Let's be clear: by "climb a mountain" I mean "walk up a million narrow stone steps." Really steep staircases, is what I'm saying. They twist and turn, some are lined with ropes, and the steps vary in thickness and actual similarity to steps.
I went on this field trip (which was actually a lot of fun, except for the stairs) with my Chinese tutor and some of her other students. We met at Yongning MRT station at 3:30 and walked to the foot of the mountain. The first portion of the climb was easy, as it was on a paved road. This street lead up to a large Buddhist temple, which was absolutely gorgeous.
After the temple, we left the road and began the hike up the steps.
I am not out of shape. Just that morning I'd gone to the gym, where I had biked AND jogged for a solid hour. My legs are not noodles. But apparently, when faced with anything slightly uphill, they are. Every ten steps made me out of breath. It was frustrating, because if we'd been walking on a flat surface or biking I'd have been like, "Yeah, keep going, I'm not close to tired, let's go!"
Gravity is my kryptonite is what I'm saying. I think all those years in the pool, in weightlessness, has made me unable to cope with gravity on its own terms.
Fortunately, there was another member of the group who found gravity equally difficult to cope with, so she and I opted to lag behind and make our way to the top on our own terms (which involved a lot of stopping for rest). We were also both interested in taking lots of pictures, though, so we used our stops to catch our breath and take photos of whatever was around.
At long last we finally made it to the peak, from which you could see everything. You could literally see a mountain in Dansui, which is on the other side of the city. Really far away.
I tried to do a panorama and my camera, for some reason, said "LOL how about half of one?" You can see where it cuts off and starts again.
Taipei 101 from really far away.
About five minutes later we had to leave, because it was getting dark, but I'm glad I made the walk up, because the view was totally worth it.
However, the next morning my calf muscles were so tight they felt permanently cramped (they still feel that way today, Tuesday) and for some odd reason I developed a sore throat that has completely eaten away at my voice. Maybe from all the harsh breathing I did in the hot, humid air. Who knows. At least the lack of voice and the need to get well has prompted me to stay in bed and type this out. :)
Until the next adventure!
I shouldve gone with you! It was so cloudy, I didn't see a thing!
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