An (un)lucky hitchhike in Taiwan
It's a small world
Out of all the times I hitchhiked in Taiwan on my mission to hitchhike the entire island, my most ambitious attempt was trying to find someone willing to take me from Taroko to Hehuanshan Mountain.
I arrived at Taroko National Park the previous morning and spent the day hiking through the park, whose highlight for me was a forbidden hot spring right next to the river that cuts through the canyon. The entire park is beautiful, however.
After finishing my hike, I got to a campsite and set up my tent, where I sat wondering what to do the next day. I could explore another part of the park or continue my journey along the East coast.
What I really wanted though, was to head up to the mountains.
Taiwan, contrary to what many think, is not just a big industrial complex manufacturing electronics and toys marked with Made in Taiwan. In fact, the island has big bustling cities, beaches for surfing and diving, incredible forests, wonderful temples, and a lot more that I’ll refrain from listing, otherwise I’ll end up reciting my love for Taiwan all story long.
(They also have the nicest people in the world, by the way.)
But another thing Taiwan has are mountains — real mountains, and lots of them. The cities are almost all on the coast because the center of Taiwan is home to a mountain range reaching up to 4000 meters in altitude, a thousand meters taller than the highest mountain in my home country of Brazil.
It was the end of February, so the worst of winter had passed and I was making my way along the east coast to Kenting, where I knew I would find beaches and warm temperatures.
As a result, I wanted to experience a bit of a contrast. I wanted to see snow, something I hadn’t seen since living in Finland a few years back.
Hehuanshan, where I wanted to go, is a 3416-meter high mountain with relatively easy access. This is because the road leading there goes up to 3200 meters, so the walk to the top is quite chill.
From where I was, there was a road leading to Hehuanshan, but I did some research online and saw that it was not a very popular path to go up there. Another problem was that I also needed a ride back, because I wanted to stay on the East coast, rather than go up North (where I had come from) or cut to the West (where I started). But I was determined.
Tired from walking all day, I tucked in early. My sleeping bag was rated for 15°C, but during the night the temperature dropped to nearly 0°C. Already uncomfortable, I couldn’t sleep properly because a group in the tents next door wouldn’t stop making noise.
I waited until about 11PM and then, still without sleep, politely asked them to make a little less noise. They agreed, but after keeping it down for a while, they started talking loudly and playing music again. I asked them once more to tone it down, a bit more firmly this time, but nothing seemed to work very well. Eventually, I remember sending a voice message to a friend, talking loudly in my tent so that they might hear, about a group next to me that wouldn’t shut up.
Eventually I fell asleep, and woke up to my alarm. I packed my things and walked to the 7-Eleven a few kilometers away, still a bit groggy and tired.
The various 7-Elevens in Taiwan were essential in my hitchhiking routine. On travel days, more often than not, I would wake up, shave in order to look more approachable in a country where barely anybody has a beard, and go to the nearest 7-Eleven for coffee and to ask for a piece of cardboard.
Having performed this choreographed routine, I sat at the counter in front of the window and began to write. Writing my sign for the day was like a meditation for me. Even if I was in a hurry, I took the all the time needed to copy the Chinese characters in large and clear lettering on the cardboard. Hitchhiking is not very common in Taiwan, so just raising a thumb often causes confusion. Funny enough, the day I’m recounting here was the only day my sign had an error — I forgot a stroke in a character.
Finishing my 7-Eleven ritual, I went to the road and waited. For a long time not a single car passed by and I decided I was going to give up soon. I couldn’t stay there for too long because if I got a ride too late, I wouldn’t have time to get back as planned.
Then a car stopped. It was a couple with a small child, very friendly. We started talking, and I mentioned that I had camped the night before.
“We did too”, they told me.
We then discovered that we camped in the same place, and that they were part of the group that was making noise the night before. Things turned awkward and we were all visibly embarrassed.
They felt bad about having made so much noise, and I felt bad for having been a bit rude. So without anyone saying much, they understood that I was tired, and I understood that they had children and hadn’t seen their friends in a while. We were all good.
After that initial embarrassment, we got along extremely well. Of all the rides I took, they probably spoke the best English out of everyone else, so we were able to talk a lot. They also said they could give me a ride back.
Approaching the end of the road there was a gate, and only cars with chains on their tires could pass through. They didn’t have chains, but since they only wanted their son to see snow, they were happy to just walk around near the gate.
I, on the other hand, wanted to go hiking in the mountains. So we set a time to reconvene. There was no phone signal there, so if I wanted my ride back I had to be back on time, period.
I crossed the gate on foot and put my thumb up. Quickly another family in a van offered me a ride, and I went up the road with them until stopping near a solitary trail that I followed alone into the mountains.
With some time to spare, I walked back on foot, and met the other family down below.
And so we made our way back to Taroko, crossing beautiful landscapes and engaged in a fruitful conversation just as good as the one from earlier.
Arriving at the park, they dropped me off and went on their way.
Oh, the irony.
Alone once again, I was left thinking about how many conflicts in this world could be resolved if we just put both parties in a room, forced to talk.
What an adventure! Loved reading this and looking forward to your other entries :)