Adventures on Rt. 5 and traveling to YiLan

Yesterday evening 7:00pm I got in the Mazda minivan with Mrs. Wang (the driver), her mother and aunt along with my wife, Esther, and my son, Jasper. The trip was to drop off Mrs. Wang's mother and aunt off at a temple in YiLan and for my wife to speak to the temple gods.

The neat thing was I got to ride on the unfinished Route 5 in Taiwan between Sijhih and PingLin (some 43km from YiLan yet). This road requires particular access to drive on it since it is yet complete. Now this was exciting for two reasons. (1) It was just a great feeling to be on a road by yourself in Taiwan. There were no lights and only a mountains and the terrain to see. This feeling of driving on an empty road was pure delight. (2) Now as this road (Rt.5) is opened to others you will experience a drive thru a mountain. I don’t know which mountain it is, but it takes 1 ½ to 2 minutes to drive thru the tunnel at 70km/h. This tunnel twists and turns and seems never to end. It was truly amazing. I just do not want to be in it if there is an earthquake or an accident. You literally will be trapped. Don’t know if I could handle it.

So we get off this barren Route 5 and still need to drive to YiLan. I have taken the long way to YiLan which is like driving on any freeway. It follows the ocean from the north down. However, from Route 5 you take the mountain road Route (or Road) Number 9. This is a pure two lane mountain road with huge drop-offs and twists and turns you can only experience on a rollercoaster.

I’ve driven on these roads before and all the swaying can make the passengers sick or at least light headed. Now on this day Mrs. Wang was (as I am told) driving carefully. Well, the speedometer never went below 45km/h and hovered normally around 70km/h. I must say this was a totally new way to experience mountain driving. In a car there is some places you can stabalize yourself, but in a minivan you pretty much are on your own with three of you in the bench seat. Of course if you have been in Taiwan or live in mountain road you know all the passing that takes place and the driving towards in coming traffic – this was expected. But at the speed we were at we were being tossed around like pinball’s in the back seat. My one year old son was sleeping and clung to my wife like a monkey. It was very amusing. Here is this little child sleeping and the adults slipping to the right and left while he just somehow literally clung to my wife’s clothing with white knuckles. I didn’t think the trip there or home bothered him while he slept. But at 3:00am he woke up screaming for one hour. Guess the tossing around may have bothered him.

So, once Rt. 5 opens check it out and the cool mountain tunnels. If you are new to Taiwan hire a taxi to drive the mountain roads at breakneck speeds to experience true daredevil driving (raining and nighttimes make for a better experiences).

By the way we received good news from the spirit channeler at the temple. Guess I should write about that as many westerners don’t get to experience spirits taking over people. . . . . another time.