Me Tarzan, me Jane

I'm going all native here. Swinging Tarzan-like from tree to tree, communing with apes and animals, jumping into rivers. Well, at least hiking around well marked paths and enjoying the beauty of nature. Oh.and I did see a monkey today, that's got to count! 

One of the greatest pleasures around is trecking in the mountanous jungle of Taiwan. It's beautiful out here. As proven by these selected images of waterfalls from a treck yesterday. The big one above is Shifen waterfall. 

This terrain would certainly have made a more realistic surrounding for the Tarzan than the original oak trees with hanging bananas of the movies. Though admittedly elephants and apes are a bit scarce.

But back to trecking; There are some really excellent and well marked paths, that even a lonesome cowboy like myself can brave. Though they do have an irritating habit of leading to crossroads, which have signs only in Chinese. 

But though I may feel like a modern-day Tarzan, to the locals I'm not only Johnny Weissmuller. I'm also Jane, the white damsel in distress, who needs to be saved from the harsh elements. And saved I have been, time after time! In Taiwan the reaction to my travelling alone is one of incredulous shock. How can this be? This little old lady all alone in the woods, she must be saved! And save me they do.

A couple of days ago scrambling up a riverbed in Wulai I was adopted by a group of Taiwanese, who drove me off to the hot tubs and dinner. Yesterday I was traipsing in the lovely waterfall terrain around Sandiaoling, when a group of three former high school friends adopted me. And a good thing it was too, since I had managed to set off without much preparation, expecting to be able to buy lunch & such at Sandiaoling. Only as it turned out, there wasn't any food store there and all I had on me was a packet of peanuts. But fear not, Jane was saved again and a constant stream of local delicacies, peeled fruit slices and croissants started to flow my way.

This courtesy towards foreigners, at least Western foreigners and at the very least women travelling alone, started immediately on arrival. The man on the airport shuttle next to me already gave me his calling card to call in case I got into any trouble. And this was clearly not a come-on, just genuine worry that I could cope in this cruel, cruel world. 

However, this courtesy doesn't seem to extend to Chinese tour groups, as I have heard several speeches on the need to limit the amount of Chinese tourists in Taiwan. And certainly the trains, guesthouses and sights of interest do seem very full, especially considering that this is low season. Maybe the new surge in demand has pushed up prices, but accommodation here is also unexpectedly expensive, more so than in Japan.

Today I finally left Taipei. I'm off to investigate the largely undeveloped East coast of Taiwan starting with Taroko Gorge area. More trecking in store.