So here it is. My travel story!! :D Note: the place stated is the place we spend the night. :] These is what i can rmb.
台中TaiZhong
Day1 (9/12)
Basically travelling the whole day. Woke up at 4.45 despite sleeping at nearly 12 :@ Left for airport @ 5, met my dad's colleagues there. Had breakfast @ Macs aft chking in. Flight @ 6.45, stoned. Reached Kuala Lumpur @ nearly 8. Then waited till 10 for next flight- read my bk. (Haha so antisocial >:P)
On the flight to Taipei i wouldn't have survived w/o my bk- didn't know when they'll switch the movies on. Lunch was gd.:} After that watched a movie, but i totally couldn't understand it-bored- turned off halfway- slept for 1/2 hr. Was 2+ or so when we reached. Spent a long time @ airport discussing how to get to TaiZhong. Took a first-class bus-2hr. :] fell asleep listening to music. Wasai night fell damn early la, was darkening by 5. Felt so like night. Then changed bus and stayed at Honeydew Hotel (what a cute name:P).
溪头XiTou
Day 2 (10/12)
Left for XiTou in the morn. Aiyo pack things v 麻烦 everytime scared i lost this and that. Chartered a bus for 12 of us. On the way we went to a park called 太极峡谷, which had a suspension bridge over a river- and a waterfall. You might think it's just a suspension bridge, but it's not like any other. This was the toughest, scariest and most dangerous trek for our trip. It was so scary man. ;x It was actually a valley that ran 500m down (can u imagine?) And we climbed all the way down and up again! OMG la. The paths are precariously perched on the side of cliffs. There are stairs at places- but even then not all the time there are railings, and looking down could scare the shit out of me. Tended to feel giddy. And it's v hard to walk- v rocky. Never had i seen a place so diff to conquer- and so damn majestic. The view was awesome. A rocky river ran between the 2 cliffs- right from a waterfall! By the time i reached the suspension bridge, i had nearly sprained my ankle once, and was almost at the end of my hook. Yet it was just the beginning of the walk. The suspension bride was super high abv the water- omg i was scared like shit la. Nv knew i was this afraid of heights- almost never get scared on roller coasters or anything.
Then we climbed all the way down- wa hard man. Scared to trip, scared to fall, scared of this and that. Tiring. The scenery was so beautiful. I learnt that in order to see nature's beauty, you must be fit! we climbed to the bottom to touch the river- and i had a hard time on the rocks ;x cos i scared ma.
Later we went to the waterfall. All the way. It was the source of this river. OMG it was the first time i saw a waterfall. I couldn't believe it was natural. it fell into a pool- tricked onto rock, and went down, and down- wow, water was lovely blue. must show picture ar! Next time. I had a stomachache and i had to go to the bushes ;x which was gross.
I overcame my fear of heights quite a bit that day. learnt not to fear where i step so much after awhile. half of us were so tired climbing up we called a four wheel drive- a veh to drive us to the top. Wow. What a time!
Checked in our homestay @ XiTou- rooms abv a shophouse. Nice and cosy, but had to bathe w a face towel ;x (that place is mainly for travelling locals) Had dinner and lunch tgt- was late. Played w the others- rms quite open, on same floor :)
Day 3 (11/12)
Went to XiTou Ntl park. Not as bad as e prev day's but wow, what a trek! It's beautiful. It belongs to a university for plant study. not so much up and down, but as we didn't know the way, walked one big round. Went on this adventure trail w some things to play w like ropes. And then this dog suddenly appeared and kept following us for food, and i was damn scared- i scared of dogs. it wouldn't go away, and i kept panicking. Fortunately we managed to drive it away when we took another trail. Whew! And i learnt that i should try to stay calm as far a posible, met w other dogs in the later day. Then we found this playground that was super fun. :} Went back to rest in the aftnn.
埔里PuLi
Day 4 (12/12)
Woke up b4 6- we were supposed to go to Hualien that day. Went to see some nice things along the way, like a place w many flowers. There was a famous stall for a "dragon beard" kind of snack. cool to see how the man made it. :]
Later we went to the mtn w a hot spring. Nearly puked bcos of the bends in the road D;. The spring was actually a spa w pools heated w water fr the spring- spring was too hot. Was a cool experience. Helped massage my muscles that was damn sore a little. We didn't know that that place had been hit by the typhoon- they told us even the locals didn't dare to come! Then we went to another mtn where we had lunch, and then watched a sheep show. No shearing, though :(
Then we went up the mtn. We went damn high. Then the bus broke down, OMG WTF. :@ At first i thought it's a small prob, and read my bk while waiting. It didn't move. Sometimes we got out for the men to push it to start it going. Some really helpful passers-by helped us- how kind! :] It started awhile, and stopped again. Ugh ;x Then it started getting dark. Our driver called a mechanic, and another bus to bring us down- couldn't go up anymore. But it'd take a few hrs! One really kind couple brought my fam down to a hotel lobby (no rms, had to wait for the others to find) Ate 7-Eleven hot dogs for dinner. They had some festival and there was fireworks :) and traditional songs. Later the bus finally came down- a diff one- the faulty one was still up there. Luggage was packed in that one, and we met up w the others. It had been pitch dark up there, but awesome stars. I bet i'd been damn scared.
Went down much more to a motel, which was actually in a temple. Didn't bathe that night- had at the spa. They only had face towels to bathe w too. But my pants had grass fr sliding down the slope at the sheep show :x
花莲HuaLien
Day 5 (13/12)
So yea, emergency. Well discovered the temple was really beautiful. our driver stayed overnight there with us aft his bus was fixed. Had vegetarian breakfast :] Then we headed for hualien. Went all the way up to the top of the mtn- 3 deg C at 3275m! Cold man. :] What an experience! Saw some icicles on the roadside later:D went to another peak aft that. Then we went all the way down the mtn. Stopped at Tarako Ntl Park along the way, but we didn't see much other than a river- our plan had been changed due to the break down. Kinda sian w all the nature. We went to a beach. So cool! The waves were big, and the ground was stomes! :} But my poor mum fell in trying to film my dad and bro. Got soaked to the waist ;x Still not as bad as when i got dunked at camp, i reckon. Finally reached our hotel. Finally we had a decent bath towel!:D