I wasn't feeling massively energetic so decided to challenge the "back steps" of the Tienmu Gudao, which although more precarious, are lower in intensity, depth and length than the original punishing ascent. I haven't scootered along the ridge line leading to the trail-head here for a few years. On such a stellar day, it was a joy and relaxation, the newly tuned and tyred "Blackie" purring up the hills and cruising gently around corners. The road starts in an impossibly narrow lane wedged between housing tracts before opening out to hug the contours of the hill then forks to the right, ever upwards into the thickening forest.
There's no pretense at safety on the path, as you can see from the video above (for now, or later here). There is a sulfur infused river and waterfall cascading over boulders 100 metres below this path, and a wrong footfall could have one tumbling off the edge all the way to the bottom through ferns and humus. In fact, when I was heading back down taking the video, I deliberately took the more precarious outside path when I met an elderly couple coming up, which was lucky as old mate fell into the bushes on the lee side as I passed. I think he was mesmerized by seeing the "foreigner" trekking down this path in the middle of nowhere and lost his footing!
Cass, in turn, went strolling across town in search of a few items for our trip at the end of the week. She was only mildly successful, but did renew her acquaintance with a retarded fellow who has a shop assistant's job at one of the local chemist shops. She loves him as, quite ironically, he's one of the few assistants around who speaks a bit of English: who'd have thought it?!
We spent a fair bit of time watching the day/night cricket match from Perth over the weekend as well! We luxuriated in the playing schedule as, once a year when they play in Perth, the times match up exactly with us here in Taipei. It was quite intriguing cricket, a real battle of wills and the Aussies eventually triumphed. They also neatly packaged their win into four days, so we saw it wrap up last night instead of missing the final sessions when working today!
Tomorrow, the kids do their final exam for the semester which consists of a five paragraph essay on Fahrenheit 451. We'll have a doorstop of grading, close to 100 each come 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. We then have to get them all graded before class on Friday, hand them back, then prepare for our trip to Germany later that night. Blog will be on hiatus for a few weeks till we get back from the Fatherland! Photos: Cass, Todd and I dressed in our 451 t-shirts on Friday, Oggi pizza is always great on the weekends, and the trail was spectacularly lit in variegated greens.