Chilan Recreational Forest
Trip Start
May 13, 2010
1
25
38
Trip End
Aug 02, 2010
Ch'i-lan, Taiwan, Taiwan
Thursday, June 24, 2010
It is peaceful. I have so much to consider about work, about life. Work emails continue, and my contacts here may see me making changes in the future. It may be time to move on and try new experience and challenges.
Anyway, we are leaving for the cold spring after taking quite awhile to get moving this morning (it is nice to simply relax sometimes). The breakfast at the hotel is only so-so, but I will be full for awhile.
We traveled to Su-Ao cold spring which is about an hour drive away and one of only two in the world (the other being in Italy). The temperature of the spring was a balmy 22°C and sitting in the water felt like being in Perrier because of all the carbonation. The water was cold at first, but lost some of it as you obtained a protective layer of bubbles on your skin. It was very interesting. Also strange for the feeling – the water actually hurt my face when I dunked it (but no where else). Apparently, the spa waters were thought to be poisonous by the local inhabitants a long time ago, but after testing by the Japanese one hundred years ago, they are now thought to be therapeutic. I don't know if that is true – but it is certainly refreshing. We rented a private room which had its own 'mini-pool’ for 40 mins (which is all you want to spend in a cold spa) for about $10 total. I am certainly getting my fill of spas today! And, note to self that I have now visited three unique spas in Taiwan: Cold water spa, mud spa, and ocean spa (the latter two from last year).
We continued to travel about 8kms further down the road to a Cultural Art Museum. It was quite a large facility which includes cultural arts and crafts from around Taiwan. There are even several streets designed in a historical contents with shops to sell handmade crafts (as well as display them). It was very interesting and we spent a bit of time walking among the store fronts until the rain started as we retreated indoors. The lunch we had was a bit of a disappointment for me, but that was only minor. We watched a bit of a Chinese opera, bought some gifts, and then headed off to the mountain park (Chilan Forest Recreational Area) where we will be staying tonight.
We arrive at the park hotel/cottage just after sunset so we simply checked in and had dinner before the restaurant closed. Food was great (surprisingly actually as SW's experience in these mountain parks led us to expect only so-so or nothing at all). We also had a pleasant surprise that our room had been upgraded from a simple double single bed to a cottage for four people – a room worth 6000 NTD instead of the 4000 NTD we had booked. With the 40% discount, we are only paying..hmm…2400 I think for a large space. It is too bad we have to wake up at 6 tomorrow to go on the mountain hike or we could enjoy it more!
