Taiwan's "independence day falls on October 10. Since we had missed out on our trip to Green Island earlier in the year due to a bully typhoon, we decided to go during this three-day weekend. So we left early on a less-than-high-speed train to Taidung. It was on this trip that we learned an important lesson about the Taiwanese travel industry - they're ruthless. Let me explain: Our tickets were "standing" tickets, which means that we had no seat reserved for the ride (something you won't really find in America). The full impact of this principle of business hit us when we realized that, since the standing tickets do not depend on the number of seats on the train,
they never have to stop selling standing room tickets. They can pack us in those cars like
cattle and we can't complain because we are getting what they told us we were getting - standing room (and nothing more, I can assure you). So, on our five hour train ride, we watched in horror as, at each stop, more travelers boarded and squished us into our small spots.
We had originally found a spot to sit (where you get on or off the train), but this spot wasn't so desirable when we realized that every 10-15 min. we'd have to get up and find a place to stand to let the new crowd on the train. So, that was a very long 5 1/2 hours. We eventually found a nook right behind a seat, where we squashed ourselves in. It was quite uncomfortable, but at least I wasn't standing.
But wait, our traveling wasn't over yet. We had an hour ferry ride ahead of us. This ferry ride made me never want to travel in Taiwan again. There wasn't a line to get on the ferry, but somehow we happened to be on the dock right where the ferry pulled up. As soon as they put the plank out, people were pushing and ramming each other to get on this silly ferry. As Zach said, "I could just pick up my feet and let the crowd carry me into the ferry." We almost saw an old man get knocked into the water. These people were crazy!
After a long hour of watching people throw up and having our fellow companions get sea sick, we finally made it only to know that in 36 hours we'd have to endure this whole trip again
.
The actually travelling made the trip horrible, but the day and a half we were there was nice. Zach and I were able to rent a scooter and be the masters of our own destinies. It felt so good not having to wait for a subway or flag down a bus. We were able to drive wherever we wanted on this small island. God really answered our prayers by creating the perfect weather for us.
On the island we went snorkeling dressed like little dorks in our wet suits, life jackets, and masks. Luckily, we didn't get a picture of us. We also went geocaching (using a gps to find a location, it's kinda like a scavenger hunt that's already set up for you). We looked at 2 places, but weren't able to actually find the geocache. However, we did get to see some pretty awesome places on the island by going geocaching.
Saturday night our group went to a natural salt water hot springs. We looked like little mobsters with our water caps on sitting in hot tubs. (In Taiwan at any pool they make you where a water cap). It was quite rel
axing, but neither Zach or I are fond of 100 plus degrees water or the salt. We kept dunking ourselves in the cold and then struggling to put our bodies into the hot water. After an hour of that, we were done and had a delightful scooter drive in the rain while in our swimming suits.
Our trip home wasn't as bad as the trip down, but we felt completely wiped out. The week of school following that trip definitely was a hard one. Vacations are fun, but they wipe you out!
Overall, we enjoyed getting out of the city. I've never valued the countryside as much as I do now. And hey, we even saw a John Deere tractor once we were out of the city. Oh yeah, and how I could I forget to add that we even saw a lighthouse.
