My friend Thoth Harris (The Montreal Writers' Storm Sewer) had invited me on a couple of occasions to go riding with him in Miaoli 苗栗, where he has been living since coming back from Canada last spring. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take him up on his offer...until today, that is. It took about an hour on the scooter, riding from Fengyuan 豊原, through Houli 后里 and Sanyi (Sani) 三義, and finally to Miaoli, where I waited for Thoth at an observation tower by the side of Highway 13. The views toward the mountains and the city were great, which made it all the more stranger why such a pavilion had been erected along a busy road with no place for cars or motorcycles to park. TIT - This is Taiwan, I suppose!
Thoth took me through central Miaoli, which looks much the same as most small Taiwanese cities. One place that did stand out, though, was a Taoist-themed park adjacent to a large temple in the downtown area. Here, religious devotion was expressed through tacky/kitschy sculptures. The view from the top of the artificial mountain did reveal a good example of a still-functioning Japanese-era home.
From the park, we rode out of the city, and up to the Mingde (Mingte) Reservoir. This large man-made lake was very pleasant. It was unusual to find a quiet place with fresh air that wasn't overrun by hordes of visitors, and we spent some time on the road going around the reservoir and taking in the scenery. My guide for the day:
After checking out some of the sites around the lake, we set off on a long ride through the countryside, finally ending up in Nanjhuang (Nanchuang) 南庄. Rough Guide describes Nanjhuang as "a small, atmospheric Hakka 客家 village", which I'm sure it is...on a weekday. On this Sunday, however, the town was packed, especially on a small lane lined with food stands. I'd wager that up until five years ago or so, Nanjhuang was a quiet village, even on weekends, but it has since joined the growing list of "old towns" in Taiwan that are drowning in a sea of tour buses and tourists every Saturday, Sunday and national holiday. Still, even with the hordes, it was nice to see a lot of old Japanese-period wooden buildings in use, instead of the usual hideous concrete-and-tile blocks so prevalent all over this island. And the mountains stretching off into the distance were a magnificent sight.
It was getting on in the afternoon, so we rode back to Miaoli, and had a cup of coffee before I left for the ride back to Fengyuan. The trip home was dark and chilly, but uneventful, except for the one place where I failed to notice the motorcycle lane in time, and ended up on an elevated expressway. Fortunately, traffic was light, and besides, I'm a stupid foreigner, so what do I know? My thanks go out to Thoth for taking the trouble today to show me some of the sights around his neck of the woods.
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