Total Commitment

We got to run our second river yesterday, the Tai Gong, a few hours out of Taipei and close to Baleng. during the four hour, grade IV-V run, we really started to realise some of the implications of paddling in Taiwan's mountains.

As we rode to the top in a flat-bed truck we were made acutely aware of the implications of the run. The road looped away from the river, separated at the very least by 400m of incredibly steep jungle. Climbing out would be impossible with boats and hours of gruelling bush-bashing without.

We've been amazed by the quality of the rivers out here: the Tai Gong reminded us of a New Zealand West coast run with alternating boulder and bedrock rapids and stunning scenery. It was a real pleasure to paddle with two of the Taiwanese guys, Bear and James. There was a real fusion of styles: they had the low-down on the local knowledge and the landscape while they really appreciated our tight-knit paddling style.

When we reached the take-out, the East-West culture clash hit us as we were invited into the back-room of a local bar and made to sing Karaoke with a couple of heavy-drinking construction workers! Our virtuoso performances of 'I left my heart in San Francisco' and 'Do Ray Me' left our new-found friends agog while their crooning of Taiwanese pop classics whiled away the hour long wait for our shuttle truck.

We're holed up in Taipei for a couple of days now because there's a tropical storm hitting the island this afternoon. That said, the torrential rain and howling winds are going to put paid to our paddling plans for the next couple of days. With the fast run-off we're expecting to be able to get paddling again in a couple of days.