Look at the stars

I'm back!!!! And missing Taiwan already. The whole trip was fantastic - what a great holiday! I love trekking. I love these guys. And I absolutely love Taiwan.

I wanna go back.

My feet are still a little sore from all that running around - probably more from trawling the night markets than from the trek! - but the rest of me longs for the mountains still. When you're so close to the heavens that the very stars seem brighter and you hold your breath and try to stop shivering for a moment so you can take it all in... the air is cold and crisp and the night is silent around you and all you can think about is how beautiful the world is. And you think, This, THIS is why I climb mountains.

Until you haul your ass up a steep incline to a lonely little peak and your butt cheeks start freezing. That's when you turn to the poor sap next to you and ask, "Why am I doing this again?"

The sunrise from the mountaintop is gorgeous though. The sun comes up so slowly, and you can see each individual ray, like a lighthouse beacon, radiating from its bright burning centre. The sky turns to soft shades of pink and purple, and you behold mountains, beyond mountains, beyond mountains, beyond mountains, as far as the eye can see. It's so beautiful it's almost hard to believe it's real. Even with the windburn... you forget just how cold you are, if only for a few seconds.

Sigh. I wish I could climb Jade Mountain again. (Funny how treks always seem more fun after the fact.) Yep, I'd even put up with living in dirty sweats and not having working toilets for a couple of days again and surviving on chocolate throughout the day. I do wish all the guys on the mountain were as cute as the aborigine guy we saw though. Mmmmmm... chocolate =P

I'm definitely going back. Maybe I'll do another mountain. But definitely Taiwan.

More updates when I've cleared all the backlog. Waiting for the photos ;) TAIWAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!