Taiwan: Spontaneous, Unexpected and Unexplainable Greatness

The MV Explorer pulled into the Keelung Port at about 11pm on April 3rd and the ship cleared at 8am on April 4th.  Our last international port.  Within my first day there I had decided that Taiwanese people are without a doubt the nicest people I have ever met (with the possible exception of Ghanaian people)  INSTANCE #1: We had no idea how to get to the bus station and the language barrier was very high.  Literally five minutes after we stepped foot in Keelung a man handed us 200 Vietnamese dollar (about 7 US $) and pushed us on a city bus.  So we found our way to the Keelung City Bus and Train Station.  It was pouring rain.  Our goal was to get to Yangmingshun National Park.  We hopped on a semi-random bus to some town that we understood to be north of where we were (The National Park was north so it seemed like an educated guess).  We ended up in a little town called Janshun.  There we walked around in the rain a little and grabbed a few beers as we tried to leap over language barrier after language barrier and failed numerous times.  INSTANCE # TWO: We showed a woman cooking food on the street the phone number to where we were trying to go, she kindly used her phone, called the number, and wrote in Traditional Chinese Characters the name of the Camping Area so we could more easily find out way. We were told that to get to the Jingshan Camping Area we needed to take the red bus.  So we did.  When we got off at the last station, a five-star hotsprings hotel, a kind waiter who spoke English told us we had gone in the exact opposite direction.  We laughed.  There’s really not much you can do in situations like these than laugh.  Getting lost and ending up somewhere you had no intentions of going is half the fun of traveling!  As we waited for another bus to come back and take us forty-five minutes in the other direction we met a very nice couple from Australia. 

After a while we did end up where we wanted to be.  We made it to the Jingshan Camping Area.  Well by this time we are soaking wet and hungry.  Instead of renting a campsite, we decided to get lunch instead.  INSTANCE # 3: The newest waitress at the restaurant ordered a special meal for us without us even asking, drew us a map to the next bus station, and walked us down the hill in the rain to make sure we knew where we were going.  So when Sarah (the waitress) set us off we walked towards the bus station.  An intriguing trail came up on our left and of course we had to see where it lead.  Lucky for us the trail read, “Jyansih Waterfall.” You can’t just stumble upon a waterfall and not go check it out!  We hiked a ways in the rain to a beautiful waterfall and even farther to a grassland.  The sign there read, “Pathway ahead in the meadow used to pasture cattle in the early years, where still remained many wild cattle to date, tourist shall pay attention to your passage and detour while cattle are in sight.” It was awesome to see because the rain made it very mystical and eerie feeling.  You couldn’t see ten feet ahead of you, so on top of a mountain with random cows and tall grasses everywhere… it was really neat.  We wanted to get back before dark so we hiked back to where we were told the bus would pick us up and what do you know… INSTANCE # 4: Sarah was at the bus station, she had just gotten off work.  She helped up get to Taipei, then onto another bus back to Keelung, and she insisted on buying us some cake because it was her favorite and she wanted us to try it. I would definitely say day 1 in Taiwan was a success.

The next day we met a taxi driver named Jason.  Jason drove us down the northeastern coast of Taiwan for about 5 or 6 hours.  It was incredible.  The rocky ocean line of the country made for the most beautiful pictures.  We saw waterfalls and a mountain shaped like King Kong’s Head.  We hiked next to an elementary school overlooking the ocean and to a lighthouse.  We rock climbed.  It was easily one of the greatest days of my voyage.

That night a bunch of us went to a popular night market in Keelung where they eat everything.  Literally, there was everything from candy coated strawberries and fried sweet corn to live fish and sea urchins just sitting on tables in the streets!

The last day in Taiwan; my last day as an international student.  My roommate, Eric, and I took the metro to Taipei City and saw the second tallest building in the World (Taipei 101) and visited the Taipei International Floral Expo.  It was the perfect way to finish things off.  On-ship time was 6:00.  The next time I step on land it will be that of the United States of America. 

I cannot believe that this is almost over.  I have circumnavigated the world.  11 countries in 100 days.  Now… An 11 day stretch to Hilo, Hawaii and then it’s time to wrap it up.  Although I know this experience will follow me for the remainder of my entire life, I wish it didn’t go by quite so quickly.  Ship life is busy with activities and school work so I will be plenty busy, but I have a couple more things I would like to share with everyone… So keep reading!