Guanziling and off to Tainan

After awakening the next morning in stunning Alishan, we still felt warm from the magical surroundings we found ourselves in. Sassy went for an early morning walk with Laoshi to climb through another local tea plantation, while the boys set to exploring around our home stay. It didn't take long for them to discover a new friend. Check out this progression :)

(Bitty's face through all of these is hilarious.)

After the boys' close encounter, and some difficult attempts at obtaining directions, we finally descended out of the high mountain region and towards Guanziling, an area known for its mud hot springs. Though Taiwan is known for many different volcanic hot springs, only two other places in the world are known to have natural "mud" springs like this one, and so we figured we'd better go partake.

Before stopping off at the springs, however, we stopped by to visit the town's famous Fire and Water Cave, where a flame eerily burns off of a natural gas fissure in a rock, burning even on top of water. Imagine being one of the early people in the area to discover this:

Little spooky, huh?

This plaque cracked me up. Not only is it a little graphic, but the Chinglish is awesome!

After our short detour, we finally made it to the hot springs. Unfortunately, as we had found out previous during our weekend to Taipei, apparently the latest "improvement" Taiwan insists on implementing is the use of swim caps--everywhere--and they are. not. optional. (Insert gag reflex here). I mean, I know that the practical reason behind this, (i.e. not wanting to have to clean extra hair out of filters, etc., etc.) is a rational one. But, seriously? When I'm paying a lot of money somewhere, I despise being forced to wear a swim cap! Yuck. . . At least the baby looked cute in one, (even though his lack of hair exonerated him from the official requirement). Maybe bald really is more beautiful. 

In all our bathing beauty glory . . . Oh, man. 

Oh well. At least we had the place to ourselves. 

Plus, after being in the car for so long, the baby was ecstatic to be able to freely crawl wherever he wanted in a place that hosted the largest bathtub he had ever seen. This had to be one of his happiest days he'd had on the island. Period.

It turned out to be a lot more fun that we had thought it would be. 

After showering up and heading out to the car, the kids zonked right out, and we headed to the famous city of Tainan, the cultural and historical heart of the country. Known as the oldest city on the island, Tainan was initially established as an important trading post by the Dutch East India Company. In 1661 the Dutch were defeated and the city became the capital of Taiwan until 1887 when it was moved to Taipei. The city's architecture and historical remains are amazing, and one can hardly see it comprehensively within a couple of days, especially since it boasts more Taoist and Buddhist temples than any other Taiwanese city. 

Thankfully, this happening city also welcomed us with the best (and least expensive) accommodations we enjoyed during our entire tour around the island--the Taiwan-Vietnam Friendship House. This place was awesome, and we literally had the entire home to ourselves!

Here is our host, Hero, and his adorable daughter, Deb Bi (literal translation: "tea leaf"). (I loved seeing a father holding his own child in a sling like this. I would have never seen this in Taiwan 15 years ago.) Hero is actually quite an amazing guy. He was born and raised in Vietnam, but came to Taiwan to study, learned Mandarin, married a Taiwanese woman, and then went on to learn Taiwanese and another local dialect, Hakka. His English is phenomenal, too. 

Sweet little DebBi. She didn't make a peep the whole time.

The babies get acquainted.

After getting settled into our lovely new digs, we had some highly anticipated visitors, about whom I was so excited. In fact, the weekend before when visiting some of the former church members I had served with, I reconnected with a former branch president, who informed me that one of the Taiwanese elders I had served with, (whom he had also worked with and kept in contact with), was now living in Tainan with his wife and three children and was serving as an LDS bishop in that area. Upon hearing this, I was elated not just because we would be visiting Tainan so soon, but also because I had always admired Elder Liu, and often thought of him over the years. 

Of all the missionaries I had served with, he was the most cheerful, most kind, and positive elder I remember. He literally radiated light, and though I couldn't recall the exact details of his story, I remember thinking that he was a reminder to all of us as to why we were serving as missionaries there. Elder Liu exuded a love and appreciation for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and often expressed the difference it had made to him and his family. After serving with him in two of my three areas on the mission, I was always amazed by the comfort and optimism he provided to everyone around him, most often through his bright, ever-present smile.

At dinner with some of the members in Bade, Taoyuan area. Elder Liu is the one on the far right in the back (with the characteristic Taiwanese victory fingers). I am the third one from the left in the front row. The gentleman on the far left in front is the branch president, (also last name Liu) who gave me Elder Liu's contact information.

On preparation day in Daxi. 

