Taiwan’s natural environment is a wonderland for outdoor sports; I have long said that it could be an Asian version of New Zealand. Some sports, such as cycling and hiking, already have a strong foothold, but the scale and breadth of the natural resources on offer here mean many more activities are possible.
River tracing (or river trekking) has been on the rise in Taiwan in the last few years. Similar to canyoning combines hiking, climbing and some swimming, negotiating obstacles and often working in a team. A host of friends have been recently, so I was delighted when one of Yuyin’s friends invited us to go.
There are several outfits offering outdoor activities in Wulai, but White Squall Adventure School is run for the benefit of improving the lot of less advantaged kids, so while the price was a little higher than the other places we thought it would be worth it. The company’s owner, Rock, is a true salt-of-the-earth type, and I really enjoyed spending the day with him.
I was imagining climbing up a very small stream, perhaps through trees, negotiating rocks and roots while making our way up the hill. Actually, we navigated our way up the river feeding into Wulai; a river I have ridden or driven beside many times and as a result even better to have a chance to splash around in.
Rock’s approach was to allow the group to discuss, try out, fail, retry and eventually succeed. This is in stark contrast to the typical teaching techniques in Taiwan that preach a digital correct / incorrect approach that yields accuracy, but does little in the way to foster team work or creativity. It was a wonderful day working as a team, looking out for each other, keeping eye-contact and slowly making our way to the end of the river. I would recommend it to any group of friends or colleagues.
Summer 2011 FashionSuited and BootedThe rascal Rock sprays us with water as we get into the van that took us to the trail head. I guess there is no turning back now!Two waterproof cameras packed – really useful at a time like this.Reservoir DogsTeam buildingNegotiating the first obstacle was a bit of a challenge, but nothing compared to those that came later in the day. A good chance to test our teamwork though!Rock guides towards the next section, and asks for our inputShades of greyGary's trousers fill with water, and we all erupt in laughterFlowLooking up at the next obstacle, we were told we needed to enter under the fall from the left side, and exit to the right – a challenge!Getting serious nowSuccess!The guys consider their next moveWorking as a team to get across this fast flowing sectionSaved!ReflectionsHappy!An 8m drop into the water below was not easy!Just about all of us dared jump in – quite a mental challenge!Pulling some team members up the rocksTeam photoThe sun begins to set on a gorgeous dayFoot prints (incidentally I was told not to wear my Vibram five finger toe things – not grippy enough – instead we had sort of dish cloths attached to our feet)The best thing about the day was the amount of team work, and care we all took over others.Finally at the end!Being dumped back in the van for the ride home – but no spray this time!Looking back at what we all achievedFOOD!
Cloudgate (雲門舞集) are an institution in Taiwan; and one of its most treasured cultural exports. Combining traditional Asian and Chinese motifs, they combine them in extraordinary ways, mixing digital media, human-scale calligraphy, old folk tales and contemporary dance. It’s always a challenge to get seats for their performances in Taiwan, since they are so often on the road abroad, but they have an annual open-air performance; this year at least in the grounds of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, and in the shadow of the National Theatre.
Seats were first-come-first-serve, so Yuyin and I wandered over a couple of hours early, camping mat in hand and laid out a pretty good plot for our friends that were planning on joining later. Taipei for once served up a rather splendid sunset, and we enjoyed hanging out in an unusual environment with kids running around and old people bisecting the audience loaded with shopping bags on their way home – hilarious.
With the clock counting down, Abe, Lin and Steve arrived packing fizzy wines, cheeses, hams and a plethora of treats; if we were going to do this, we were going to do this in style! We were certainly the only ones I saw drinking out of about 10,000 people, quaffing out of champagne glasses and getting increasingly giddy as the evening progressed.
The dance? I give the troupe full respect for not holding back, and not pandering to the lowest common denominator; the accompanying audio and performance were challenging, and at moments poignant and beautiful. The strength, stamina and control on display were extraordinary – and that for us just sitting still on a camping mat for two hours.
Sitting in the shadow of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial HallYuyin at work!The girl with the sun in her hairSugar wouldn't melt in her mouthEnjoying an afternoon in the sun
Abe arrives with a basket of styleTeam CULTURE!The warmup was hilarious – 10,000 people doing stretches; try this in the UK and you would get beer cans full of piss thrown at the stage – only half joking.CaptivatedLooking down at the amphitheatre down belowSteve inspects the door … need one of these in my next place
Video
Check out this video here which introduces the performance we saw:
Nenggao has been the ‘nemesis’ ride for the group for the last two years, attempts thwarted by typhoons and bad weather on two attempts: last year we even made it about a third of the way in before we had to turn around and high-tail it.
One of the highest trails in Taiwan, it climbs from about 1900m to 2950m, into the clouds. The trail itself, while well maintained for Taiwan, is beset by landslides. The bits that are not about to fall into oblivion, however, are very nicely graded, which is nice when you are climbing at high altitude and your lungs are trying to escape via your mouth.
Anxious e-mails were traded in the week leading up to the ride. Heavy rains were hitting Taipei in the afternoons, and we were not comfortable with the idea of being caught-out on the hill. Mark, Martin, Peter and I decided to go for it, planning to wake up at 5am and get to the top before the clouds were set to come in. Waking up at 5am, we were greeted with clear skies and cool air; it was now or never!
