I am a Motorbike Babe

This weekend we went four hours via (slow) train to Hualien county, on the east coast of Taiwan. The trip was stunningly beautiful--we went mostly along the coast, and it was mountainous and incredible. In Hualien, we did a number of things--we went to see Liyu Lake (which is named after carp, because it is shaped like one), we went to a night market, we drove up into the mountains to Taroko National Park and saw many beautiful things. All these I will post images of later. The pertinent detail is only this: yesterday, from Hualien City to Liyu Lake, we rode motorbikes.

I have never been so scared in my life.

There are three of us--Inky, Victor, and I. Inky and Victor drove, and I clung for dear life behind Victor, no doubt making the whole affair much more difficult by being stiff as a board and freaking out if we went above 30kph--or, rather, freaking out all of the time. But, through a great exercise of sheer will, I managed not to throw myself off of the bike in sheer desperation, and here I am, alive to tell the tale. But really, I much prefer to drive than to be a motorbike passenger.

Yes, I drove! And yes, before you ask, that is illegal, because no, I do not hold a driver's license in any country. But I survived, and Victor survived riding behind me, so even though I only drove on long straight relatively low-traffic stretches, perhaps I have taken a first step towards a place among the many badass motorbike babes of Taiwan. It was awesome!