Since I served as a missionary before the days of Facebook, keeping in touch with some of these wonderful people was difficult at best, (especially when my reading/writing ability was not as strong as I would have liked), and therefore 15 years had literally gone by since I had seen Elder Liu. Needless to say, it was a joyful reunion to see him again and meet his beautiful, beautiful family. 

After excitedly reacquainting and meeting Elder Liu's wife and three girls, we decided to head off to the local night market. We looked forward to this, especially since Tainan is not only known for its history, but also its amazing food, especially with its close proximity to the ocean. (Yum!)

Dad tries his hand at roasted, curly snails.

These were the most tasty dumplings I think I had the entire time. Tainan style!

Seafood fried noodles. It was actually delicious! The squid and other seafood in it was so fresh. The watermelon shakes were also incredible.
Oh my goodness, I'm drooling as I type this!

After eating, it didn't take long after eating to rediscover just how difficult it is to keep track of one's children in such a crowded place. Considering how tired everyone was, we thought it best to return home and rest for the next day's sightseeing. As if his generosity had not been enough, (he had managed to pay for everything under our noses before we had a chance to), Elder Liu's family offered to come pick us up the next morning and accompany us through all the places we intended to visit. We heartily accepted their offer as we looked forward to enjoying such a lovely place with such wonderful friends.

Alishan

This place feels worlds away from the many bustling towns of Taiwan.

Returning from Sun Moon Lake, Dad and I again repacked--this time for us to spend a little bit of time alone up in Taipei. Needing to visit friends and acquaintances I had met during my mission 15 years before, we felt it would be best if we kept distractions to a minimum, and just the two of us traveled up there to reconnect with these wonderful people. This was an incredible visit--one which was inspiring and spiritually renewing in ways that surprised me. I will cover this time in a later post when I am ready, as I expect it to be somewhat emotional . . . For the time being, we'll just fast forward several days to when our giant group disembarkment for our 11-day island loop tour. (Yay!)

Once again, the packing for this trip was intense. (I am always amazed at how long preparations with this many people can take.) Between getting the atypically large car squared away, and everyone's luggage for the next 10 days prepared, I was exhausted when we finally left several hours later than we'd expected. But, at least we were off. And our first stop? Alishan. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Taiwan, Alishan is a unique region of the country with an equally interesting history. Ranging from low-elevation tropical and subtropical climate and vegetation, and then quickly climbing to temperate and eventually alpine climate with a soar in altitude, this region was originally settled by the aboriginal Tsou tribe. As with the rest of Taiwan, the Han Chinese eventually settled the area in the 17th century and pushed the aborigines further into remote mountainsides. Then, when the Japanese later conquered Taiwan in the late 19th century, they started to exploit the region for its rich store of cypress trees. In order to accommodate this industry, the Japanese built several narrow-gauge railways, which now function years later as the Alishan Forest Railway.

Though a present day visit to Alishan will no longer feature the haunting cypress trees of the past, the region is still relatively undeveloped and stunningly beautiful. In addition to being a perfect place to cultivate wasabi and mountain tea (a flavorful, citrusy herb), the area also proudly boasts the country's most famous oolong tea plantations. Because of the purity of Alishan's high mountain air, its oolong tea apparently maintains an unadulterated flavor that the Taiwanese love. Tourists also enjoy riding the historic Alishan Forest Railway up the mountain, and watching the change in vegetation and climate along the way. If one is lucky, you can also see the gorgeous phenomenon referred to as the sea of clouds, which happens at sunrise if the correct weather conditions are present. (Unfortunately, we missed out on such a lovely tableau.)

That Wednesday afternoon, as we climbed further up the mountain to reach our hotel, I felt like the stress literally started to blow away. The cool, clean air felt like such a refreshing change from what we'd been doing that day, and I happily breathed it in. 

Our first look at a small tea plantation. This one belonged to a small, mountain elementary school.

Stopping off for what was an irresistible view, we were approached by a local woman about whether or not we'd like to dine on her simple soup dumplings and bamboo soup. You didn't need to ask us twice!

YUM!!!

            

After stuffing ourselves silly, we made it back on the long, windy mountain road and finally found our abode for the night. Famous in the area for its spring show of fireflies, we arrived to our hotel and were quickly enchanted by this natural wonder. The kids were all amazed, and kept trying to capture them in their hands. Unfortunately, due to the issues with photography and light, we were unable to get any real footage that captured the phenomenon. Thankfully, the next night we found another more remote field, full of fireflies and more opportunities to create our own firefly lanterns. It felt truly magical, and for a moment granted me a feeling of utter contentment in seeing my children immersed in the utter joy only nature can deliver.

