台灣環島日記，二

DAY 4

11/10, 6 pm
Chiayi city

  Left 台中 in the early morning so that I could arrive to the museum on time. I got lost on the way, after crossing the river for Yunlin county. I thought I could find the way back without looking at the GPS… in the end I de-toured for about one hour. But it was a beautiful hour, lost in the deep Taiwanese countryside where only old people live.

  The plains of 雲林 (Yunlin) provide plenty of breath-taking countryside landscapes. In fact, the side-track opened up onto several breath-taking landscapes. Yunlin county is very flat, a bit like my home region. Everywhere the eyes lay is green fields of - I think - onions? The countryside has a rich, distinctive odour, a peculiar mix between the pungent smell of manure and the fresh fragrance of trees and flowers. Crossing the countryside roads, I came across innumerable shrines and temples. The density of sacred places far outnumbers that of people, especially compared to cities like Taipei.  Riding, I started to recall the melodies heard during the chants in Jenn Lann. I thought, what an incredible place this must have been, four or five centuries ago, when the Dutch and the Portuguese first laid their galleons onto the shores of the island. Centuries of hard work, toil, famine, and violence… but also centuries of culture, of education, religion and creative impulse… all together produced this true gemstone of humankind which we often too simply refer to as East Asia. I truly wouldn’t mind to spend more time in places such as this remote countryside. And I understand why many people have escaped from cities as soon as working from home became an option.

  I finally reached the museum at noon. I spent five, incredible hours inside the place: and I would have needed at least a couple more to properly complete the visit. Despite being the second branch of the Taipei one, the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in Chiayi renders an incredible collection of Asian (of course, mostly Chinese) art. The first section I visited was also the most precious, exhibiting some of the artworks which Taiwan rightfully recognises as belonging to its own national treasures. The collection consisted of: the famous pork-belly stone; the porcelain with the elephant carrying a vase; the stone plant; the ruyi sceptre; the hulu porcelain; some paintings with Daoist themes by anonymous; calligraphy by famous master Wang Xi Zhi.

DAY 5

12/10, 11:51 pm
Ita Thao aboriginal community

  Rode from Chiayi all the way to Sun Moon Lake, passing by Alishan and Yushan. Good choice to keep a full day for this route: and it was not enough. I barely arrived at 7:30 pm. If I squeezed the museum in today, I would have been fucked. First half of the day with bright blue sky, all the way to Alishan: then, I was surrounded by clouds. Again, I was reminded of my hometown in winter days.

  The mountains between Chiayi and Alishan are covered with palms. Then, suddenly, you start to notice the first tea plantations.  By the time you get to Alishan, almost all the surrounding ridges are covered in dark green tea leaves. Tasted about five varieties of oolong in a tea factory. Bought some to bring to the bosses back in Taipei. I think oolong can potentially become my favourite tea. After concluding all the “trade transactions” in Mandarin, I reached Alishan and took a break amidst the cypresses. The day gifted me and the other travellers with the last sprays of sunlight, before covering the mountain tops with a shelter of grey and blueish clouds, the colour of rats.

  Between Alishan and Yushan, I slowly started to realize I was running out of gas. It was a close call. There are no gas stations for more than 60 or 70 kilometres between the Alishan park and the village of Xinyi. I would have had to stop and hitchhike my way to SML had my scooter not made it. Was called by my boss during the gas break: he just wanted to know how I am doing, and offered to give me his scooter for free, since he is leaving TW and moving back to the US. I felt speechless and a bit ashamed. I dont know why exactly. After sunset, I sped through the last hour of route, between Yushan and SML. There was almost no traffic and I took some risks. But driving fast into the night is so incredible, it feels like flying on a giant bird. I sped through the silent jungle and at moments I almost felt like in one of the final scenes of Apocalypse Now. The sound of the jungle at night must have on men the effect of recalling them to some sort of ancestral home. There is nothing else that can be compared to it.

-End of the second post in the Tour of Taiwan series.