The Quest for the Tonghou Trail

The goal of yesterday's hike was to go to the trailhead of the Tonghou Trail in the Yilan end. Robert and Trailhacker had hiked this trail once before, starting at the other end near Wulai.

Our efforts ended up being a comedy of errors.

It was me, Robert and Kate. We drove to Yilan and began searching for the trailhead. Only problem: we weren't sure where it was. Not to worry: it's a major national trail, so someone should know where it is. Right? Right.

We started our quest in Jiaoxi, a town famous for its hot springs. We went to the visitor center, where we should, in theory, be able to find information. However, the people at the center's information desk didn't know what we were talking about. They had never heard of this trail. Fortunately, there was a guy who claimed he knew. He gave us directions to a village named Shuanglianbi.

So we drove up there - making some wrong turns on the way due to poor road signage. Anyway, we finally arrived where we wanted to go: Shuanglianbi. We found a very nice little restaurant up there, where we stopped to take a look at the idyllic Taiwanese countryside.



We saw no trailhead in the vicinity, so we continued driving until we saw some cyclists, fully equipped with gear. Surely they would know. They pointed up the road, which we followed. It ended at a botanical park. This is a place we plan on going sometime; but it was not what we wanted at the time. We drove back and asked at another restaurant - a trout restaurant. The guy there claimed he knew - he said we had to follow the road back until we reached the first bridge, then turn left.

On the way back, we stopped once again at Shuanglianbi and asked at the restaurant. They had no idea. We called Trailhacker, a Taiwanese friend of ours who is also a hiking god. Surely he'd know - there's barely a trail in Taiwan he doesn't know. He said that the trail ended near a restaurant near the town of Longtan. We checked our map (admittedly not very detailed), and there was no town called Longtan on it. There was a Longtan lake, though.

OK, armed with sketchy and conflicting directions, we headed back down the mountain road. The first bridge we came to was back in an urban area. So we turned left and followed the road. After about 15 minutes, it dead-ended in a cemetery.

By that time it was already past lunchtime, so we stopped to picnic in the graveyard, having lunch in front of the tomb of a certain Mr. Chou.

We decided to go instead to the Paoma Trail - that way, at least we'd get some hiking in. As we drove along, we just happened to see a sign pointing toward Longtan. OK, the hunt was on. Now we were determined to find the elusive Tonghou trailhead. We followed some convoluted roads, and then arrived in Longtan. Hmmm, now we had to get some directions. We stopped at a police station: the police said "Yes, we know where it is. Sometimes we have to rescue hikers who are trapped up there. But you shouldn't go...it's getting late and it could be dangerous." They said to follow the road we were on, until we come to a chicken restaurant (that's the restaurant Trailhacker mentioned!). Then we have to turn right and go up the road.

So we followed the directions. After making another wrong turn due to poor signage, we found the restaurant! Then we drove up the road to the right - it was narrow and rough. Soon we found a signpost...the first sign with the words "Tonghou Trail" on it!! Kate was so happy she hugged the sign!


We were on the right track, finally! We continued driving, the road getting rougher and rougher, until it became a muddy dirt road that was too rough for Robert's car to handle. We parked the car. By then it was 3:00pm. We hiked from then on, 2 kilometers up the steep, muddy road, following the signs and making educated guesses when we came to unsigned forks in the road. And it all paid off - we finally (at 3:55pm) arrived at the trailhead!

We walked along the trail, which was really muddy, for about 15 minutes. It was starting to get dark, and the area was shrouded in mist.


Then we came to a part of the trail that was so muddy as to be impassable. So we went back down to the car. It was 5:00pm by the time we reached the car. In all, we managed to get about 2 hours of hiking in.

Afterwards, we drove to the seaside town of Daxi where we met Trailhacker (he lives in Daxi), and had a hearty dinner at one of our favorite seafood restaurants. The harbor-side fish market was closed, so we chose a fish from the restaurant's cooler. We had bonito, prepared in 3 different ways, and a side of birdsnest fern. As usual, Trailhacker gave us tons of useful information about hiking and outdoor activities in Taiwan.

Daily grind

Well, I'm healthy again! My stomach problems appear to be gone (through there's still a little tenderness); the final coughing phase of my cold is dissipating.

And it's work as usual. Most of my cases lately have been "ren bu lai" (i.e. client chooses in advance not to show up in person to sit by me as I translate), which means I have flexibility in determining which order I do things in and when I arrive at the office. In the winter time, work starts at 10am, but depending on my case load I can come in at noon if I want, as long as the work gets done. This is one of the reasons I like my job - I've never been a morning person!

On the other hand, the advantage of "ren lai" cases (when the student comes to the office in person) is that I can directly ask questions to ensure that the intended meaning is expressed. I've found in my work that the writing abilities of local students tend to be terrible, and any clarification I can get from them helps a lot.

My biggest pet peeve at work is the "ren bul lai" client who suddenly and without warning decides to come anyway. Then whatever scheduling and prioritizing I've done for the day goes out the window. Expect me home late on such a day.

Cured! (I think)

Well, I've completed the course of my treatment, and all pain in my stomach is gone. My stomach feels normal; unfortunately one side-effect of the medication is stiff, sore muscles. But that's fading too, as I took my last pill 24 hours ago. Today I had my first real meal. And it had some spice in it. And...no stomach pain, even several hours later!

I felt well enough to go to the kung fu lessons I had been shirking for the last week. I'm taking a class in Wing Chun kung fu taught by Nick, a guy I've known for 15 years. Nick is a former colleague of mine in the translation business; now he's a freelance writer and amateur novelist, and he recently opened up a pita stand on Shida Road, which as I understand it has been doing very well.

