Every now and then over the past few years we've ventured up beyond the fork in the highway that leads stage left to Damshui, and instead journeyed along the artery that pulses with increasing pressure north then east as it tracks its way along the coastal arm. It's a path well travelled, as we used to travel it most weekends, and even on some week days after work, in search of waves at The Pillbox and other "secret" locations along its length.
Without my madly keen surf buddy Ross to urge me on, and a general lack of motivation after the usual 90% chance of poor or mediocre surf, I've increasingly neglected this stretch of road. If Cass and I have meandered along it on a weekend, we invariably turn off to take in the bucolic villages and rolling hills on the back road leading to the country town of Sanzhi, and Baishawan Beach beyond that.
The main road is now a seething traffic snarl baring its teeth most viciously on the weekend as day-trippers join the ever increasing live-in population. Adding to the fury of the traffic is the new elevated and cantilevered mirror road being constructed above this road for most of its length. The huge, dirty yellow graders and diggers needed to build it all congregate at the church of dirt on Sunday, alone and silent, yet their pews take up at least one of the lanes of the current road, adding to the congestion. A spit of rain can add even more chaos to the mix as drivers become overly cautious and crawl along at a soporific pace.
Five-ten years ago, things were vastly different. The wide boulevards had been cut and graded and the mature palm trees planted along the footpaths seemed to ooze resort envy. Traffic lights fussed over almost non-existent traffic and cars could be held hostage for minutes on end when halted at an intersection all on their own. Just two or three multi-storied buildings on hectares of land sat optimistically in search of friends like neglected girls at a high school dance. Vast spaces sat stubbornly empty, quietly growing weeds or blowing tumbleweeds around with willy-willies.
Slowly however, and over a relatively short period of time, machinery and manpower has quite magically transformed this back section of Damshui leading to Sanzhi. Even our beloved "Pillbox", the backwater beach with its jagged outcrops of rocks, sandwiched between a rubbish dump and a stinky pig farm, has been discovered. Not by surfers, but the authorities building infrastructure for the burgeoning population: a bike-path now neatly slices through the shoreline, and the pillbox itself has been demolished and built over. The rest of the land tranche is a concrete jungle cut at times by gleaming new light-rail lines or giant cranes blocking streets while their extended arms sketch the skyline. It's not till we motor beyond the Damshui hinterland that things return to "normal"...
Progress wrecks some good memories, and I felt a little sad to see what had become of The Pillbox. As the road wound on towards Baishawan though, the countryside seemed more stable and the sights more constant, which was a source of relief. The beach restaurant strip has flourished and expanded and the wild "Jetson" housing complex of years gone by is now but a memory, but things felt "right" again! We motored right round the top of the island before taking a break at Jinshan and its newly developed and improved car-park which incorporates the trail-head for improved walking and biking tracks as well as signage......who would have thought it?!
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/2620723/taiwan.jpg){kind=link}
After our snack lunch at the sizeable 7/11 nearby, we came back across the mountain in the quite claustrophobic mist and light rain. It's amazing how the climate changes completely every time we negotiate our way up this mountain road: for all its beauty, I don't think I'd like to live up there! Roadside stalls, packs of dogs, slow moving vehicles and fields of lilies appeared then vanished in the blink of an eye and eventually we were careering down the other side of the mountain before locking the "silver bullet" away safely in her new, warm and snug home. A short scooter ride for us and we were similarly ensconced, ready to relax for the evening before starting another week of work on the morrow.
Photos: Pillbox lament, Jinshan surf, signage and rocks, the car at rest and a little promo from our local supermarket. I'll tell you more next time, but we've been collecting little stickers with our grocery purchases for some time and we're ready to "cash in" on some saucepans...old school!!