(Post by Alisha)


The humidity soaked us almost instantly as we began our little trek up the beautiful mountains in our own city, Sanxia. A small breeze carried the scent of the flowers and the damp, earthy odor of the trees. As we followed the winding road up and up, we paused to take in all the beauty around us: the tall, stiff bamboo stalks, the bright orange and pink lilies, and a butterfly with red, black, and white wings that was the size of a hummingbird. As a coworker of mine commented, after living in Taiwan, it would be hard to go back living somewhere without the ever-present beauty and tranquility of the mountains.

We stopped a little further on the way at a stony oasis to down some water and munch on the cashews, jerky, and fruit we brought with (Bacon also enjoyed a marshmallow choco pie). When we finally arrived at the peak, we were rewarded with an amazing mountain-top view of the city and the other lush mountains looming in the distance. The tropical plant life here is just one more thing that is so different from anything we can experience back home.

As you can probably tell, we love the mountains here—especially after coming from the Midwest. More mountain trips are definitely on the agenda :)


☺