Oh Yeah it's Christmas!
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2007
1
24
114
Trip End
Ongoing
Taitung/Green Island,
Taiwan
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
December 25th (back in time)
Woke up this morning forgetting it was Christmas until it hit me on the noggin in the form of "Merry Christmas" from Terry as we departed from The Surf Shack to head North to Green Island. We took the bus West to a city called Fangliao where we caught a train that took us to the East coast by traversing mountains and hugging the coast line. We arrived in Taitung where we set out to locate our hostel called the Gringo. Taitung is where we will catch the ferry to Green island. We signed up for a tour which will include snorkeling and cruising around on scooters. Tomorrow we will be picked up at 8am outside the hostel. The Gringo is a bit of an iron box. It's on the 2nd floor and you have to lift a metal door to climb the stairs up. Our room feels like a prison cell but at the price I should not complain. I went to a cyber cafe to pass some time and will now take a shower before calling family for Christmas. After that it's off to the Who bar for 4 four 3 beer night. (The previous entry was written after a few at the Who). Tonight I'll have to make sure I don't over do it as most people puke from sea sickness on the ferry. Well if I'm gonna puke anyways I might as well have a good night. Merry Christmas everyone.
The trip has been great so far. Both days on the water have been fun and exhausting. I welcomed today as a day of rest to let my shoulders recoup and heal. Jamie has been a great traveling companion. She has shown good initiative to help us along the way. Getting from place to place, be it by scooter, car, train or bus has been a good experience. I wish we had more time to spend here. I have harboured thoughts of living here instead of Korea. Maybe some day.
December 26th 2007
Oh Great White God of the Sea
I'll leave you if you leave me
When in your world respectful I will always be
Free from lifes constrictive captivity
Just want to ride land, snow and sea
Born to go to places up high along with others so certianly
And to find that perfect moment, never passing me by
Stuck down by the Earths gentle spin, to fly I have to try
Up at 8am and down to the street. We waited for about 15 minutes and a cab pulled up. The driver got out and started to speak to us in Chinese while motioning for us to get in his cab. We kindly refused however he continued. I started to think that he might be our ride however Jamie was the voice of reason not to. We walked across the street to call our contact Eddie. The cabie and Eddie spoke over the phone and when I got the phone back Eddie said "I don't know that guy". We said no thank you and walked back to the The Gringo. Moments later a cab pulled up and the driver got out and showed us a paper with Jamie on it. We were off!
At the marina the cabbie got us our tickets and I slipped him 100NTD for his help. We said hi to a family we met on the bus yesterday. They to were heading to Green Island too. We boarded the ferry and got comfy. We had been warned that it was a rough ride but I felt that I would be ok. Well, about five minutes into the ride I was sea sick. Each seat had an abundance of bags for upchuck. I turned to my left and Jamie, the warrior she is was stoically fine. I on the other hand was not so good. I felt like I had just had a night of excess toxins, ready to hurle. My coping strategy was to lie across three empty seats and curl up into a fetal position all the while praying to Poseidon to have mercy on my sea sick soul. The boat cruised along hopping from swell to swell. An hour later I was on firm ground and it took another hour to recover and feel ok. Kevin 1 Ocean 0, of course like any good competitor I'll give her a rematch as I return to the mainland. We checked into the hotel and relaxed. For lunch I had Mountain Boar and rice with a big beer. We then hopped on scooters and cruised around the island completing the circle in an hour. It was very beautiful. We visited a gift store where I bought some gifts for my students and bosses. It's 3pm and we are off to snorkel. It's over cast and a bit windy but it should be fun!
Snorkeling was fantastic. We were a group of seven including our guide. We swam out about 100 meters and floated on the surface of the water. The reef was beautiful and the many fish swiming about were of every colour imaginable. Our guide had bread which we fed the fish. These curious little creatures swam all around us nibbling on the bread. It was a feeding frenzy. They were all shapes and sizes. I was particularly fond of Big Nose. A shy fish, he kept his distance while his ocean mates gobbled up the bread. It was so peaceful out there and as I stared off into the darkness of the ocean beyond the reef I vowed to conquer my fear of scuba in times to come.
-Thanks for reading
