Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Can I possibly look any more ridiculous? The answer is yes, because there were dozens of pictures taken that are just as bad if not worse than this one, but I won't subject you to them. Since all of my friends in Taiwan appear to have been supermodels in another life, it's kinda' scary when you see this train-wreck standing next to their spectacularlousness. Apparently, I'm hoping in this picture that by wearing a princess tiara, you won't notice my ginormous forehead bandage. Is it working?


Anyway, I'm finally gonna' attempt to finish blogging about our trip. The day after the accident on Green Island, we boarded the Vomit Barge and headed back to Taiwan. I got a lot of stares from locals who were probably thinking, "There goes another crazy tourist who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a scooter." As our boat pulled away from the dock, we realized Lorin, Tammy, and Whitney hadn't made it on board and we wondered if we would ever see them again as Green Island faded into the distance.




I managed to stay vomit free this time around by keeping a steady eye on the horizon- which isn't easy when you're holding onto the railing for dear life (with only one arm because your other arm is in a cast) as the waves toss the boat back and forth and people are slamming into each other all around you.

When we reached the shore, we made arrangements at the bus station to give a message to our lost friends telling them where to meet up with us in Kenting. Here's Jessica and Mary on one of our many stops as we wait for transportation to our next destination.




This is the inside of the old train we took on our way to Kenting. Colby seems awestruck by the fans that are somehow supposed to keep us cool since there was no air conditioning.













After a long, hot train ride, Lorin, Tammy, and Whitney miraculously caught up with us and we all boarded a bus to Kenting together. Hours later, we checked into our hostel and had dinner at this great pizza place.


That night, we found a new roommate hanging out in our room. I think I named him Kirby- but that could have been another roach...we met several throughout our trip...it's hard to keep them all straight.


Jessica resumed her nightly ritual of redressing her mangled leg wounds.




And I continued my ritual of wrapping a plastic bag around my cast every time I took a shower or every time it rained.












And it rained a lot. The next day we rented scooters and did some hiking and sight-seeing. Because of our injuries, Jessica and I opted out of going to the beach with everyone else but I'm hoping that maybe someday I'll get to go back and see Kenting's beautiful beaches.




Here's a picture of our room at the hostel.
Eleven people for three days...in a room smaller than than your average hotel room...priceless.

On Sunday, we all got ready for church and rode our scooters to a branch just north of Kenting.



Did I mention my friends all look like supermodels? Hello!
Beautiful girls.





After church, our Taiwanese friend, Nick took us sight-seeing in the area.




Then he took us to meet his friend Tommy who let us hang out at this little resort.



Apparently, some people think it's funny to dump a dirty towel on a poor, defenseless cripple and take a picture. Now who in their right mind would do such a thing?





Nice.






As usual, total strangers came up to Steve and Joseph asking in broken English if they could get pictures taken with them.
Poor guys- it must be rough. How come nobody wants a picture of a weirdo with a band aid on her forehead?





Tommy took us around to some beautiful spots in Kenting.







Tommy and Nick.



At the end of our stay in Kenting, Emily, Colby, Mary, & I headed back to Feng Yuan while everyone else went to Alishan for a few days. I went to the hospital to have a doctor cut a slit in my cast so that my fingers didn't explode.



Mango Ice. Love it. Crave it.



The next day, the four of us headed to Taipei. This is our room at the Happy Family Hostel. That afternoon, we were all exhausted and decided to take a nap. Apparently, we left the door unlocked and while we were sleeping, some guy came in our room and was getting something out of the closet. Colby woke up, assessed the situation, made an executive decision not to care, and went back to sleep. I don't know why but we thought it was hysterical when he told us about it later- Had to be there, I guess.




While in Taipei, we went to the top of the tallest building in the world- Taipei 101. This is the damper baby.






We went shopping at a huge night market and bought (among other things) these cool spiral potato chips on a stick made from one potato.











We also took a tour of the famous Chinese National Palace Museum.



Hopefully, one of these days, I'll get around to posting the pictures of the next leg of our trip in Thailand.