A rainy day in Yilan 下雨的宜蘭
Yilan is on the east side of Taiwan, about an hour away from Taipei. It’s popular with locals from Taipei and international tourists due to its proximity. It’s not too difficult to come across a rainy day in Yilan. My friend says it rains over 200 days a year here.
宜蘭位於台灣東部，離開台北市大概一小時。是不少臺北居民及外國遊客愛到的地方。 朋友說宜蘭一年有超過200天都下雨，要碰到下雨天不難。
DALI
Dali is a small town on the Yilan coastline, it looks stunning on the internet – on one of the other 100 odd days. I wonder if I would be caught in a rainy day in Yilan on my visit there.
大里是宜蘭海岸其中一個小鎮，從網路上看的照片非常漂亮 。 不知道我到宜蘭大里，又會否碰上下雨天呢?
When I caught the train to Dali in the morning, it was already looking a bit gloomy. It didn’t take long for me to find out. Well, I guess I just have to brace the rain today.
早上坐火車出發時，天氣已開始有點陰暗。看來中獎機會也很大。
COASTAL WALK
When I arrived at Dali station, I followed the directions to the coast. It was a short 10-minute walk. Turn right from the station
到達大里車站，我根據指示步行約10分鐘到海邊。首先從車站轉右
Walk up some steps
步上小石級
Follow a wooden pathway
走過木步道
Cross a small bridge above the stream which leads out to the sea
然後經過小溪上一條小木橋
Turn right at the sign post to Dali old Street
這裏有指示牌，轉右到大里老街方向
Walk along the stream, that was gushing with rainwater today
沿著小溪邊走
Through a tunnel. Nothing to be afraid of as there’s always light at the other end of the tunnel
到這裏要穿過一條頗暗的長隧道
As I came out of the tunnel I could see the sea ahead of me. One more short walk way and then turn right across another little bridge, and I was standing in front of the sea. Rough was definitely the right word to describe the sea today.
穿越隧道後已見到大海。 再走很短的木步道，然後過一條小橋，我已站在波濤洶湧的大海前面。
BATTLE WITH THE RAIN
The problem with this type of weather is that it isn’t raining heavily. You feel it’s quite comfortable strolling by the sea. That is until about ten minutes later, you notice water smudges on your photos, and feel your jeans sticking to your legs as it’s drenched with rain water.
當時下著毛毛細雨，感覺上還可以在海邊慢步。 直到我發覺拍出來的照片開始有水漬，加上褲子因為雨水而黏在腳上有點不舒服， 下雨原來越來越大了。
I figured it was time to give up my battle with the rain and leave the coast. It was just too bad that the weather wasn’t better otherwise this would have been a perfect stroll. I turned right into Dali Old Street to explore this area.
心想跟老天爺搏鬥一定不會贏，還是早點離開海邊到大里老街逛逛。
DALI OLD STREET
If the sea was life and kicking today then Dali Old Street was as dead as a doornail. Bar the postman doing his rounds, there was not a single living soul in sight.
大里老街跟外面的滔天大浪，形成強烈對比。除了郵差在派信，是一條寧靜的小街。
The only thing greeting me was a dried gourd of some sort, a bunch of sausages, a blown over papaya tree and some inviting wooden stools with auspicious Chinese writings. Oh! There were a few dilapidated houses as well. Other than that, all the living must be snuggled up at home.
四洲渺無人煙，只見村民在屋外曬的香腸和蒲瓜。 還有幾張雕上吉祥語的小木櫈， 一棵快被大風吹倒的木瓜樹。 忘記了，還有幾所破爛房子。
CALLING IT A DAY
With infrequent trains passing through here, and not much to do in the rain, I decided to call it a day and walked back to the station. Nice design in the underpass tunnel, by the way.
經過大里的火車不多，加上還在下雨，逛了一陣子我就決定打道回府。 很快我已在在火車上離開宜蘭大里下雨的一天。
Very soon I was on the train leaving Dali and a rainy day in Yilan.