Reaching the police station at about 6:00am, we discovered they were not yet open for business, displaying only a sign that mountain permits were not being issued, and that vehicles and bicycles were not allowed to enter the trail. Ignoring the warnings, we ascended up to the trail head (a challenge by itself in a 2WD bus), prepped the bikes, loaded packs with food and water and began the long drag up, Martin clearly smoking EPO cigarettes and showing us a clean pair of heels.
The climb is about three and a half hours, broken with some scary sections of major landslide and rockfall. Legs were not quite calibrated with lungs and heart; they were able to put in far higher effort than the cardiovascular system, which would conk out unless you kept the effort at a moderate level. The cool air, clear skies and occasional views across the mountains kept the motivation up, though.
Reaching the top at about 10:30, we high-fived and whooped when we saw an almost flawless vista down to the smaller hills above Hualien down below. Clouds were forming quickly, however, so we ate lunch, and were engulfed in cloud within half an hour. Perfect timing. Negotiating the slipperiest segments of landslide in the dry, we were treated to 13km of sublime single-track descending; fast, slippery and technical. Minutes went by in a trance of speed and kicked-up mud. This is why we are mountain bikers.
5:20am, and clear skies!The sign says "all is really safe and you have nothing to worry about AT ALL – go and enjoy yourselves!" cough coughRiding one of the suspension bridgesMajor landslide, which stopped us in our tracks last time (that and the fact that we arrived about 6 hours earlier than last year)Kickin' itThis was to be our descent …Second of the major rockfalls. The junior workmen told us it would be fine to ride on; the site foreman told us to turn back. We smiled and carried on, but we knew we had to be back before it started to rain.One bridge out, and one bridge half-finished, slippery and dangerous.… but the skies were still holding for us!Double triple waterfall, and we are at the hut; a further 20 minutes of riding until we got to the saddle overlooking the Hualien plain, and lunch / brunch.We did it!Celebratory photographsOur timing was bang-on perfect; clouds engulfed us for the return through the landslide area.… no more photos on the descent as we were having far too much fun, and wanted to get off the hill in the dry. My filthy bike is testament to the quality of the ride.Austin Powers parking. Mark accompanies us as we ride down the hill back to the village to get washed-up."Can we borrow your hosepipe?" … 20 minutes later, mud covering the street and bags of used food packaging handed over, I think we were stretching our welcome!
Pack a range of clothes, nutrition, sun tan lotion (we are at almost 3000m remember) and whatever spares you are happy to carry. Start early, and enjoy!
The day after our kitsch night out, we planned to escape the city and head for the hills. Joining friends from Facebook and Google, we drove over the Golden Gate and into Marin County. It was all very odd with Abe and Armando; we are 30-ish year guys and we have never been in a car with one of the others driving … the same thing with almost all of my Asia-based friends, in fact. Unthinkable in Europe or the USA.
AtmosphericsArachnid
Making a beeline for Alamere Falls in Marin county, we hit Taipei-levels of traffic as people headed out to make the most of the holiday weekend. Our late start then bled into massive delays, and we arrived at the trail head at about 4pm. Since the sun was likely to set at about 8pm, we decided to strap on our shoes and go for it.
We wound our way through majestic redwoods, light pouring through and the sound of the sea filtering through the birdsong: oh how I wish Taiwan had a more temperate climate, otherwise I would be doing this every weekend!
Breaking through the trees, we began the final descent towards the cliffs, a substantial stream picking its way down through the rocks on its way to the ocean. Gathering to take triumphant photos at the base of the waterfall, it was fantastic to be in such a beautiful place with so many good friends.
Stepping out … a little later than we first planned!Big trees demand a big lensPeeking over the horizon and thinking of Taiwan on the other side!The first of the falls heading down towards the beach.Gorgeous!JAZZ HANDS!‘I was young and I needed the money’Yay!Abe art directs the photo of a perfect Californian view. Armando has other plans.As a direct result of our tardy start, we enjoyed some pretty amazing light and views across the trees.Sunshine account in the red.Seeing this photo, I couldn’t help but think of Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, who did the last U2 album coverTeam Jazz Hands!
And a note to myself and the people that were there … ‘deaf hands!’
Explaining why three male, unmarried room mates from Taipei were in San Francisco for ‘entirely independent’ reasons, raised some eyebrows amongst the people that we met. But honest, Abe was visiting family, Armando was jetting through en-route to Austin, and I was leaving Texas on the way back to Asia. These things don’t happen an awful lot, so I was bursting to see what it would be like to meet them in a country where we all speak the same language as the locals.
Through some minor level of planning, we found ourselves on a night out in a relic of 1970s kitcsh, The Tonga Room, complete with Filipino funk band that floats out into the middle of a small lake in the middle of the bar, and retreats again when the rain starts pouring down (yes).
I guess I am as transfixed by the double-decker trains as foreigners are by double-decker buses in the UK.View from my room across the roof topsCalifornia metal
Badly made cocktails, silly dancing and some sore heads set us up for a great morning of brunching and procrastinating on starting a hike off in Marin county…
