East of Taichung

From Dali City, you hop on Hwy 136 and head towards Puli. The twisty road which seems to have been built with motorcycles in mind eventually takes you south through the mountains and hooks up with Hwy 14 just East of Tsaotun smack in the middle of the Pick-Your-Own Strawberry Fields. It's a great ride and I'm glad to have rediscovered the idea of a road trip.

Before you get too far up into the mountains, you come across this Buddhist Monastery. According to my traveling companion, this is the place where people go when they've got troubles. The nuns will take you in for as long as you need to stay, and the first three days are free. If you're still there on the fourth, they give you a job to do. The weather was lovely at the beginning, but the Taiwan grey soon took over.