Sitting there waiting for the traffic light, the taste of smoke gasoline cut deep into my eyes. A full face helmet did little to quell the noxious air from reaching my face. I began to breath as shallowly as possible, hoping to keep most of the pollution out of my lungs.
Praying that the light would change, I thought back to a time when I had neglected to wear eye protect during rush hour. As I had ridden, my eyes had burned from the smoke and exhaust assaulting them. The stink of gasoline had raced through my sinuses making it hard to breath as well. It was an experience I had made sure to never replicate again.
Finally the light turned green. Twenty scooters and scores of cars revved their engines pushing even more exhaust into the thickly polluted air. With my eyes burning, I pulled back on the throttle and quickly pulled ahead of the pack leaving most of the dirty air behind me.
Heading out of city the air slowly began to clear and the tasty subtropical breeze washed the city from my clothes. Soon the shroud of pollution lifted and the cool mountain air allowed me to open up my visor.
That first taste of clean air never failed to invigorate me. It tasted damp humid and smelled of countless trees and flowers. Each time I found the clean mountain air it reminded me how beautiful Taiwan truly was. Yet I knew so many people who rarely ventured away from the city. Tied to their job or uninterested in taking the time to drive into the mountains, they rarely knew the pleasures that I took for granted several times a week.
Having no idea of where I was going, I headed deeper into the dark mountains passing town after town. Soon there were no more street signs and the towns became fewer and fair between. Feeling completely lost I knew it was time to turn around. Down through the mountains I wandered, at times wondering if I would be lost forever. Nothing looked familiar anymore. Hoping to retrace the route I had taken into the mountains I looked for familiar landmarks.
A slow creeping feeling of panic began to eat at me. Then I realized there was nothing to be worried about. I still had plenty of gas and I could always stop and ask someone where Hsinchu- 新竹市 was.
Then as suddenly as I had become lost, I found myself back on a familiar road. Riding back into town. The traffic and pollution had died down. The urban air had begun to balance out as the clean ocean and mountain air mixed with the filth of another day.
Tomorrow morning rush hour would start and the city would forget about beauty for another day.
Praying that the light would change, I thought back to a time when I had neglected to wear eye protect during rush hour. As I had ridden, my eyes had burned from the smoke and exhaust assaulting them. The stink of gasoline had raced through my sinuses making it hard to breath as well. It was an experience I had made sure to never replicate again.
Finally the light turned green. Twenty scooters and scores of cars revved their engines pushing even more exhaust into the thickly polluted air. With my eyes burning, I pulled back on the throttle and quickly pulled ahead of the pack leaving most of the dirty air behind me.
Heading out of city the air slowly began to clear and the tasty subtropical breeze washed the city from my clothes. Soon the shroud of pollution lifted and the cool mountain air allowed me to open up my visor.
That first taste of clean air never failed to invigorate me. It tasted damp humid and smelled of countless trees and flowers. Each time I found the clean mountain air it reminded me how beautiful Taiwan truly was. Yet I knew so many people who rarely ventured away from the city. Tied to their job or uninterested in taking the time to drive into the mountains, they rarely knew the pleasures that I took for granted several times a week.
Having no idea of where I was going, I headed deeper into the dark mountains passing town after town. Soon there were no more street signs and the towns became fewer and fair between. Feeling completely lost I knew it was time to turn around. Down through the mountains I wandered, at times wondering if I would be lost forever. Nothing looked familiar anymore. Hoping to retrace the route I had taken into the mountains I looked for familiar landmarks.
A slow creeping feeling of panic began to eat at me. Then I realized there was nothing to be worried about. I still had plenty of gas and I could always stop and ask someone where Hsinchu- 新竹市 was.
Then as suddenly as I had become lost, I found myself back on a familiar road. Riding back into town. The traffic and pollution had died down. The urban air had begun to balance out as the clean ocean and mountain air mixed with the filth of another day.
Tomorrow morning rush hour would start and the city would forget about beauty for another day.
Hsinchu, Taiwan
No comments:
Post a Comment