Kung fu student and master:

Recovering

I'm gradually recovering from the ulcer problem. The medication is working, I'm feeling little pain now. I'm eating simple things: digestive cookies, bread, bananas, porridge, water. No oils, spices, acids, dairy products or tough, fibrous foods.

I had to cancel my participation in tomorrow's Fred Fest, an exclusive, once-in-a-blue-moon event of fine dining and drinking that I had been looking forward to. I went last year, and was looking forward to it again.

One positive effect of this ailment: I'm making progress in my weight loss effort!

My first peptic ulcer! Woohoo!

Well, no sooner was I finally getting over that miserable cold, than I started experiencing pain in my stomach.

In the past, occasionally after eating too much, I would experience excruciating pain that would begin perhaps 2 hours after eating, and would subside after several hours. Kind of like having a rock in my stomach. This only happened once every several months, and I attributed it to indigestion.

In the last week and a half, I experienced this three times. The first two times, the pain went away after several hours of misery. The third time, the pain remained, keeping me awake all night and making it impossible for me to work during the day.

So I went to the doctor. The ER, as it was late evening. After questioning and examination, it was determined that I have a peptic ulcer, and I was given medication and advice about what to eat and to avoid during treatment. Total cost for the visit and meds: US$15.

Unfortunately, I didn't get anything for the pain. It got worse, and I couldn't sleep; I couldn't do anything - I was writhing in agony. I went back to the hospital; Kitty came with me this time. The doctor gave me additional exams, and then gave me a shot of painkiller. I don't know what it was, but it worked. The pain faded, and by the time I got home I was pain-free and could sleep. (Total cost for second visit: 33 US cents! Long live socialized medicine!) I slept like a baby. Now it's the next morning, and I can feel a dull pain again, but nowhere near the sharp, throbbing pain I felt yesterday.

I am on the road to recovery.

Being sick sucks. I look forward to being in full health again.

I'm finally starting to recover from a miserable, nasty cold that's lasted almost a week.

Despite my cold, last Saturday (Dec. 1), while Kitty was in Beijing on business (and had the camera with her, so I have no pictures of my own - please see Robert's Blog for pictures), I went on a long hike that had been in the plans for ages, waiting for the perfect time when there was ideal weather and various regulars were available. We had heard about this hike from Richard Saunders, author of an excellent series of books about hiking around Taipei. Plus we were familiar with the first couple of hours of the trail.

The hike started near Wulai, in the Red River Gorge area. This area is home to Jiajiuliao Creek, one of our favorite summer swimming spots. On the other end, the trail emerges in Xiongkong (Bear Hollow), near Full Moon Park outside of Sanxia. The entire trail is about 13 miles through the wilderness of Taiwan.

There were six of us in all: Robert (the organizer of the hike), Scott (whom we hadn't seen in over a year, as a new father of twins), Kate (who has been hiking with us for a few months now), Paul (a new guy, from Vancouver), and I met at the Xindian MRT station. The sixth hiker, Peter, met us at the trailhead after his morning swim. Peter is the most extreme outdoorsman of all of us: he regularly gets up at ungodly hours in the morning to go up to the mountains to swim, even in the dead of winter. Plus he always powers ahead of the rest of us on the trails, no matter how challenging they may be.

The trail starts out with a short but steep climb up some stairs, bringing us to a relatively wide, clear trail that was once a Japanese logging road. As we were walking along this trail, we came across a Taiwan habu - one of Taiwan's poisonous snakes. Fortunately it slithered into the bushes and was facing away from us. That's the fourth snake I've seen in as many weeks! Unusual!

Eventually we crossed several rickety bridges made of logs and twigs. On one hike, one of our members fell through; fortunately he wasn't hurt. Soon we came to the Aboriginal huts - two small wooden structures where people often come to relax, drink tea and bathe in the stream. In one of the huts there's a sleeping platform - perfect for people on long overnight hikes. An Aboriginal couple greeted us and the wife gave us gumdrops.

This was the furthest along the trail any of us had ever been. We made comments about the scene in Lord of the Rings when Sam Gamgee says he'd never been beyond a certain place in the Shire before.

We continued along the trail, which grew wilder as the kilometers passed. Yet the trail was always clear and never overgrown. Soon the trail showed a marked upward slope which seemed endless. At one point we were climbing up a relatively steep mountain side. But before too long we came to a mountain pass, where we stopped for a rest. From there, it was all downhill.

The trail on the other side went through some beautiful cedar forest, with birdsnest fern growing in the trees. Before long we came to Dabaoxi (Big Panther Creek), and had to cross it three or four times, taking our shoes and socks off and rolling up our pant legs as we waded across. At the widest crossing, we encountered a small hunting party of Aborigines who were carrying home-made spear guns. They easily forded the stream, greeting us as they passed by.

When we got to the trail on the other side, I saw the first piece of garbage on the ground in a long time: a sign that we were approaching the end of the hike. An hour later we came to the end of the trail, where it met a road. We followed the road to the town of Youmuli (Wooded Mile), where a bus can be caught. While there, we celebrated the end of our hike with some beers.

Then we went to a nearby hot spring resort where we soaked our weary bodies in pools of steaming water. Too bad Belgian Pie's wonderful Belgian restaurant is no longer open - that would have topped off the day perfectly!

What a day!

Monday Nov. 26 - Friday Nov. 30

Back in Taiwan. Back to the daily grind. Work, work, work, work.

Sick with a nasty cold. Cough, hack, sniffle.

Misery, misery.