Two weeks of traveling (thoughts)

Sunrise
Originally uploaded by ymc47.

I'm recovering (physically) from two weeks of nearly non-stop travel around the central and eastern regions of Taiwan, both of which I have been to, but each trip brings new memories and experiences.

The photo you see here was taken around 5:30 near our lodgings in Puli township, central Taiwan. The mountains are both Taiwan's bane and beauty. Overdevelopment, bad soil preservation, natural disasters (including a monstrous 7.6 earthquake 5 years back) have made monsoon/typhoon seasons here very dangerous. Nonetheless, the beauty of these mountains viewed near or afar is undeniable.

After spending 3 days in central Taiwan, I went with my relatives to see Hualien, Taiwan's largest county (and most sparsely populated region). The highlight of the trip was actually the arrival of a typhoon, which reduced the heat, added water and wind to our rafting adventure (you've gotta try the rafting here) and gave us a sense of verboding as we drove into storm on our way home---viewing the waves from the highway as they crashed down onto the rocks at chilling heights was definitely a first for me.

All in all, two great weeks...it took my mind off of the future, the near future and the recent past, leaving me with just the present. Ah, good times indeed.