Part I: A Winter Trip in the Southern Hemisphere

Things have gone terribly downhill since my last year's trip returning from Peru. It was possibly the most wonderful trip (and most interesting country I have ever been in my life). Adding to that I had just received my doctorate in March of the same year, my future looked bright. But a lot of mishaps ensued. At last, I got an undesirable post-doc position in my old department and faced some serious issues about my immigration visa.

Now I returned to my home country in the summer 2000 and is offered a new job in New York City. But the visa issues remains unsolved. I can only hang on and hope time will take care of things.

Then I thought about the South Hemisphere. Everytime I was in a crossroads of my life, a trip to some place in the South Hemisphere brought me new perspectives of life. My trip to Australia and New Zealand brought me several good friends of my life and helped me to creat one of the best travelogue I've ever written (It also helped me to 'write' again); a trip to Peru last year (especially a climb to the top of Huainay Picchu, the small mountain behind the famous Machu Picchu ruin) broaden my vision and helped me realize that I can always start over when I fall hard. In fact, I was even planning to return to Australia, traveling to Sydney and its Red Center, less than a month ago.

The summer weather is so hot and humid in Taipei, after being used to the moderate summer in Northwest US (mmm..it does get hot and humid sometime), I have to escape to some place much cooler. maybe some place it is currently winter. Again, Australia came to mind.

But I ended up going to South Africa, a country so far away from either Taiwan or the US. A country I wanted to visit more than 8 years ago but never had a chance to. A country has changed a lot since then. Eight years, so many things have changed in my life, so many dreams and expectation have been twisted and broken. And how the 8 years have been in this country's path? It will be the first new country I visit in the new milleneum (or the last year of the old milleneum, up to you).

And after a summer trip to Australia and a autumn trip to Peru, this will be my first winter trip to the South Hemisphere.

Back to Homepage of South African Trip