Super Saturday

We literally have a list on our refrigerator of places we want to go and things we want to do in Taiwan. Somehow the list seems to get longer rather than shorter with time.  However, last week one of our new Scottish buddies from the Hsinchu Outdoor Group contacted us about doing a hike (Caoling Historic Trail and Taoyuan Valley Trail) that just happened to be on our list.  Since she speaks and reads Chinese, we knew the plans for the trip would be better than if we planned it ourselves. 

James purchased the 6am trains tickets on Friday evening for our trip.  When we arrived to the train station at 5:50am Saturday morning, our friend was nowhere to be found.  I called her at 5:53am.  She answered the phone confused.  She had slept through her alarm and was still sleeping.  She insisted we take the train without her since the next train was not until 7:43am. After about 30 seconds she really comprehended what was happening.  She suddenly started giving me a list of instructions about how to get to trailhead, etc.  James walked to the ticket purchase counter and received a full refund for her ticket literally five minutes before the train!  We hopped on the 2 hour and 40 minute train to begin our adventure without the trusty Lonely Planet guide in hand. 

We went through Taipei and headed back south again along the east coast to Fulong Beach.  During the summer months, the beach is famous for it's sand sculptures (it is on our list...).  Check these pictures out: 

                 

When we exited the train, the weather was less than ideal.  It was overcast and drizzling.  Of course, we went to the trusty 7 11 to purchase a coffee for James, a warm soy milk for me and a poncho for James (since he forgot to bring one and these are like two-time-use ponchos anyway).  The signs were easy to follow along the road to the trailhead.  There were also a decent number of the classic Taiwanese umbrella hikers heading in the same direction.  The Taiwanese carry umberellas for all types of weather - sunny and rainy. 

Fulong Beach is also famous for a bicycle path that follows along the east coast.  There were several bicycle rental shops next to the train station. The bicycle path was added to our list on the refrigerator but for a nice weather day.

I am mentally preparing myself for this adventure.  It looks like a long trail.  

Here goes the poncho hike.  The ponchos actually work better than rain coats for hiking because they cover your backpack. They keep you warm in a humid sticky kind of way.

The beginning of the trail was in the forest. 

The trail is starting to open up...

Look at the quails crossing the path!

Maybe we should invest in an umbrella hat like this guy!

And we are on the coast!  At this point during the hike, we are just plain wet but the temperature was warmer than before. We could have taken a different path down to a small town called Dali with a train station.  However, we stuck with the original plan and continued on the main trail.   

All of our views will be similar to this for the rest of the trail.  We are walking the "hills" between the coast and the big mountains.  The PUDS (pointless ups and downs) reminded me of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.  That was the only thing that reminded me of Georgia about this trail though. 

Let the endless staircase begin. 

The trail is known for the water buffalo that graze in the hills.  We got to see some but thankfully they were not too close. 

We continued on the trail for what seemed like eternity. The rain kept starting and stopping again.  At one point, we came to a small car park area.  The sign said there was still a 5k left of the trail plus the additional (and unknown) distance to the Daxi train station.  There happened to be a taxi parked there.  After a discussion, we decided to go try to talk to the taxi and see if we could get a ride to the train station.  Since everyone who reads this blog knows us well, you must know that we were pretty sick and tried of being wet and cold to consider not finishing a trail.  That's just not what the Rockwells do! For better or worse, the driver was not in the taxi.  We enjoyed a quick "lunch" and continued on.  Ironically for our state of minds, the trail signs for about the next mile continued to say there was a 5k left of the current trail we were on.  Why would it play tricks on us right now!

The remaining part of the hike was slow going but the food improved our attitudes as it normally does.  The stairs were slippery and there was a lot of downhill at the end.  We became true Taiwanese hikers towards the end.  Many times we see locals hiking with music playing.  I pulled out my iPhone and started rocking to the few songs I have on the phone.  

We are nearing the end of the trail!

Back to somewhat civilization.  The trail ends while you walk through someone's garden.  Nothing out of the ordinary here.  Too bad you can't pick a few things and pay someone. Farm to hungry hiker's mouth.  I think it would be a great business plan for the farmer!

You can't see this picture very clearly but we hiked the green trail (there is a yellow dot at the Fulong train station) which connects to the red trail which connects to the black trail which brings you back to the coast (and the red "You are Here" marker). The actual trail itself is 17k plus the additional distance to the train stations on both ends comes to a grand total of about 21k or 22k so about 13 miles.  Wow!

And the final time plus proof James was on the hike since he is not in any pictures once again...

I am completely whooped at the end.  Here I am attempted to buy a train ticket to Hsinchu from someone who speaks no English. Of course, I barely speak any Chinese either and I am the one who chose to live here.  

We had about an hour to wait on the local train.  After changing from wet clothes to damp clothes (note to self, put my dry change of clothes in a plastic bag or else they will get damp while hiking on a rainy day), we continued to walk in search of food in the deserted town.  We found a nice place to sit and watch some surfers at a distance but not much for food (not even a 7 11 this time).  Considering how beautiful this trail was on a not-so-nice weather day, I can't imagine how gorgeous it would be on a nice weather day.  I don't know if I can officially scratch this trail off the list on the refrigerator due to this.  

Thankfully, we had to exit the local train (which I nicknamed the snail train because it was sooo slow and stopped so frequently) at the Taipei main station.  We were pleasantly surprised to see this huge Christmas tree!!!!  As one of the other teachers said at my school, he is "having a hard time getting in the Christmas spirit".  Well, I 100% agree.  I am not complaining but the 85 degree and sunny weather on Sunday did not help me to get in the mood.  I feel like we should be on a mission to find every Christmas decoration display in Taiwan.  Anyway, this day definitely met the qualifications for a Super Saturday.  We arrived home around 8pm (after of course walking home from the train station in Hsinchu). 

We saw this fancy machine at the train station set up by the Taipei public library.  You can check out and return books.  Cool!  

So, here's the Domnio's Christmas dinner meal.  I don't even know what half of that food is supposed to be be or what in the world is on that pizza which apparently has a cheese stuffed crust.  Interesting to say the least.  

We really miss everyone especially during the holiday season! Hopefully we will be in Georgia and Michigan in spirit this Christmas :)