Trip to northern Taiwan

My friend Chris has lived in Taiwan for 8 years, and he's got a 250cc scooter. One of his favorite things to do is drive around the island and take in the scenery. He claims to know the island like the back of his hand. January 2nd, he asked another friend, Rob, and me if we would like to go up to the North Coast (actually there is no north coast: there is a northeast coast and a northwest coast that come to an apex, but anyway) to see "where the mountains meet the ocean." So we took the MRT up to Danshui, the northernmost stop, and then took a bus. We had the bus drop us off at a somewhat random place and walked around for a little bit. The views were pretty cool, a lot of rocks jutting out into the water, some beaches. It was a pretty dreary day, but that wasn't going to stop us. We walked up a hill on a windy road for about 15 minutes and took some pictures. Chris said he wanted to go back, since he was not prepared for the uphill walk (since he usually had his scooter).



Right about the time we started to walk back, some guys in a three-wheel flatbed truck pulled over and offered to give us a ride, how could we refuse. To top it off, they offered us some betel nut. I'd been wanting to try this for a while; we couldn't refuse. The betel nut is actually an Areca nut (drupe) wrapped in a betel leaf. I suppose it's the Taiwanese equivalent of chewing tobacco, but its use is more prevalent. It has a peppery kind of taste, and it turns your mouth red. I believe it has some kind of stimulant effect, but I didn't feel much. This is why you'll find a lot of truck, bus, and taxi drivers chewing betel nut. You won't find them in the city, but in the countryside, especially in the south I hear, there will be stands along the side of the road. The stands are basically a glass box with a scantily clad girl sitting inside preparing betel nuts. They are called 'Betel Nut Beauties'. It was a blast sitting in the back of the truck, spitting the juice behind us. I'd always known that those dried puddles of red liquid on the ground were from someone spitting betel nut juice and that those little 'plugs' of reddish brown stuff on the ground were previously betel nuts, but know I knew firsthand what it was like. It was good to try, but given the opportunity again, I think I'll pass. As we were driving along in the truck, I was talking with one of the guys in Chinese, and he said betelnuts were a part of Taiwanese culture. Yep.

We were really grateful for the ride, and we got dropped off in Laomei, a fairly small town just southeast of the northernmost point. Chris recommended a place to get a really good pizza. It was right on the beach, but we couldn't really sit outside, because the winds were constant and fierce. I forget what the restaurant was called, but it appeared to be made of adobe, and there were a lot of Spanish/Portuguese decorations inside. I'm guessing it used to be a house back in the colonial days when the Portuguese were here. Chris recommended the pizza here, and it was delicious, nothing Taiwanese about it. After a eating, we walked along the beach for awhile. There was a lot of trash that had watched up, especially a lot of dense styrofoam-type stuff. Chris said all of the fisherman throw their crap overboard, so it washes up on the beaches. After walking onto then on a path and walking by some seafood markets, we caught the bus back to Danshui, got some coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, and took the MRT back home. It was a fun day.

If you click on the link on the left side of the page, you can see some of the pictures from this trip.