Misadventures in Yilan

Plans have a way of rapidly changing. I had started with the plan of going on a trip down the coast until it became clear that the Taiwan equivalent of Labor Day weekend was not the best time for a last minute trip. So instead I had planned to finally hit Baitou and see the hot springs. As I woke up this morning, I was invited by another fellow in the hostel to go with him over to Yilan. With a shrug I said sure.

The bus station was chaos. Even a normally orderly place can become noisy and crowded when everyone and their mother wants to get out of the city. The bus itself, though, was calm once we boarded. The comfortable seats were made to relax a person a long, or not so long, trip.

This would be my first time really escaping Taipei since I had arrived. I watched in fascination as the city skyline faded away to be replaced with verdant mountainsides. Tropical foliage covered the landscape as we wound up the road. The scene was periodically broken by a few buildings or colorful temples.

A passing shot of a temple in the mountains

We entered a tunnel that seemed to go on forever. I hungered for more of the pretty vistas, but the bus rout was sadly lacking in that area. When we exited the tunnel though, things quickly changed. The alluvial plain stretched out before us. Rice paddies and fish farms dotted the landscape. Looking hard, I could peer past all of this to spot Turtle Island. The mass could be seen rising out of the ocean in the distance.

Art at the old train station

Off the bus and on the streets we headed into town. My companion had some errands that needed settled first. We passed by the old train station and down into the market. Fresh fruit and fish were abundantly displayed. I could see fresh catches at one stall while another hawked fruits I could not identify. While not so different from Taipei in style, it was less crowded.

With things taken care of, it was time for lunch. We ate at a restaurant known to my friend. I ended up ordering some hotpot. Not a bad meal of pork, noodles, and the mix of ingredients that get tossed in. It certainly went better than my first try. Now, the more interesting thing about the meal was a little thing that came at the end. It was a kind of gelatin called bread tea, I think. It is flower, tea, and honey.

Bread tea

It was about this time that the plan started to change in unexpected ways. The medications that my companion had picked up were not agreeing with him. So rather than continue on, I had the restaurant call a cab to take us back to the bus station. It was not until we were getting tickets that he realized that he had left his wallet in the taxi.

Vine captured my attention while waiting

Trying to get help when no one speaks English can be tough. It took some time, but we finally got across that his wallet was missing and that he needed help. A little time waiting and the police showed up, but they did not speak English either. Fortunately, I was able to contact a friend of mine to do some translating for us. A man with some excellent English showed up a bit later on to help as well.

The taxi driver was eventually found and he brought the wallet back to us. The police wanted a group photo of everyone involved and took down our names. I think they want to put it in the news to promote the honesty of the taxi driver and the the police effectiveness.

The ride back was not so unlike the ride in. I took a final glance at Turtle Island and vowed that I would be back, and next time I would make it to the coast. There was some navigational issues in that we did not get off at our stop, or possibly it was skipped. In any case, the MRT did not cost much more to get us back from where we were than if we had arrived at the Main Station.

Final view of Turtle Island. I will be back.

It was an eventful day to say the least. I felt fine though. Weather was alright. I saw a few interesting things. My wallet stayed in my pocket. It did give me a taste of what lies beyond Taipei though. I need to be out, to be free. I need to see the wilderness of the island experience all the Taiwan has to offer.