30days30years

The mainland

Well I made it back to the mainland! But sans a trip to the Zhaori Hot Spring which was the whole reason for my visit to Green Island in the first place! D’oh!
Such an utter disaster.

I awoke this morning thinking that I might actually have to start begging people for money after the B&B owner seemed to have developed a massive case of amnesia overnight.

As agreed with her yesterday, I went to her with a piece of paper sporting the phone number of Debby’s (pictured) aunt, who had kindly agreed to spot me some money to get off the island. Instead of calling the number she feigned ignorance and pretended as if she knew nothing of what I was talking about.

After a conversation with Debby late last night, we worked out that if her aunt could take cash to the brother of the B&B owner in Taitung, the B&B owner would then give me enough money to pay for my accommodation on Green Island and also to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

It took me several frantic phone calls to Debby to sort it all out and eventually the B&B owner produced the much needed $500NT for the ferry.

It still left me short for the hot spring and also a tour of the local jail which once held political prisoners and is now a museum. I had been looking forward to both immensely but as I have learned so often in life, you can’t always get what you want.

Besides, the weather still wasn’t playing ball so I couldn’t really go anywhere anyway unless I fancied getting drenched like I did yesterday. So instead, (after spending the morning trying to dry my clothes with a hairdryer attached to the wall between it shorting out every two minutes) I sought refuge in the local 7eleven where I knew I could scrape together enough coin to buy a bowl of instant noodles and effectively combine them as both breakfast and lunch.

When I arrived I found Stefan and his partner and daughter there also for breakfast and they insisted on buying me a coffee and the noodles because I had had such a terrible time. There it is again – random kindness of strangers.

It had me skipping a happy tune for the rest of the morning until I got to the ferry terminal about 2.15pm to wait for the ferry. As I stood there, first in the queue, with a young Dutch couple who wondered up, we were bombarded by a tour bus of Asians, who must surely have been blind such was the manner in which they pushed right past us, knocking my bike over and taking up their position at the dock’s edge.

I went and “checked-in” my bicycle (read here, put it free standing on the back of the ferry and hoping it wouldn’t blow off on the ride back to the mainland) and came back to the end of the queue simply astounded by their rudeness. What had happened to all these lovely Taiwanese people who have been so accommodating and supportive? They pushed and yelled and elbowed until they were practically blue in the face like an angry mob of football hooligans. Eyes were nearly lost by umbrellas flying about and one lady almost fell down between the dock and the ferry bobbing away next to it.

I have no idea why the man taking the tickets didn’t call for order. Surely common sense would dictate they if you all go through single file in an orderly manner, it is much quicker than trying to climb over the back of your fellow passenger and causing a bottleneck at the front of the queue.

It wasn’t until I got inside the ferry and sat down in the seat in front of the Dutch couple that I realised the reason for this behaviour.

“Mainland Chinese,” the Dutch guy said. “A-ha!” They weren’t Taiwanese at all. 🙂

The ferry ride itself was a lot smoother this time around and so I happily rode the 8km back into Taitung to go to a bank and get cash out for Debby’s aunt. I also called into the Giant store to get them to pump up my tyres. I’m convinced they are flat and that’s why I’m going so slow. From the gestures the sales assistant was making though, I think it’s just that I’m too heavy!

By the time I finished in Taitung it was 5pm but I decide to head on north on my bike for a couple of hours to at least inch a little further towards my final destination. I’m so glad I did. It was still raining a bit but I came to a little village called Fushan which was by far and away the most picturesque place I have visited in Taiwan to date.

I didn’t stop to take any pictures because I was too busy enjoying the scenery – mountains, thickly covered with tropical plants, breaking through the fog and mist, waves crashing along the shoreline. Stunning.

I’ve stopped in a town called Doulan overnight where I once again sought out its junior high school. The security guard there put me onto one of the young teachers who spoke English who said I couldn’t stay there or at the elementary school down the road but that I should try the police station because she knew they had showers and hot water to drink.

So down to the local cop shop I peddled, where I was told nothing was doing there either but that I should try down a driveway across the street. “English”, the policeman said.

I moseyed on down the drive to find a guy who looks like an American Indian carving guitars out of wood. Next to him is a cute dog with a cast on its leg.

He didn’t speak English but put me on the phone to his wife who did. Her name is Ellen and she asked if I could wait a couple of minutes for her to get back to the house. While I wait I ask the guy what happened to the dog using my best charades’ skills. It was hit by a car earlier in the week and snapped its leg in two.

When Ellen returned she showed me to a cosy room, decorated with wooden shelves and additions crafted by her husband. The bed is so divinely soft I cannot wait to snuggle into it later tonight. 🙂

Ellen invited me to join her, her hubbie and his 15-year-old son for dinner where she prepared a fabulous spaghetti bolognese-style dish. It was terribly good. Over dinner we chatted about her husband’s aboriginal roots here in Taiwan and the fact she used to also be a journalist. There seem to be a lot of us in this part of the world at the moment because over breakfast I learned Stefan from Germany works for Reuters.