The Road to Nowhere

Take a good look at the picture below. That's the road I was driving on in Maolin. No signs. No lights. Nothing but that set of orange poles to let you know that the road you've been driving on for the past half hour is about to take you over the side of a cliff.

Taiwan has a loose sense of what a road, let along a highway, should be. Let me go back to earlier in the day to explain:

I spent most of my day trying to drive from Kaohsiung to Yushan National Park, to an area called Maolin. According to both Google Maps and the paper map (in Chinese) I purchased, highway 10 should have extended most of the way there. About halfway through my drive, however, 10 ended. I mean to say T-boned another road at a stop light. The highway. Stopped at a light. No signs. Not even a "good luck trying to figure this out you silly American". I'll cut to the good part.

I soon found myself driving the wrong way down the middle of a highway. It was exciting to say the least. Lucky for you, I'm still alive to write this blog.