Theft 窃盗行為

I usually go hiking on Saturdays, and spend Sundays with the family. But yesterday we went to the Terracotta Army exhibition at the National Science Museum, so today I rode my scooter to Takeng (Dakeng) 大抗 to get some exercise. Being Sunday, there were more people on the trails than I am used to seeing, and I found myself saying "Tuipuch'i (Dueibuci)" 對不起 and "Hsieh hsieh (Sie sie)" 謝謝, or "excuse me" and "thank you" a lot when passing by other hikers. Today I walked up the No. 3 Trail, and came down the No. 2, and everything was fine...until the end, that is.

たいてい土曜日にハイキングをする。しかし昨日行く代わりに、今日大抗へ行った。日曜日だから山道は少し込んでいた。でも、ハイキングは楽しかった。メットインに戻ってときけど。。。

My destination coming into view
目的地

Going up...
登っている。。。

Getting closer...and closer...
接近している。。。

Finally! At the top of the No. 3 Trail
やっと、山道の上に着いた。

Walking along the ridgetop. Notice the damaged section of trail on the left
尾根伝いに歩いている。。。

At the junction with the No. 2 Trail. Even on top of a mountain, vendors are ubiquitous in Taiwan. Actually, though, there is an access road for farmers just behind this stall, so it wasn't too difficult to set up shop here

第二山道も着いていた。売り手は台湾ではどこでも売っている。

　

How green is my ravine?
渓谷

　

Going down the No. 2. Some sections are steep.
急な山道を下っている。。。

At the bottom, where more vendors await.
ふもとも売り手がいた

In the States, some folks live in mobile homes. In Taiwan, people use shipping containers in versatile ways.

コンテナは台湾でよく見られる

Flowers along the roadside
路傍花

Looking back at the mountain from the road while walking back to my scooter
道から大抗

　

All in all, it was a good day in the mountains, until I got back to my scooter. That's when I discovered that someone had broken into the compartment underneath the seat, and had taken my Seattle Mariners jacket. I was fortunate to have been carrying a sweater in my backpack, but it was still a long, cold ride back home in the late afternoon. Now I'm not going to hold the entire population of Taiwan collectively responsible for the actions of one jerk (the perpetrator could have just as easily been a fellow foreigner), but it just seems that every time I convince myself that I'm liking it here in Taiwan, something discouraging occurs. I never had anything stolen in over 11 years of living in Japan. What can I do, except try to be more careful from now on? As they say here in Taiwan, "Meikuanhsi (Meiguansi)" or "Never mind".

駐車場に戻ったとき、メットインから大好きなマリナーズジャケットが盗まれたことがわかった。台湾だからしょうがない。