Surf flat as an ironing board, beautiful sunny day with skies that are so rare in Taipei: clear and crisp, showing the clarity of the horizon so clearly it seems that usually we must be squinting through smudged glasses. So, how to take advantage of this rare weather? We decided to go back to our old scooter riding adventures and head up to an (as it happens, elusive) waterfall area in the hinterland of the National Palace. On the way we zipped past the hustle and bustle of the Museum and wended our way ever higher into the mountains. We passed big shelter sheds where the quaint custom of fishing for prawns takes place. As we flashed by (wishful thinking: “Blackie” the scooter was labouring up the hill allowing us a slow view of proceedings!) we could see people squatting on plastic chairs surrounding a large pool, presumably writhing with loads of prawns, with little fishing lines and nets. Hopefully they got to eat them afterwards!
Ever higher into the mountains, the road began to curve back and forth to defeat the gradient a little and you could almost hear those old banjos twangin’ (or the Taiwanese equivalent) In fact, we took a wrong turn at some point and as the road went higher and higher, it narrowed as well, almost as if it was signaling the squeezing out of every drop of city life as it snaked uphill. We arrived at a dead end where a couple of wizened men were chewing some beetle nut and threading some kind of rope. We made a hasty U-turn and continued on. It was great actually to go through little hamlets and pockets of rainforest and national park that we’d never traveled before. We eventually made it to Buffalo Meadows and set our sights on the pagoda viewing platform which was so high up from our starting point that it looked like a little doll’s house pagoda, ant like humans puffing their way up the path to it as it was occasionally dusted with passing cloud. It was a good hike up and although the path was well made with stone steps, the slope was so steep; each step took some effort so that when we reached the top we were sweating and puffing. The trail had no barriers and if we lost our footing, sheer drops fell away at many points. At the top we were amazed to see a thin concrete service road, which must have had its origins at a less steep part of the mountain. Judging by the numbers of geriatric walkers, it must come in handy for ambulances from time to time!
Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we opted not to attempt the higher peak of Mt Cisang, which was tantalizing close to our pagoda (just another 1.5 km straight up!) as we had to get home to watch the football semi on live at 1.30 our time. We had made an aborted attempt on the southern face of Mt Cisang last year, when moss and water combined with slippery footwear saw us abandon that effort in sight of the peak. Oh well, another time. Carefully picking our way down we were amazed to see 3 creatures of various wonder. First, a super sized stripey gecko, almost of frilled neck lizard proportions crossed our path. A little later the most amazing lizards with an electric blue tail darted away as we approached. Lastly, and I’m very thankful I didn’t see it, a long, thin brown snake slithered along the path next to Cassy and disappeared into the grass.
The scooter seemed to drop forever into the Taipei city bowl from our very lofty height and each turn and drop increased the temperature a notch, until, before we knew it, we were dodging traffic again, breathing fumes and sweltering in the heat down in our little world. We watched the footy after the excitement of the Cowboys winning the night before and while excited about the next two weeks of big games, we’re just starting to get that niggling feeling I always experienced back home. The “hiatus” didn’t last long in Australia before the cricket started, but here, the start of the footy season next year seems a long, long way away.
We’re off to see Elton John on Thursday night, which should be a hoot, Taipei style and we’re looking forward to a long weekend next weekend, Monday and Tuesday off for a “Fall Break”, which I think sounds a little dangerous, but apparently it means it just happens in autumn!
