For my birthday this year, I knew it had to involve three things: my favorite guys, delicious food and a spectacular hike. Check, check and double check! It’s rare that Philip is around for my birthday due to his work schedule, so we felt very lucky this year. Our travel bags are usually half-packed these days, so we just threw in some extra clothes for the chilly mountain weather and off we went to take our first Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR) train to the city of Taichung, one hour south of Taipei.
As soon as we alighted, we could immediately sense the different energy between Taichung and Taipei. Taichung felt much more laid back to us and more ethnically diverse due its higher population of Southeast Asian immigrants. Our first stop was the birthplace of bubble milk tea, the original Chun Shui Tang (春水堂). As mentioned in a previous post, this is Jules’ favorite bubble tea spot, so of course, we had to make sure we came to where it all started. The tea tasted the same as it does in Taipei (I’m sure they’ve got the formula down pat now after 34 years), but the vibe inside the restaurant was more rustic and cozy than the sleekly packaged product we frequent in Taipei.
The next morning, our hiking guide/Taiwanese historian extraordinaire/geologist/driver, Dustin, picked us up for the three hour drive to the mountains of Taroko National Park. The island of Taiwan was formed when two tectonic plates, the Eurasian plate and Philippine plate collided, one from the west and one from the east. Therefore, the ‘backbone’ of Taiwan consists of a ridge of mountain ranges running north-south. Amazing for hiking but kind of crappy if you’re trying to get from the eastern side of the island to the western and vice versa.
The Taiwanese government has designated a group of ‘100 Peaks’ as the greatest mountains in Taiwan. We lucked out with sunny skies over the weekend and were able to hike to two of those peaks, Mt Shihmen (石門), or Stone Gate, and Mt Hehuan (合歡山), aka the Switzerland of Asia, in a day. On our way to Mt Shihmen, we passed by the second highest 7-11, elevation-wise, in Taiwan. If you’ve ever lived in Taiwan, then you’ll understand why we had to stop here. A future post on the wonders of convenience stores, such as 7-11, here in Taiwan is in the pipeline. Seriously, they have changed my life.
At an elevation of 3237m (10,620 ft), Mt Shihmen is one of the lower peaks in the ‘100 Peaks’ list, so we started here. Apart from the initial 20 minute steep ascent, the hike to the peak was manageable. Once we got to the top, wowwww…. Feeling like you’re inside an Albert Bierstadt painting is pretty awesome. Shifting shadows along the valley floors and mountainsides, cones of filtered sunlight, rolling waves of clouds, all shades imaginable of green. What made the peak even more special is the fact that we were the only ones on it! Most of the tour buses stop to let tourists get a quick selfie before driving away, so no one bothers to hike the extra hour to reach the peak. One hour for magnificence, people! Well, we certainly enjoyed the peace and quiet and breathing in fresh mountain air while savoring our Taiwanese bananas.
Armed with appetites, our next stop was the Song Syue Lodge, where we filled our bellies with comfort, vegetarian fare (yes, there is such a thing). Stewed bamboo shoots, miso soup, braised turnips and strong ginger tea helped revive us. During lunch, Jules complained of a slight tummy ache, and I was feeling a bit light-headed. Aaahh, this must be that thing they call altitude sickness. Years ago, Philip climbed mountains in New Zealand, so he had experienced altitude sickness before. All I know is, if I feel hung over, then I better have had some drinks the night before. Thankfully, the lunch reenergized us for our next peak, Mt Hehuan.
At 3417m (11,210 ft), the summit of Mt Hehuan is only 180m (590 ft) higher than Mt Shihmen. Well, you would have thought that Philip and I were walking through molasses based on our pace up the mountain. This wasn’t a difficult hike, but the altitude sickness really kicked in big time. I felt like I was trapped in one of those dreams where you’re trying to run away from a baddie, but you’re moving so slooooow. The altitude didn’t seem to slow Jules down so much as he made fun of us old people while running ahead. Visibility was also decreasing as we climbed higher, clouds wrapped around us from all sides. To ease the elevation gain, tons of switchbacks were created, which made the relatively short journey feel much longer. I did love seeing the colorful birds and few flowers that were thriving, especially in the crevices between rocks.
I was definitely feeling more light-headed and slightly nauseated once we reached the top, and Jules started complaining of a headache. To prevent our altitude sickness from worsening, Dustin advised us to start our descent. Well, rather than going back down the time-consuming switchbacks, Dustin took us down a ‘shortcut’ (i.e. an acrophobe’s nightmare — a steep, rocky trail through bamboo straight down the side of the mountain). Thankfully, once we reached the car park, most of our symptoms subsided. Jules felt much better and slept soundly on the 3 1/2 hour journey back to town.
When Jules woke up he was ready to explore Taiwan’s largest night market, Feng Jia (逢甲夜市). Currently, we live about 10 minutes away by foot from the biggest night market in Taipei, Shilin. Well, Feng Jia put Shilin to shame in terms of size and food selection. You really have to be mentally prepared to enter one of Taiwan’s massive night markets as your senses are assaulted by flashing, neon lights, competing smells and the noise generated by throngs of people. I was in heaven! Dustin told us not to miss the ‘Small Sausage Wrapped in a Big Sausage,’ or 大腸包小腸. What’chu talkin’ bout, Willis? Well, it turns out that this greasy delight is actually a sausage encased in a hot dog bun/sausage-looking thing made out of sticky rice. Very tasty, but I think my stomach is still digesting this popular snack a few days later.
Next up, the Taiwanese version of a donut hole, a sweet potato ball (地爪球). Combine sweet potato with sweet potato flour and sugar, deep fry and enjoy a hollow and chewy orb of sweet potato essence. Since Philip and Jules aren’t big fans of sweet potatoes, they weren’t as enamored with this snack as I was. The pan-fried pork buns (生煎包), a Taiwanese corn dog and guava strips dipped in sour plum powder were up their alleys, though. Well, what to wash down all of this oily night marketness with? Ooh, ooh, I know, channel my inner Taiwanese and look for the beverage stall with the longest line. In this case, the most delicious and refreshing papaya milk (木爪奶), a blend of fresh papaya, milk and ice, I have ever had in all of my years of night marketing in Taiwan. I think that it’s the only beverage Jules and I have ever wrassled over.
After a few rounds of Jules’ favorite night market game, shooting plastic pellets at balloons, and trying to grab cheap stuffed animals with that metal grabby thing that drops the animal at the last second to give you false hope so you can part with more of your money, we called it a night.
At least, I thought it was over. Well, when we returned to the hotel, Philip and Jules surprised me with birthday cake. Killer birthday, triple check.
