The joys of traveling with the boys and almost dying
A mystic night on a beach with a sea cave, bioluminescent blue plankton, and a massive bonfire.
This is the story of how I almost died four or five times on a boys trip.
Me, Lou, and Justin set off from Taipei, arrived in LuoDong, got a hitch hike ride to the edge of the road in the middle of nowhere, then we treacherously scaled the cliff downwards towards to sea far below. Inclination was at 50%.
When we reached the last part, some giant cliff secured only with an old wet frayed rope, it was already night time. We basically just had to close our eyes and grope around on the cliff wall looking for something to grab. We slowly inched our way down this "if you slip you die" dark cliff.
There's an interview of Alex Honnold where he says the reason he's so calm all the time is because he faces true fear, true physical danger where he can easily get seriously hurt or even die, and that these moments put the small problems like traffic, wrong orders, text messages, ,making everything else small in comparison. He says most people never experience this true fear and that is why their brains try to find problems and dangers out of nothing. There's another analogy about the TSA agents at the airport - how even when everything the passengers possess adhere to the regulations, the agent will still look for problems: it's just how we are. It's what the brain does. So there are many ways to take advantage of this fact.
Read more here:
Jacob Pugmire
Back to the trip
We arrived at the beach below and found a surreal scene like that from a dream. Embedded in the cliff side was a deep and a grand sea cave. Crawling inside were the insects you only imagined lived deep under the earth. We called them sea cockroaches. We witnessed two have sex, too. I have a video of it.
Night time
We built two bonfires, because one was not enough.
I drank wine and ate fruit. Lou built a shelter out of drift wood. Justin created a roaring bonfire that burned our eyes with smoke.
We snorkeled naked in the ocean exploring the unreal bioluminescent blue plankton. It was perhaps one of the most surreal experiences in my life. We also laid on the sand and let the waves toss us around like stones, just going with the flow. It was such an amazing experience.
We also tried to record a podcast in Chinese next to the bonfire. My eyes were closed for half of it because of the smoke.
The next morning
I woke up in a startle when I saw and heard an unknown boat right next to the shore I was sleeping. In my half dreary half not awake state, I thought they were the Chinese military coming to take Taiwan and I was about to be gunned down by a machine gun. It woke me up better than any coffee.
I took some videos and pictures in the early morning sunrise. The sky was pink and the water blue and purple. Though some would argue the sky was orange. Maybe I am colored blind.
We decided not the climb the sketchy rock island with 10 year old wet frayed ropes. Instead we jumped off a rock into the water and went snorkeling to see the fish.
I saw the small jellyfishes that were stinging Lou and Justin, but to be honest, I didn't mind them. Some part of me even enjoyed the stinging feeling. Some called me a masochist for this.
I enjoyed diving to the bottom. I believe free diving is now my favorite water sport.
The hike up
The hike up was treacherous and dangerous. We didn't bring enough water and it was 38 degrees Celsius. I nearly died of heat stroke, we had to take numerous rests along the way up.
Upon reaching the top I heard voices and rushed to meet them. It was a dad and his wife and kids. Immediately I asked for water.
Upon his wife's consistent insistence, he poured 4 times into my water bottle. Each time I chugged it all. It was a life saver and I don't think I would have made the journey to the next town without it.
Water when you are in such a thirsty state tastes like heaven.
We then hitchhiked on the back of the Asian blue truck to the next town, Dongao.
We ate rechao, then rested at the train station. At this point I have fallen asleep many times, both at the restaurant and at the station. I was exhausted but elated.
I took the train back to Taipei, then the bus, then the MRT.
That was the end of my trip.
The pre-trip
Along the way to the beach we got picked up by a Tesla. By a woman who that day happens to be her birthday. And her boyfriend. They were so nice. They initially passed us but perhaps after consideration, they rounded back and picked us up.
We also bathed out feet in a cold spring, in Luodong I believe.
