(July 8th – July 10th) (Part 2)
The rural farmland of rice fields, banana trees, and vast green land began to fade out, and concrete buildings began to sprout out of the ground. In the distance, the famous building Kaohsiung 85 (85 stories and a city trademark) could be seen out of the bus window. The building is quite spectacular to look at. It shines a dark blue in the sunlight and looks like a block letter “Y” that is turned on its head. Yet, what are even more spectacular to see are the vibrant green hills along the city’s perimeter (resembles the Hills of LA, but much greener and without all the million dollar houses), with some individual green hills that stand up individually in the outer areas of the city.
Soon our bus got off the highway and was in the streets of Kaohsiung right next to the hills. It was quite the change of scenery compared to Pingtung. Things are more modern, developed, and urban in Kaohsiung. The bus came to a stop and we all got off the bus. We walked around the buildings and up through this narrow path that had food stands, trinket shops, and tea stands. As soon as we walked past these little shops, it opens up and you realize that all the bustling sound of the city has fainted and that you are officially in the hills.
The sun was shinning bright, the air was sticky, and the temperature was hot (33*C), but the scenery and adventure to find monkeys was worth it. We all started hiking on the path up and down up and around on a raised wooden path that looked similar to a continuous low-lying dock. What made this comical was that no body was really prepared for an all out hike with steep inclines, even for a man-made path, the reason wasn’t so much the physical activity (although some were not prepared for that) . . . it was the sweat. Within 15-20 minutes, the girls’ hair was all disheveled and the guys’ shirts were darkened with sweat (I eventually just took mine off along with a few others). I felt like I just got out of the pool after swim practice, haha. Despite the elements, we ventured forward until . . . MONKEYS!
All of a sudden everything I just mentioned seemed to not matter as the cameras came out and the sounds of “click…click…click” entered the environment. The monkeys were just minding their own business as if they were enjoying the attention. Of course, there were a few that checked us out with caution and interest. There were so many of them in the trees, on the ground, and others just being lazy on the tiki hut (a place for hikers to take a break). Their eyes were so cool; they would look at you and glance around (watching out for the others). Some monkeys were in lines grooming each other, others were jumping in the trees, and there even was a few mothers (monkeys) nursing their babies . . . so cute.
At this point we wanted to keep going, but we needed to get back to the bus to go to our final stop. So we made a compromise. Those who were exhausted were to start heading back to the bus and the few of us who were itching for more would hike (more like run) for 10 more minutes through the trails and see how far we could get to Lotus Cave and Monkey Rock. We never did make it all the way, for I felt we needed to be responsible and Joy (one of our student leaders in TUSA) was kind enough to agree because she too wanted to keep going. So, we turned around and started our brisk hike back down the hills and toward the bus. On our hike down, Joy and I mostly talked about what we thought of each other’s culture, our education, and our goals for the future. It was neat to share and talk with someone who has so much passion, works hard, and has big goals for themselves. I wish you the best of luck, Joy. Keep dreaming big.
The site of concrete started to come into view and the sounds of the city began to fill the air as the hills became flat and the green started to fade out. With a quick stop inside 7 eleven (our Buses were waiting right outside) to get some cold tea and something to eat, we rejoined the others on the bus and rolled off to our final stop of the day . . . the harbor!
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