It was the tail end of Chinese New Year and we’d gone to visit the parents of one of our students. Towards the end of the day we headed out across some fields to have a look at a nearby fishpond.

As we got to the end of the streets in the nearby area where the fields began, there was a need to cross the local stream.

Across the stream was the most rickety looking bridge I’d ever seen.

It looked like something MacGyver had pulled out of his arse. Cobbled together from PVC pipe, iron (I think) sheets, bits of bamboo and some rope – I watched it sway in the gentle breeze… despite it being made from mostly metal.

I’m happy to say that I survived both crossings of the bridge but Jesus Christ. I always thought that if I did meet my end here in Taiwan it’d be at the hands of some crazy gangster, a disgruntled reader, some slightly spoiled seafood or being knocked down by a crazy blue truck driver.

Never did I think Taiwan would go all Indiana Jones on my arse and require me to start carrying around some mandatory rope everywhere I go.

Seriously, even though you can’t see it in the photo – the entire thing looked completely rusted through, had massive chunks of sheet metal missing from the platform and creaked and groaned like crazy.

And then there was the weird arse bending you experienced with your feet with every step you took – don’t get me started on just how much the platform bent if two people accidentally stood on the same square of sheet metal at the same time.

Worst freaking bridge ever Taiwan!



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