A Friendly Face

It has been a couple weeks since our last post and I have to say that this particular post has been brewing for some time. After the Moon Festival debacle Katie and I looked forward desperately to the next weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We were feeling run down from our schedule and our cozy little apartment was beginning to feel like a fish bowl. It was time to bust out.

So we did some research and made the decision to go to Sun Moon Lake. Arguably one of Taiwan's most famous spots to spend a weekend of relaxation and rest. I was able to contact a bed and breakfast that was reasonably priced and by Monday we were already looking forward to making the trip that very next weekend.


The week was long but we pressed on. Friday arrived with some stormy weather, but the soggy scooter ride to work didn't shake our spirits. Tomorrow we would be in Sun Moon Lake and that's all that mattered. As soon as we got to work our manager asked us if we were still planning on going.

Eagerly Katie nodded and replied, "Yes of course."

Our manager frowned and said, "I don't know if you should." She explained that a rather sizable typhoon was headed our way and the island will most likely be shut down for the weekend. We refused to believe it. The typhoon may be coming, but if we could get to the lake first we would be ok...right?

We watched the storm carefully and it became clear we wouldn't be going anywhere. I quickly e-mailed the bed and breakfast to change our reservations and we were able to make them for the following weekend. Katie and I decided this would be better as we would be in Taichung already for a day of training for school. So this could be a blessing in disguise.

A long story short, the typhoon was pretty cool to watch and we spent the weekend literally in our room watching the storm. We were feeling pretty stuck. Then we began to feel sick.

The next week passed by in a blur of congested lungs, coughing, fevers and teaching but Friday arrived. We were up early to head to Taichung excited to leave the Jubei area for the first time since we had arrived six weeks earlier.

We took the "fast train" down south which is really quite amazing. 10 years ago it would take at least two hours to drive from our house to Taichung on a very good day. The fast train did it in just over 25 minutes. It really was amazing.

11 hours later our training was coming to a close. Katie and I were both worried we would miss the last bus to Sun Moon Lake. We watched the clock anxiously as the final minutes seemed to drag on forever. According to our information there was only one bus left going to Sun Moon Lake and we only had a few minutes to catch it. Suddenly my cell phone rang.

What in the world? We have a cellphone that really functions as more of a watch than a phone. A handful of people have the number and none of those people call us with any regularity. I looked at the phone and didn't recognize the number so I didn't answer. The meeting kept going. My phone rang again...same number....this time I excused myself from the meeting and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Yes, hello is this Mr. Luke?"
"Um...yeah"
"Hi this is Wayne from Laurel Villa" -- the bed and breakfast we were staying at.
"Oh hi!"
"Are you still planning on coming to the lake?"
"Yes, but we might miss the bus..."
"Oh...don't worry! Just take the other bus to Puli...they run 24 hours and I come to pick you up!"

This was my first conversation with Wayne.

We left the meeting shortly after and hopped in a taxi hoping we could catch the bus. We did not (so we thought, actually we were directed to the wrong bus or we went to the wrong bus...who knows...welcome to Taiwan!) but we could take a bus to Puli...and apparently this guy Wayne would pick us up.

I called Wayne and he told me to meet him at the KFC. Pretty random and pretty unlikely, but at this point we were on the bus and there was no turning back.

We looked into the darkness out the window and we started to wonder if this was in fact the bus to Puli. We made several stops and each time a group of high school kids boarded. Oh no...was this the right bus? So I went and asked the bus driver. He confirmed it was in fact the right bus and not to worry.

An hour and a half later (after stopping at a gas station just outside of town) the bus stopped in Puli and let us off next to a big KFC. There in his green Toyota was Wayne.

It is important to note here that the section above really is more of a prolgogue because this is really about Wayne. I can't tell you how badly Katie and I needed to get out and rest...we were sick, tired and desperate. Now we were somewhere in central Taiwan in the middle of a town we had no intention of seeing being picked up by somebody we didn't know.

But here we met Wayne. He picked us up, took us to get dinner (he was worried we would be hungry and all the food stands in Sun Moon Lake would be closed by the time we got there). Then we talked for 30 minutes while he drove us to the lake. Wayne learned English from watching movies and honestly his English rivals some of the staff at our school. He told us about the lake, where to go, what to see and then about his bed and breakfast.

We arrived and were greeted with smiles from his family then shown to our room. The bed was soft and there was a shower (two things we don't have normally!) We woke to a nice breakfast downstairs made by Wayne's wife and then spent the weekend relaxing. They let us borrow their scooter (no charge and they would not let us pay for gas), offered to drive us any where we wished to go, always asked if we needed anything or wanted anything and were honestly some of the most genuinly nice people we have ever met. As we were getting ready to leave on Sunday Wayne shook my hand and said, "I am sorry that I wasn't very helpful to you this weekend. I hope you have a good time here."

He is an amazing guy.

Honestly we didn't see much of the lake...it was quite cloudy and we were tired...but we had a great time because of Wayne and his family.

Here is a picture from outside the hotel

This was from a nice walk we took on Saturday afternoon.

These were from the top of a nine story pagoda in the mountains. Apparently one of the best views in all of Taiwan...too bad it was so cloudy.
Some of the temples here were amazing.

All in all this was a great trip......Until next time!