Taitung

When we last left our heroes, they had just enjoyed a few pit stops in Kenting National Park on the southern tip of Taiwan. After this success, they got in a bus for a few hours to come up the East Coast of Taiwan. (Which faced the Pacific Ocean, as our helpful tour guide Daniel liked to remind us every 45 minutes or so.)

After a long bus ride, we arrived at the Hotel Royal Chihpen, which began the hot springs episode of our tour. After a day of way too much food, we decided that a sweat in the sauna was appropriate. We then wandered aimlessly for a while until we discovered the outdoor hot springs. There are no pictures of this section, since me and Chris weren't clothed for most of it. I learned that I'm a child when it comes to hot springs, and mostly stayed in the 38 C pool, instead of the 42 C pool, which was where Chris mostly hung out. This process was made significantly less awkward by the fact that me and Chris were the only two in the hot spring at the time. It did start to rain on us at the end, and being in the warmer pool while the rain fell on my head was really refreshing.

On our way back from the hot spring, we watched some aboriginal Taiwanese middle/high schoolers perform some dances in traditional garb. Chris and I were still in our robes, so neither of us had our cellphone to take pictures. They were pretty cool to watch, especially the Shield Dance that we saw near the end. After the performance, Chris and I went outside to hang out and watch the rain fall.

This morning I limited myself to a reasonable amount of food at breakfast.

Today we toured around eastern Taiwan (Taitung). Our first stop was Turtle Rock, which was really just an excuse to play on the coast. I was amused by the sign warning against poisoning and/or bombing the ocean, but there's always someone... Chris and I just chilled and watched the waves roll in for a while. It was fun to watch them crash into the rocks. I tried taking a video or two, but they weren't good enough to bother sharing.

Our tour group timed the visit pretty well, because the crowds really picked up right as we left.

Our next stop was Immortal Island (as called by our tour guide, I only found it on Google as Sanxiantai). We only had a short time to spend there (30 minutes instead of the standard hour), and me and Chris only discovered the paths on the island too late to walk them. We ended up just going to the pavilion marked on the map below. The eight arch bridge was really cool to climb over, and you can see it in the distance in the last photo.

For lunch we had beef noodle soup at a place recommended by Daniel. Chris and I agreed that it was the best beef noodle soup of the 3 I've had here so far. Chris assures me he knows of better near L.A., though. I think he's just trying to get me to go to the West Coast.