The vast, bucolic East Rift Valley and environs

I decided the best way to get to Yuli would be to fly to Taitung, where scooters can be rented at the airport. From there, it would be a wonderful drive up Highway 9 to Yuli. I was on the 8:55am flight a couple of Saturdays ago, and soon thereafter seated on a scooter and heading up towards the East Rift Valley.

Once out of the vicinity of Taitung City, there was, to my surprise, virtually no traffic at all. I expected, it being a clear day, to find convoys of souped-up Honda Civics racing up the valley and lines of 18-wheeled trucks lugging gravel and betel nut up towards Taipei. Instead, I was treated to unobstructed views of yellow rice fields and large, sleepy mountains on both sides of the valley.

In Luye (鹿野) Township, I passed a couple of turn-offs for a “High Terrace View” while rolling up the 9, and when I noticed a third, I asked myself what I was in a hurry for, then turned up and headed for the hills.

A two-lane road led up through a small town; this road, once beyond the town, began to narrow and then curve for a kilometer towards a mountain hamlet, where two black dogs charged at me. I turned back, and on my way I noticed a brown sign with white lettering — an indication of a scenic area. Tall grass and creeping vines obstruct this, which is probably why I missed it on my way up.

I turned up the steep, narrow, overgrown road that hairpins its way up the face of the mountain. Radiant yellow flowers — something like mini-sunflowers — drape over both sides of the tunnel-like road, giving one the sense that he’s en route to some sort of Formosan Shangri-La. And then I had to stop my scooter: the views over the East Rift Valley from up here caused me to shout out involuntarily.

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