Yangmingshan National Park

Yesterday was the most incredible day I've had here in Taiwan. We started the day off around 11:00am with coffee and breakfast (some of us went out to Sparks again for ladies night so we were a bit late getting up and out). The plan was to go to Yangmingshan National Park to enjoy the hot springs and see some sites.


This is the group of us just about to leave.


It took us about an hour and a half to get there by bus, then train, then bus and bus again.


The last bus we caught was at the base of the mountains. This is Tammy with her breakfast - some sort of grilled spiced octopus. A few people tried it and said it was good. Tammy is a Native Taiwanese girl who has done a lot of travelling in Taiwan and throughout the world. She has really befriended all of us and helped us along with all of our travel plans. She knows all the great hotels (and how to help us book them), all the bus and train lines, and she loves food so she knows exactly where to go to eat. It was great having her along on this trip because we probably wouldn't have seen all that we did without her.


We caught the last bus at the base of the mountains.


When we got on, this man turned to me and handed me a strawberry ice cream - I was hesitant but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Claudia thought that is was because he was so impressed with my height - it's possible. Now I know one of the first things your parents teach you is not to take candy from strangers, but it seemed innocent enough so I ate it.

The bus was hot and crowded and the roads were sharp and winding, but the scenery was absolutely beautiful.





After about 25 minutes on the bus we arrived here - Seven Star Mountain, home to one of Taiwan's tallest volcanoes (extinct of course):


At first it looked like someone was having a big BBQ in the hills.


When we turned the corner you could see all of the fumaroles and sulfur deposits and man could you smell them too.




I think, for most of us, it was our first time standing beside a volcano - we needed a group shot.

Now we knew there was a trail going up the mountain because we saw people standing at the top when we drove up. A couple of us got ancy taking pictures and decided to start the climb. Originally we thought it would only take about 15 minutes. If you look at the previous few pictures you can see the peak which we thought we were climbing to - it's just that one right through the smoke - no problem.


This is the start of the trail. Most of the climb was up these old stone steps - very beautiful.


This was the view from the first peak - the one we originally thought was the top.


Then we looked up and realized there was quite a ways further to go. None of us wanted to leave the mountain half climbed, so we continued on.


Haha. This is Michael wondering what we have gotten ourselves into. He was pretty funny, commenting on how bad the sulfur smelt and how great it was that we could have something to blame if we accidently...you know.


This is me in front of a fumarole.


And we continued on...


and on...


and on...


and every time we thought it was over...


There was more...


and more...


and more...it was a great work out walking up all those stairs.


Finally we made it to the top. Michael, Pim Felix and I made it up first.


I sat up and took in the view for a bit. That's the Pacific Ocean just beyond the city below.


Once everyone got up we had some fun taking silly jumping pictures off the benches.

After a little break Tammy announced that we could hike a different route down, and at the bottom we could catch a bus to the hot springs. The hike down was equally as beautiful.





At the bottom we grabbed some snacks and hopped on the next cramped bus that drove by. After that hike (I think it took about 3 or 4 hours) we were all ready for the hot springs.


This is us walking over the bridge into the "hot spring village."


It was quite charming with all of the restaurants lining the cobblestone walkways.

Tammy helped us buy the tickets - it was about $5.50 Canadian for entrance. When we got to the door, the lady informed us that men and women could not bathe together and that there were separate baths for both sexes. She also informed us that there were absoltely no bathing suits allowed. Everyone had to be completely naked. This was a bit of a shock for some and it took a few minutes of discussion before we finally agreed that we would go in.

I thought it was funny and kind of neat that we would all be hanging out naked for the next two hours together. Leslie thought it made the whole experience that much more exciting. Kaja didn't care - naked or not, she was going in. So we all undressed and showered at the little shower stations inside. Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed so I'll have to describe it instead.

There were three different baths - one hot, one cold, and one just right that had water body massagers along the edges. We spent most of our time bouncing in between the hot one and the luke warm one. After about an hour we had seen it all and everyone was able to get really relaxed. There was a steam room that some of us tried out, and massgage showers that almost blew you 10 feet away with the strength of the water pressure. When you looked up out of the baths you could see the sky, and it was a beautiful night. The water smelt a bit like sulfer but it made our skin so soft. After two hours we were ready to get out.


Now I know we weren't supposed to take pictures inside, but as I was putting on my shoes getting ready to go I secretly snapped this from afar. Just beyond that door you can see the hot bath and a bit of the nice decor that surrounded it.


The boys were already waiting for us when we came outside. It was pretty funny because each of them were sitting on a differnet bench about 5 feet away from eachother. I figured they had felt "close enough" for the past two hours that they were ready for some space. Haha. This is just outside the baths - we were all so relaxed.

After that, we separated for dinner and then head back to campus for a night in. After that day pyjamas, a movie and some snacks were the perfect ending to a great day.