5/23/2014
Our group was to meet at 7:30AM. After about 4/5 hours of sleep I was ready for what the day had ahead for us. Our goal was to hitchhike from Taipei (臺北) to Taitung (臺東). 
There were 6 of us hitchhiking in groups of two. We YouBiked over to the area where the freeway entrance that would be going the direction to Yilan（依蘭） which was the next biggest city. At first we wrote on our small white board, we are going to Yilan. But a lady walking by told us the Chinese characters for “hitching a ride to” (搭便車). After about 45 minutes we were successful. We got a ride with a fellow traveler named King Joy Lin (literally, he also spoke no English) and he told us about his travels in China and stuff. After we got to Yilan he took us to his sister’s or aunt’s shop full of miscellaneous things. He then took us to the Train station and told us to get a train and stop hitchhiking cause he said we were crazy. Haha. Anyways, we then walked around grabbed some 小籠湯包 (Xiaolongbao, Soup Dumplings) and prepared our next destination. Getting out of Taipei was definitely the hardest part, in 20 minutes or less we hitched another ride to Suao(蘇澳). these two guys (Bill and ??) were just on their way to lunch in the place we wanted to go. So they dropped us off in a convenient location at the intersection of the next highway. Only 10 mins later and we got a ride with a guy named Eric in a tiny black Jeep. He took us to Hualien where he lived. He apparently worked for the Taiwanese Navy and flies Sea Hawks (helicopters) and can fly any kind of airplane. He also spent time in Washington DC teaching others to fly. He too dropped us off at the Train Station haha. We had a long walk to the next highway so we made a stop at 7-eleven for drinks and picked up some 包子 (baozi, Bread with different fillings, like Curry or meat). As we were walking down to the next good spot to hitchhike from a guy in a brand new car stops and asks us if we want a ride. I thought he wanted us to buy a new car cause we were right across the street from a car dealership and he looked like a worker just driving the car. He asks us if we want to drive with him and points across the street at his truck. His truck was one of those large trailer trucks that transports other cars! He told us to wait down the street and he’ll come pick us up, but he has some work to finish. So about a half an hour later he comes and picks us up in this large truck. There is a bed behind the two front seats which Dan conveniently takes. This guy was a real trucker. He knew every betel nut girl on the way down, telling us their name, where they came from. Betel nut is a thing like chewing tobacco very common in Asia, its a bit of a stimulant and probably highly addictive. You always know when someone does it cause their mouth is red or orange. Anyways he told us how he traveled to Indonesia, China, and other places. Apparently he has been driving for 20 years and stuff, he was a funny guy. This part of the trip was the longest, about 4 hours on the last part until Taitung. After we reached Taitung, we were still about an hour or 2 walking distance from our hostel where the rest of the group was waiting. We were just walking in the direction to our hostel when a lady going the opposite direction, told us to stop and wait for her. We were kind of scared cause we didn’t know why she said that. We just took out our sign and were surprised she could even read it. Anyways it was her and two other guys, and we squeezed inside. Apparently they were of aboriginal decent and stuff. They played some really cool Taiwanese aboriginal music. They were kind enough to drop us off at the door of our hostel. I was simply amazed at the kindness of the Taiwanese the whole way down. So awesome!