Doulan

We have finally found a mountain that we can hike!! After an amazing night sleep neither of us rushed to get out of bed as we assumed it would be as cloudy as yesterday. On getting out we realised it was really sunny so we made some peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches and headed out.

Challenge #1 - Getting along the main road (halfway to the trail)
The trail started about a 2 hour walk from where our hostel was and we had no mode of transport. It was time to try and hitch hike. Luckily we saw a Chinese tour bus on the main road so we asked the driver if he would take us along the main road which would take us half way to the trail. He happily agreed!

Challenge #2 - Getting to the start of the trail
The next section was a very steep winding road that ideally we wanted to hitch hike on again. On the way we met Alex, from our hostel, who had attempted to bike up but her chain had completely bust so ended up joining us. Unfortunately the only passing traffic would have been other walkers and as it was quite late we didn't pass any so we ended up walking the whole way up. After over an hour we finally got to the trail head woohoo!

The forest track was really pretty with views over the coast but oh my goodness within about 5 mins of walking we were all soaked to the bone in sweat. The humidity and heat was unbearable! Even our shorts were a darker shade, it was disgusting I must admit. Luckily all 3 of us looked as bad as each other so we just kept going. It was pretty steep the whole way ascending up 1100m from the coast line. It felt like we were making no progress. Every 0.5km marker was more of a disappointment than encouragement, but we got there in the end... It got so foggy when at the top. And there was absolutely no view at the top. Oh how I wish we had a chainsaw and we could have just chopped off the top of the trees!

I began talking to a Taiwanese youngster on the way down who was so lovely and modest about his English. He spoke fantastic English and just kept apologising saying how terrible it was.

On the way down we were really hoping we could find a car to hitch hike, this time with the added difficulty of taking a broken bike too. But our prayers were answered just as we got to the end of the trail a pickup truck pulled up and Jen Jen helped us ask the owner if he would take us back to town. He said yes!!! What an amazing guy! So me and Will jumped in the trailer and we soon arrived back at the hostel.

In desperate need of a shower, we all washed and then headed to the Vietnamese restaurant for a well deserved dinner. In the evening we bought beer from the 7-11 and then went to watch a local band play at the now abandoned sugar factory. It was great fun and we tried the local beer, oh my goodness it felt strong. After the band ended we sat and chatted for a while and then eventually headed home to bed.

I don't know what was in that beer but I've been up all night! Hope I feel OK in the morning.Read more