Yet another weekend away - Sanyi and Tung Wa Festival

On May 10, we took a drive to Sanyi, a town about 60 min north of Taichung, for the Tung Wa (or Tung Flower Blossom) Festival. Sanyi is an interesting little town that is really just one major street of shops (woodworking and wood crafts are the major tourist attraction normally) and an old railroad station just outside of town in the hills which was the focus of the Tung Wa Festival. Due to the Festival, which had publicity everywhere, as we approached Sanyi on the highway, there was a backup for the exit ramp that extended several miles before even getting off the highway. OK, but what the hell, we were there anyway. So after a hour to go the few miles from the exit ramp to the town (merging down to one lane), the flow was a little smoother. We found a very lucky parking place almost to the railroad area (as someone pulled out).

The town is a scenic wonder in itself - we had visited on a much quieter day in the fall. You can read about Sanyi here. The slide show below covers all my pictures (with my new camera) from the day. We walked around, saw a really nifty little ride-on model train which went up and down a short section of track, walked through a short trail along the mountain to see the flowers, and walked back to town to sit and rest a while.



Taiwan is a small place and you do not realize how this works until you have days like this. On the hiking trail, we ran into a work colleague with his wife and two children. We were stopped and chatting for a couple minutes, when another work colleague comes by with his family. So we chat and then move on and continue hiking. When we come back to town, we bump into the first family again and sit - they are there for both the Tung Wa Festival and to hang out to see the fireflies, which were out in that area and apparently another big thing. We hung around for a while and chatted while sharing snacks and water. We then decided to head back to go to dinner.

On the way out we noticed the signs for the old railroad you see in the pictures. We stopped for a brief walk around and some more pictures.

So our day ends with following the road out of town and planning to head back into town to a restaurant we know between Sanyi and the railroad station for dinner. I decided to stop for gas at a station on the way and pulled into the pump. One of the gas station attendants motioned me that I was in a truck lane, so I decided to back up and pull into the next lane which was for cars. At the same time, a truck decided to come in from the highway, into my blind spot, and so I backed up into his front fender! Wow, my first accident in Taiwan and not even on a roadway.

So, the procedure when having an accident is to get out, look, motion dumbly while the truck driver yells at you in a language you do not understand, then call for help. My first couple tries (the car rental company and the insurance company) failed miserably - Chinese recordings only (Saturday night at 8PM or so). I finally got a work colleague, who called a wonderful guy in the admin dept. at work (Jacky). Jacky called me back and let me know the procedure. By this time, the police had arrived to take information, and so Jacky talked to them, then me, then them so more. I was to follow the police to the station to file a report along with the truck driver to document the accident. So our entourage pulls out from the gas station and about a kilometer down the road to the police station. Here we are given seats, served tea, and generally treated like royalty while filling out a police report. The night captain tries to use his limited English, and we try our limited Chinese. I think he was especially impressed by Teresa's business card and title. Several more calls to Jacky make sure the report is filled out correctly and we and they understand each other. Anyway, several more cups of tea later, I sign the police report with red ink thumbprints, get our official copy, and am ushered back onto the road.

By now it is after 9PM and I have lost most of my appetite. So we head for home, park and then go out for a bite and a drink. The damage to my Tribute included a severely dented bumper (to be replaced since it prevented opening the rear hatch) and a broken tail light cover. Not much, but a decent record after a year of driving in Taiwan. The damage to my ego, a little worse! All in all, I feel like an idiot even now writing about it, backing up into a big truck. But stuff happens, and the Taiwanese redeemed themselves once more in the face of foreign stupidity.

Back in Taichung

Well, it has been a long time since postings. We were back in the US for a couple days before heading off to vacation (planned before moving to Taiwan). The trip had us flying into Geneva, Switzerland, driving to Oyannox, France to visit with Andrea (our daughter), pack her up and take her with us, then off to Lyon, Venice, Florence, Sorrento, Rome, and Manarola, before leaving back from Geneva. It was a great trip (which I will write about later) that covered a lot of ground in a little over two weeks. We walked our legs off and realized we are no longer as young as our 23 year old daughter. Mostly, the trip whetted our appetites to return to Italy in the future.

We are now back in Taichung for a much longer stint. We have sent off our passports to get our resident's visas and eventually our ARC. So no travel and lots of work.

After driving in Italy, I now better understand driving in Taiwan. The best thing to remember is that rules are more like general guidelines or suggestions. They are followed but only in a general way. My Mazda Tribute gets us to work and back, to shopping, and anywhere else we need to go. Our Garmin GPS (named "Dora" by Teresa) guides us when we are lost (mostly).

I try to think of driving as a zen thing. There is a certain flow and motion to traffic. People drift slowly across lanes as they lean into where they are going. This applies to people in the right lane deciding to turn left, or vice versa, as well as ambiguous lane markings. Scooters (and there are many of them) flock like swarms of birds from one side to the other and jockey for position at the traffic lights.  You learn to appreciate the flow and try to maintain your relative position.  Sometimes however, certain moves take my attention away from the flow. Like the car that races up to pass me on the right and then does a left hand turn from the right hand (scooter) lane. Or the scooter who weaves around me at the light and then decides when the light turns to go in a completely different direction than the traffic. Or seeing an entire family (mom, dad, kids, pets) all on one scooter.

After Italy (especially Sorrento), the streets now seem wider in Taichung. Many are actually two lanes in each direction, plus an additional (separate) outside lane for scooters and "local" traffic.

 

Some near our apartment are one way lanes where you feel required to breathe in before navigating the road. And occasionally meeting scooters going the wrong way on those narrow one way streets. At least, all my original Boston driving skills are being put to good use.

Sometimes you find cars doing things like the one below, deciding at the last minute to make a left hand turn from the lane marked straight.