OK, now I have to back up and describe an adventure from Thursday. It all started with Z’s very sensible suggestion that, if we were visiting a sub-tropical island, we should visit at least one beach. As it happens, beach volleyball is one of the Deaflympic sports so we decided we would go see a game and maybe take in a swim as well. D opted out, but our new friend P was willing to go and I suggested Z invited his new friend D. In the end, D’s family decided they would go too, so we grabbed two taxis and headed for the coast. That turned out be an expensive decision because the coast is on the other side of small mountain range. Still, we were going to cheer for US athletes who don’t have that many fans--probably because the venue is so far away.

After a little wandering, we found the volleyball courts behind barricades made of sand. The ocean itself was filled with bobbing chunks of driftwood. Apparently, the typhoon swept away whole hillsides full of trees and they are now being washed ashore. Steam shovels had piled up huge mounts of debris at one end of the beach volleyball venue. We watched the end of a women’s match as well as men’s match. The weather which was grey to begin with turned downright misty so, after the second match, we headed to a nearby hotel for a snack.

The hotel was pretty much deserted and they had stopped serving Chinese food. The western menu consisted of a hamburger or a sandwich. The hamburger was battered and fried, and the club sandwich had an egg on it, but we were hungry so it all tasted good. At one point, Z who has become a shameless flirt, called out “I love you” to one of the waitresses. She turned and replied “I love you too.” You really never know who will be able to speak English!

The rain had stopped, so we headed down the beach to a little fishing quay. The driftwood was a little smaller in this section of the beach so Z stripped off his shirt and jumped in the water so he could say he’d swum in the China Sea. He said the water was warm but it was a little daunting to actually swim because in addition to the possibility of being whacked by a piece of driftwood, he never knew when he would encounter one of the crabs we’d seen among the rocks.

At the end of the beach, fishermen were selling their catch alive in basins of running water. We saw shrimp and squid and fish of many shapes and sizes. By this time, we’d studied the map and knew we were close to a national park called Yeliou. We asked a Chinese woman how far it was to the park and she assured us that it was “ten minutes” but, when we found a map, the distance seemed considerably longer. I spotted a taxi in a parking lot--the owner was apparently doing a little fishing--and asked if he would take us to the park. He shrugged in a way that seemed to say “Why not?” and ended up making two trips on our behalf.

Although some of us had read descriptions of the park, no one really knew what it was about and we had only an hour until it closed. Still, for an entry fee of 150 NTD (about $4.50 American), we decided to take a chance. That turned out to be an extremely good decision. The park is filled with the most extraordinary rock formations. One section at the beginning has pitted limestone caps atop what look like sandstone stems. As P said, “This doesn’t look like our planet.” Everyone had a terrific time exploring because one formation was more astonishing than the next. The Chinese have given them very literal names like Queen’s head and Tofu rock, but that doesn’t begin to convey their strange shapes and configurations.

All of this was set against deep blue water that crashed into the rocks much as it does on the coast of Oregon. The backdrop to the scene was tropical green hills capped by slate gray rain clouds. It was all very dramatic and beautiful. We walked and walked and walked--ooohing and aaahing over what we saw. A little before six, a voice came over a loudspeaker telling everyone to leave the park. By then, we were drenched in sweat, so we headed for the exit. Naturally, Z and his buddy were last to rejoin us. They had gone to the very tip of the promontory and climbed down a narrow flight of stairs to get to a narrow beach. Everyone agreed that it had been a great adventure.

D and his family headed back to town, but Z had a craving for seafood and you can be pretty sure it will be fresh when it’s swimming in tanks outside the restaurant. The menu was indecipherable so the waiter suggested a seafood feast pictured on a poster. It included clams stuffed with something spicy, shrimp complete with heads, something with tentacles that was nice and chewy, a stewed crab and a steamed lobster cut thoughtfully into several pieces. Just to be sure the meal was balanced, there was also a plate of that very tasty green stuff cooked in garlic. We fell too and, although each of us had our favorites, it was all delicious.

Having eaten, we began to consider the question of how to get back to Taipei. We’d heard about a bus but it left from the town with the beach volleyball and that was several miles back along a narrow road that had been dangerous to walk even in the daylight. We tried asking our waiter to call a cab and soon the entire family was involved in figuring out where we wanted to go. One of the waitresses volunteered to drive us herself and ran outside to get her car. Zach has been sitting in front when we take taxis but, as soon as he got in front, the brother of the driver hopped into the back seat with P and I, presumably as a chaperone.

They got us to the bus stop, we dug around to find exact change and soon bus 1815 pulled up. For $79 (about $2.25) we rode back to Taipei. The city was lit up like Christmas with Taipei 101 towering over all. The bus let us off a few blocks from our hotel and we trudged home tired but satisfied in every way.