I actually did work while in I was in Taiwan! To prove it I took photographs of the student group after I presented and lunch with the Education faculty at National Dong Hwa University. Campus is huge and beautiful. Did my morning run looking at the mountains surrounding the campus.
The university hired a private driver to take me to Taroko National Park. He was awesome. The first place we stopped was Shakadang Trail for nice scenic hike to eat sausages. I do not really eat these, but he insisted it was the thing to do on the trail. As you can see I gave in and ate one. They are famous for the black things inside of them called Litsea cubeba, or May Chang Oil, has been used in ancient Chinese medicine for centuries (antibacterial and antiseptic). I feel so healthy–the bad of the pork sausage and the good of the May Chang Oil–they canceled each other out!!
Every year when my CPA–Hal Surratt–finishes my taxes, I give him a plant for his office, because I assume he will kill the one I gave him from the year before. One year I gave him a Bird’s Nest Fern. I was so excited to see it in its native home–Asia (Hualien,Taiwan in this case). The locals eat the fern. They believe it can be a contraceptive when it is a young fiddlehead–I don’t really need that. Also can be used to treat a fever and weakness. These were for people to buy and eat. I did not eat one. I just like the little woman who was selling them and my guide seemed to be excited about them. He said the indigenous people like them.
Do you recognize this plant!!!??? Momma used to keep hers after Christmas, but it never got this big! Hello wild poinsettia!! It was huge at least 6 feet tall!!
Continuing my road trip bathroom story–this is the bathroom on the trail. At least they did have one. You had to pay to use it!!! And “yes” I did use it.
My guide was so sweet! We planned to go hiking in the park, but traffic was being stopped every 30 minutes. He was afraid I would miss my train back to Taipei, so he opted for the beach instead. I was not disappointed! So amazing. We went to the cliffs first and walked Su-hua Highway. My photos do it no justice!
From here we drove down to the beach. On the way he stopped so I could take pictures of the burial sites. They look like mini-houses. If you really want to know about the Funerals in Taiwan you should click on the link. They even hire strippers.
The beach was so quiet, but covered in rocks. We stayed a couple of hours. I spent my time walking up and down the beach collecting rocks–I got some from Indonesia too. I love the way the rocks look. My driver sat on the rocks on the beach and waited for me.
I keep saying my driver, because when we left on this trip we were in a hurry. The professor introduced us so quickly I did not get his name. He did not speak English. We talked through Google Translate. I sat down next to him on the beach and we chatted for a while about life–nothing really. After a bit he said it was time to leave. Before I could get up, he jumped up and ran down to the beach. I was not sure what he was doing. Looked like he was picking up rocks and putting them in his hand. He came back to me and held out his hand and said, “This is yours. I only have one.” My heart melted!!
