Moon Day Festival Weekend

Rainbow
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And then the rains came, washing away all hopes of a weekend camping and hiking in the hills around Taipei. It came in torrents and in short bursts, drizzles, and sprinkles, followed by another round of downpours. Glumly I watched from inside the apartment as I tried to stay busy playing computer games and avoiding all productive work – it is a 4 day weekend after all.

On Monday the skies finally began to clear. In an attempt to salvage at least part of this weekend, we hopped on the bike and headed for the beach. As we drove out of the city we saw an impressive rainbow stretching above our route, much to the excitement of a four year old boy standing nearby at a red light. As we started riding up the mountain road which led to the coast a light rain began to fall. Noooooooo. Then it started to pour harder making the road wet and slippery. After watching a group of motorcyclists in front of us turn around we decided to do the same. I was a bit sad as we started back down the mountain. But then we heard sirens blaring and an ambulance passed us going up the mountain, so I felt less bad about our decision.

Waterfall just outside of Taipei
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We reached the bottom of the mountain road and were about to head back to the city when we spotted a tiny flat road heading toward more jungle. Out of curiosity we took the road to see where it would go. We were rewarded after just five minutes when it ended at a large monastery, waterfall, and a park with hiking trails. The titanic waterfall had multi tiers, but no pool, just giant boulders the water smashed into before running downwards into the countryside. In the light rain we walked up a trail that followed alongside the falls. Near the top, a little temple had been built into the rock face close to the falls. Opening the door, we discovered the temple was empty. Large incense sticks burned in front of a shrine full of different small deities, on the wall was a mix of Chinese and Tibetan writing. Stairs in the temple led under the waterfall and to a flat concrete meditation area with a beautiful view of the green tree filled valley.

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Another well marked trail led us up a hill and to a stream deeper into the jungle. Unlike hikes I’ve done in Malaysia and other SEA countries, Taiwan’s jungles are not tropical, but semi-tropical. This means it is nowhere near as hot. Another difference was that the jungle had very few animals, not even leaches! By this point we were already pretty wet, so the rain wasn’t bothersome. It was very pleasant to spend the day outside hiking.