on the road

just got home from the absolute most incredible camping trip of all time.

i am beat and dirty and need to shower and put up our christmas tree while watching Home Alone so i'll keep this brief for now..
but to paint a picture:

twenty of us on our scooters and motorcycles caravaned down to Maolin. i can honestly say that listening to my ipod cruising on a sunny day watching banana plantations pass on the side only to be replaced by temples and tea shops and mountains worked together to make me feel more alive than i maybe have ever felt before. i was dancing [as much as you can dance while driving a bike] and singing and literally bursting with joy. the last leg of the drive we rode through meadows and i watched while butterflies played around me leading the way down to the water. where we camped was basically just a big gorge beside a river and surrounded by mountains. we set up tents and had an epic fire and played all day into the night. and of course, were asleep by midnight and up by nine in true camping style. we shot fireworks, sang songs, and made new friends. i met a girl from ottawa. unebelievable.

after packing up today we rode through a little village, then down a windy jungle road to a waterfall. it was beautiful. we kept hiking, crossed a rickety little bridge and stumbled upon the most amazing waterfall i have ever seen. it literally looked like 'the beach' was filmed there. it was probably fifteen stories high and ran into a little blue circle of water that you could swim in. the sides were flanked with the most luscious green plants.there was even a rope to swing from. the water was freezing but you cant go to an epic waterfall in the middle of taiwan and not swim. so i swam. and it was unreal.

we got dressed, pushed play on our ipods and headed back out. stopped only to eat at a little dumpling shop and then straight on til home.
these words arent doing it justice so ill post photos asap. get ready to be jealous and start looking up flights to visit me.