Day Trip to Puli
Trip Start
Sep 10, 2007
1
10
Trip End
Sep 09, 2008
Puli, Taiwan
Monday, March 10, 2008
A few of us decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather last weekend and take a day trip to the township of Puli. It's about a two-hour drive from Taichung, located in the geographical center of the island.
The ride up was gorgeous. Clear blue skies and warm. Once we were a few miles out of Taichung, all signs of city life disappeared. Winding mountain roads, wind in our face, the smell of incense drifting from small temples, and beautiful green valleys below us almost the entire way. Very nice.
Puli Township is an interesting place. It's not large by Taiwan standards but very spread out. There are lush green mountains in every direction, and the air is substantially fresher than Taichung's. We wandered through the street markets, had lunch, and explored some of the nicer shops along the way.
Carl, a South African friend and coworker suggested we visit his friend up in the hills overlooking Puli. His friend is the owner/operator of a very successful paragliding operation. On the way up, we could see what looked like small colored balloons floating above the town. As we got closer, we could see people with parachutes literally jumping off of the cliffs over us.
Matt, Kristin and I didn't have any particular interest in leaping off of a cliff on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, but Carl decided to give it a shot. He rode tandem with his friend for more than thirty minutes. The paraglider doesn't just float down into the valley below...he/she is able to catch the breeze and "fly" for as much as an hour. It all depends on how much wind there is at any particular time.
We ended up staying up there for the rest of the afternoon. After the sun went down we headed back toward Taichung. All in all, it was a fantastic day. I've included a few pictures of our little adventure and a couple of my scooter.
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
