Nok tried to make a fire. Unfortunately, because of the day’s rain she was not successful. Next up: the hike to the waterfall.

Day One – Sanxia

Probably the least interesting part of our trip was the first night and day. Since the ‘rents had arrived in the evening, I thought it would be best to spend the first night somewhere near the airport. Actually, originally I had planned on returning to my home in Fengyuan, then heading straight across the mountains on the Central Cross-Mountain Highway to Wuling and Taroko.

Sadly, I discovered the day before they arrived that the highway has been closed for nearly 10 years. It was closed after the major 921 Earthquake in 1999, and though they attempted to rebuild it, they finally gave up a few years ago. Too many typhoons and earthquakes to keep that treacherous road operable.

So in the end, I settled on a different route that included stopping in the small city of Sanxia for the first night. I knew nothing about Sanxia, only that it had been recommended by some other expats as a good first night stop. It is apparently famous for its “old street,” a stretch of road lined with hundreds of really old, brick buildings and shops. When we arrived in the evening, everything was already closed on the street, and then again the next morning when we came back for a second look.

The second main attraction in Sanxia is a big, old temple that has been under construction for 60 years and is still at least 10 years from completion. It was an interesting temple, but I have to say nothing special for Taiwan. There are temples like it everywhere.

Still, Sanxia was an okay place to spend one night before we headed to the beautiful mountains.

The Old Street at night. In spite of the blurriness, I think this is a great picture. Mom, Nok and I can be seen on the left.

After walking through the old street, we stopped for dinner at this little restaurant. Nok and I really don’t care for most Taiwanese food, but this place is one of the only exceptions. We just call it “boiled food,” because we don’t know what else to say. But it consists of choosing meat, vegetables and tofu from an open cooler, which is then boiled and served in a tasty sauce. Sadly, we have no pictures of the feast.

The old street by day, but too early for anything to be open.

A market popped up on the street below Mom and Dad’s hotel room the next morning. Actually, it was a pretty grimy neighborhood and I’m sorry it had to be the ‘rents’ first impression of Taiwan.

These strange beasts were for sale in the market. I think they are eels. Actually, we may have inadvertently eaten eel later in the trip, but that’s another story.

On a foot bridge near the old temple. I guess Mom loves taking pictures of bridges.

The old temple. It was pretty big. Once inside, we met an old man who claimed to be the son-in-law of the architect. He showed us around and pointed out the intricate woodworking inside. At the end, he produced a paper that read in bold letters, “Support Taiwan for the UN.” We thought he was after cash, but turns out he was just a nice old man who loved his country.

The beautifully carved and painted roof of the temple was also lined with a lovely green moss.

Though difficult to see in this picture, the inside of the temple was covered with elaborately carved wooden spirals and images.

The smoky temple was also filled with strange little shrines like this. I don’t really know what it was for, but I don’t think this temple was Buddhist.

From the second floor of the temple.

Dad leaves the temple. From here it was a seven hour drive up into the mountains, to the beautiful Wuling Farm Campground.

An Exciting Trip with the ‘Rents

It’s been a long time since my last post, but that’s because I’ve been extremely busy these last two weeks.  On April 30 the ‘Rents flew in from Singapore, and we spent six sweet days driving around the beautiful mountains of Taiwan.

Our trip topped 1,000 kilometers through some incredibly rugged, mountainous terrain.  We went from the sea to a peak elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, and enjoyed the narrow, windy mountain roads along the way.

From Fengyuan, Nok and I made the drive up to the international airport just outside of Taipei.  We picked up Mom and Dad at the airport, then headed to a small city called Sansia which was just an hour south.  After a night in Sansia and a morning spent seeing a big temple and “the Old Street,” we headed east and then south, down a windy mountain road to a place called Wuling Farm.

At Wuling, we spent two nights in a beautiful campground with a spectacular view (and even a few monkeys), before heading to over the mountains again to Taroko Gorge National Park.  After a day in Taroko, we headed up the scenic East Coast of Taiwan along some superb cliff-side roads, before spending the night in Suao and enjoying its rather strange “cold springs.”

The next day it was back to the airport, but first we made a quick stop in Taipei to head to the top of the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101.  Sadly, the ‘rents left soon after, but it was an excellent trip that we won’t soon forget.

This crude map shows the approximate route we took.  I will write in detail later about each of the stops along the way, but since my camera batteries died I’ll need to wait for pictures from Mom and Dad before I can get to everything.

Even with six days and 1,000 kilometers, you can see we only touched a fraction of the island.  Guess we’ll have to plan another trip soon.  And sadly, no, we didn’t almost die.