A shot of a tiny firefly's light. They go through this dance only a couple of hours a night during a short window in the spring. They perform for potential mates.

A shot of O's makeshift lantern.

Some shots of the kids' lanterns -- this time without the flash.

The next morning we woke up to the lovely countryside and headed out to catch a ride on the famous Alishan Forest Railway. The surroundings at these old train stations have hardly changed in the 100+ years since they were initially built.

Awaiting our diesel engine. The kids here sit at the only way to alight the train--
an old-fashioned step. 

Sassy stands in front of the original post office. This was where we bought snacks for the train ride up the mountain.

Becoming buddies with the locals, Sassy is never afraid to speak Chinese with any adult, and they love her for it. 

Finally, the Alishan Forest Railway arrives. 

As we were forewarned, because many other tourists get on the train from further down the mountain, it was standing room only. But true to Taiwanese goodness and the older generation's appreciation for children, the baby and I were offered a seat. I often wonder whether we in the west are as gracious about these sorts of things as we ought to be. The man who offered us his seat was in his late 60's. He was healthy, but still. I am grateful for such kind people, and I really, really miss them... Sigh...

As we climbed upward, we could see the vegetation start to transform. Soon we were seeing cooler bamboo forests. Eventually, close to our destination, we could see more evergreen trees.

By the time we reached the top (more/less -- part of the railway has been closed due to damage from previous typhoons), Buggas was hysterical and ready to be off that thing. We found the one object that was guaranteed to calm him down:

This was a VERY common scene on our trip. Whenever Buggas got hysterical, (which usually happened after long car rides), inevitably we would look for a pay phone. The kiddo loves pushing buttons, (literally and figuratively--hah!). 

We made a quick stop at the train museum right outside. It reminded us a bit of the trains we had seen before in Changhua, as it displayed some of the very steam engines that had been used here around the turn of the century.

While we were up in this fun mountain town, we got to see all sorts of different foodstuffs and things that were fun and unusual. 

Giant slippers.

Many different flavors of mochi. Known by many to be a characteristic Japanese treat, these are sweet chewy rice balls with a yummy center. We tried chocolate, peanut, raspberry, cherry, and others. 

The baby was a huge fan. 

Dad's first experience with chicken feet.

Fresh wasabi root. I had never known before what it actually looked like as a plant. They ground it fresh for us to try. It was amazing, but spicy!

After a lovely morning in the mountains, we finally made our way back down and went in search of an oolong tea plantation that was currently being harvested. Though we don't actually drink green tea, the beauty of the plantations and their tightly packed green rows are visible throughout the region, and are much more picturesque than one would ever guess. Trying to find one that is being picked, however, can prove to be more tricky since the harvesters work in cooperatives and decide from day to day which plantation to pick. We found we had to use a bit of determination to ensure we were successful. Ultimately, the perseverance paid off.

Isn't it lovely?

I know this is hard work, but talk about an office view!

A closeup of the tea leaves. Apparently you only pick the top, young shoots.

And a shot of what it looks like later when it is laid out to dry.

Our kids got a kick out of watching them all work, and better understanding the process.

Mr. Bitts throws his tea into the special bags meant to contain the leaves without damaging them.

Then we met this cute lady. Isn't she adorable? This particular plantation belonged to her son, and she came just to help, even though she's already in her late 80's! She says it's good exercise.

She sang as she went. 

And she was so friendly... I seriously hope I am this awesome in my 80's!

Here she shows us up close the razor blades that they tape to their fingers in order to slice off the tea leaves. If one tries to pick them, your fingers will suffer immeasurably. It's much better to slice. Just don't pat your neighbor on the back!

Here they weigh the fruit of their labors. They are paid by the weight of the bags, of course.

Here Buggas wonders if he can help out. I'm sure he would provide a little extra weight.

As the workers left and we followed them down the mountain towards our hotel, we considered what a special day it had been. Seeing such a unique part of the world and gaining perspective on someone else's world was wonderful. That night from our home stay's balcony we were stunned by the beauty of the rising full moon above those lush mountains, while the fireflies danced below. We asked Sassy to sing the Taiwanese song,  "Firefly," sung in the traditional Taiwanese (i.e. not Mandarin) language of the island. It was something she had been singing all month since she'd learned it at school, but in that setting it felt so nostalgically fitting:   Fireflies, Come drink tea...