pingtung pt 2

so the original plan was to head down on sunday.  problem is, I have class on sunday until 1 pm.  then I have to go home, pack up, head to the bus station, hop on the next bus, and arrive 5 hours later.  so at best, I’d be getting there at like 7 or 8. pretty late. I also don’t know where I’m going, staying, or getting off the bus.  also, I didn’t know how to get in touch with tessa and youming.  I tried sending them a facebook message, but didn’t have a response by the time I got back from teaching, so I settled in to wait until I heard more. after I few hours, I realized that youming’s phone number might be on his facebook, and sure enough it was.  I gave it a call and talked with tessa and decided to catch the 3 am bus to pingtung so I wouldn’t have to pay for another night’s hotel.  money was getting a little tight at that point. I went to bed at 9 so I’d have a few hours sleep.
the bus ride was uneventful, I slept through most of it, and woke up in some city. I couldn’t understand the bus driver, but I though pingtung was the last stop, so I got off with the last person.  turns out I went one or two to far, and after walking for a while I caught a cab back to where youming and tessa were staying. I got a hotel room in the same place as them, and took a nap until about 1130 when we were supposed to meet people for lunch and start the day’s activities.  after a quick shower, I met up with tessa and youming and we got some lunch by ourselves, the plans having been slightly modified while I slept. 
eventually, sam came by on his scooter to join us.  the day’s plans involved liangshan falls, a moderately well known tourist attraction that was about a half hour away by scooter. I rode with sam, tessa rode with youming. this was my first time riding a scooter farther than across half a parking lot, and I was a little nervous. where do I put my hands? not around sam, that’s for sure. that’d be awkward even if taiwanese people weren’t weird about touching.  turns out there’s a little handle thing behind where you sit, so I just hung onto that for dear life until I got more comfortable. 
liangshan falls is a series of waterfalls that turn into a little river.  the first one is used like a spring, with lots of people sitting/swimming in it. the second one is a little bit of a hike up the mountain, and has a big pool underneath it that you can swim in. the third is by far the most impressive, but people don’t see it too often because the path up collapsed during a mudslide and hasn’t been repaired.
we weren’t gonna let that stop us though, and we decided to go to the third one first and work out way back.
to be continued…