Two great tours of Taiwan, a quick trip back to Yorkshire to see my lovely newborn nephew and finally, a week before I head to India, the rains have kicked in and I get a chance to blog. Lots of new tours are coming together, including a cycling trip of Taiwan, an incredible hilltribes trip in China (check out Ewen’s pix) and photography, cycling and unicycling (yes, you read that right) trips in India. Given the way the rest of the year is looking, it’s been great to have some time back at home in Taiwan, although, as always, a few weeks in one place and my feet were itching, so the opportunity for some research trips around the island in the car were welcome respite…
So several hundred miles of mountain roads, a rusty Ford Laser, me, Tot, Cocoa the dog and a stack of camping gear and we were off. Whenever I take time off from travel I manage to quickly forget how beautiful the island is. Sure, I tell everyone that it’s great and that they should come, but when we head out on the road with no set plan I feel like yelling it from the mountain tops. Of a route that took in remote beaches, the biggest spider I’ve ever seen, 3000m passes and hot spring pools surrounded by lush palms, the highlight was a visit to a mountain orphanage, predominantly attended by aboriginal kids. Smiling, friendly faces and a sense of inspiration in the face of adversity pervade, and we were both moved by the visit, and Cocoa liked chasing the lizards. We will visit again and will start contributing some of our tour proceeds to the orphanage.
Next it’s to India in the monsoon to research some tours and maybe even buy a little plot of land. India seems to supply curious, crazy and challenging experiences on a daily basis, so doubtless I’ll be back to blog soon …
