Day 25 - Beigang To Puzi, The Long Walk South In Taiwan
Day 25 - Beigang To Puzi, The Long Walk South In Taiwan
We started walking early today, in order to enjoy the cooler weather in the early mornings.
The temperatures in the evenings and early mornings were a bit cooler now, which gave me hope that maybe the season would finally be changing and summer might give way to autumn.
The sky was overcast as we crossed the red bridge on the southern side of Beigang, and we walked away from the beautiful temple in the center of town.
We felt more comfortable walking with our backpacks in the early morning hours, and we also made excellent time.
Today was not scheduled to be a long day of walking.
We couldn’t walk forwards, because there were no convenient buses or trains to take us back.
So the plan was just to walk to our hotel via the beautiful park around the Southern Branch of the National Museum, drop off our backpacks in the hotel and walk over to the Starbucks where we could spend the afternoon and evening.
We made no arrangements for our dinner or breakfast the following day, because we figured that we could see what was available around the hotel.
We walked by the side of the main road, which had light traffic of cars and trucks, and of course not a single person walking anywhere.
A voice in my head was chiming to me: “Become love!
It is not enough to love those who are easy to love.
You must become love and give love without any fear or expectations.
When you become love, you will radiate love like a flower that gives its scent to everyone.
It does this naturally and without expectation.
A fragrant flower is simply fragrant, even if the nose of a terrible person sniffs its fragrance.
It doesn’t discriminate.
Be like the sun and radiate warmth and love!”
The day was getting warmer and warmer, and we left without eating breakfast.
I was thinking of our food options.
We could eat a healthy lunch in a relaxing environment if we were to stop at the National Museum.
We don’t need to purchase a ticket to enter, because we would not be going upstairs to see the exhibits that we already saw yesterday, just going to the museum restaurant on the first floor to eat lunch.
By lunchtime, we arrived at the outskirts of the vast museum grounds, and were only a few km from our hotel.
The temperatures were up to the 90’s, and we felt quite hot and in need of a rest.
We decided that tomorrow, we must start walking by 7am, so we can complete a larger portion of our long walks before noon.
Unfortunately, the weather forecast said that we would have another sunny and very hot day tomorrow, and for the next ten days.
We had a great lunch of a delicious vegetarian hotpot, which included many kinds of fresh mushrooms and a variety of vegetables.
Only today, the museum was nearly empty, in stark contrast to how crowded it was yesterday.
After lunch, we dropped off our backpacks at the hotel and walked an extra 2 km to a Starbucks, to spend the afternoon.
The area felt very strange.
We were not actually staying in the town of Puzi, but in the outskirts just south of the museum.
There was a huge hospital and huge universities, with students living in ugly buildings that were all gated with tall fences and even felt a little empty.
There were no stores or restaurants around the hotel, only a bakery where we bought fresh baguettes for our meals tomorrow.
There was no laundromat around, and the streets were wide and empty, with huge benches to seat the invisible crowds that probably never came here.
The two kilometers that we walked from the hotel to the Starbucks felt so much longer.
The Starbucks was lively and full of students studying there.
Next door was a big supermarket with everything I needed for dinner.
I bought avocado and cheese to make sandwiches for tomorrow’s walk, along with cucumbers, tomatoes and fruit.
We sat there until evening and then walked back to the hotel.
Many people were checking in with big families and lots of screaming children.
We showered and washed our hiking shirts, face towels and underwear by hand.
The kids were screaming and playing in the corridors and in the courtyard, long after their bedtime and until midnight.
Finally I fell asleep, mostly because of the heat and the fact that I needed to get up early to start walking before the heat of the day.
I concluded that I didn’t succeed in being love, radiating love like a fragrant flower… I didn’t do well today…. But tomorrow is another day…
With love,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
Steps - 23,899
Daily Distance - 18 km.
Total Distance To Date - 373 km
