Driving-(forces)/[extra]-Room in my Backpack

Now for the last installment of my time in Taiwan:

From inside, as its raining and the spa is filling

I left off soaking in the hot spring spa on the back patio of our room, and that's exactly where we picked back up in the morning. It had been raining and the rain was still hang overhead, coming and going with its intensity. But that didn't stop us from refilling the spa with fresh hot spring water and climbing back in. Only this time to be able to fully indulge and enjoy our stunning view.

An attempt at a panoramic view of the private backyard/patio from the hot spring spa itself

 After requesting a late checkout, soaking up some more hot spring time, we got ourselves ready and back on the road. Today would be a day of driving. Driving the coastal road up, then taking the mountainous, inland road back down before we had to return the rental car and get on our night train back to Taipei.

We stopped to take photos of the coastal views. We saw literally hundreds of cyclists participating in some sort of a race. And we took a pause to head down to the beach (which we had yet to actually visit, though we were on an island!) and play in the sand and water. But mostly, we just took in the view. The beauty. The tranquility of wind in hair, forward movement, world flying by wonder that I usually experience when on a scenic drive with the windows down.

It must be mentioned now that for the life of us, we could not figure out how to get the iPod jack to work for/with our iPods...so, with this said, there was no music to our road trip. But, on this particular occasion, in this particular country, with this particular travel companion...it wasn't the least bit bothersome or irritating (ok, perhaps initially it was irritating as I was bound and determined not to let a frickin car stereo system beat me...bet then again, let's face it, this wouldn't be the first time...nor will it be the last, that technology has overpowered me).

We took our time, in no rush at all, just seeing what we could see. Just driving. We drove for nearly seven hours; some stops were made, some wanderings done, but mostly just driving--not covering more than 200km total. Just driving for the sake of driving. No destination in mind. Just to see what was out there. It was very beautiful. Very peaceful. Very much the kind of vacation I love.

I can't say which part of the drive was best, the coastal road up or the mountain and valley winding road back down to Taitung, as they were both equal yet different in their beauty and splendorous views. We simply kept repeating over and over as we drove "Beautiful. Beautiful."

But like all good things, this too had to come to an end. We had to return the car and get our train. We were shown even more kindnesses with free rides and door-to-door drop-offs, and we got ourselves some good ol' American dinner (McDonald's) and got ourselves back to the train station plenty early enough to get our bags and get our night train to Taipei.

It was a 7 hour train ride and though I remember little of it, I do remember not sleeping much/well either. But, we were both awake and bags in hand when our stop came (as this train was not terminating at our destination as our previous trains had, so we had to know when and where we were to be getting off at--perhaps not the easiest feat at 5:30 in the morning with a restless night's "sleep"). The other problem with taking an overnight train in Taiwan is--besides being sleep deprived from the non-sleep-accommodating conditions on the train of no sleeper car, non-fully-reclining seats, unmovable, super hard armrests, and last but not least, bright ass lights on the WHOLE trip--that once you arrive at 5:30 in the morning, even in Taipei City, nothing is open and you're exhausted and just need food, and coffee, and sleep, and somewhere to leave this God-forsaken bag you've been lugging about!

So it's no surprise that most of the morning in Taipei is a bit of a blur (as it was supposed to include some shopping pre 1pm flight, but with the time it takes getting to the airport and being exhausted and it being a Sunday, we finally just gave up) but there are a few things I can tell you. We almost fell asleep at the table of the cafe where we had breakfast. We did manage to find lockers in the subway to stash our bags in. We almost fell asleep at a Starbucks table in the underground, unopen, shopping mall. And we found ourself a little friend.

As we were walking for breakfast, this scrawny, cocky character of a street dog began to follow us. He almost seemed to perk up instantly as we passed by as if to say, "Hey, you two seem to know where it's at and look like you're dog lovers! Bet I can score some breakfast out of this deal!!" As we are dog lovers, and not completely stupid (despite being sleep deprived), we quickly caught onto what was going on. So after about 20 feet we stopped, dead in our tracks. And our new little friend stopped as well, almost as comically as Tom being busted following Jerry and doing the hands behind his back, nose up whistling, kind of pacing in place thing. He simply sat down and began looking around, but never at us.

Busted.

"Just lookin at this building..."

So we began again, and so did he. And we stopped, and so did he. With the same, comical act as before as if to say "What? I was just checkin out this crack in the sidewalk. Fascinating, really, how the curve of the crack...Oh, they're going again!" So we lost interest in our search for breakfast, and the crushing weight of our delirious exhaustion seemed to disappear, if only for a little bit, as we laughed steadily and loudly at the actions of this street-smart, wise-guy Taiwanese street dog. It is this dog that I will most fondly and outstandingly remember from that last, tired day in Taiwan.

After all was said and done, we made it to the airport, to our plane, and back to Korea with no issues, no missing of transport methods due to tardiness, but very, very tired. So when we finally arrived home, to our less than spacious, not-as-nice-as-some-of-our-accommodations-in-Taiwan apartment, I slept. I slept long and I slept hard. And while I slept, with my bag still fully packed, all the beautiful feelings and memories and moments of Taiwan came out and curled themselves up in my brain and in my heart. And when I woke, they came out of me visibly and energetically: beaming and fresh and full of love for travel.

As I began to unpack my bag, I realized how much I had brought back to Korea with me. I brought back a lightness that I had been trying to bring about in myself for weeks, months really. I brought back a feeling and a desire to readily live the next 90 days in Korea and excitedly see what lies ahead of those 90 days. I brought back the ability to see, appreciate, and even marvel at the beauty that is the Korean countryside. I brought back new eyes and a new heart. Or perhaps, I just brought back the me I came here as over a year ago. All these things, these are the treasured souvenirs I brought back with me from Taiwan. But who knew I'd bring all this back and not even need to make extra room in my bag.