Island Tour

Well, were do I begin. . .
I kept a journal for my tour so I wouldn't forget the details - this will be a bit of a day in the life and a bit of a recap so here we go:
It all started with a pleasant trip down to Kenting National Park. Immediately after arriving and bartering for a hotel room we found a beach and dove right in - it was absolutely paradise. We stayed until we lost the light and then wandered our way back into town to experience the cuisine of the local night market on Main Street. Some things were a hit and other things like the stinky tofu need never to be repeated again!
The next morning we had a disastrous local breakfast - with excitement for the french toast we had just ordered we could barely deal with our disappointment when they brought us fried egg bread with sweet shredded fibre pork and a fried egg sandwiched between the so called "french toast" - no cinnamon, no syrup. But that was nothing compared to Russell's bowl of watery rice - the local Taiwanese breakfast.
We made our way up the mountain to the national forest reserve and had a magnificent day exploring the wonders of the jungle. We climbed down into a bat cave which was named the fairy cave - it was pure magic down there. And later found our way to a cave with stalactites and stalagmites in it.
The next day we caught a train up to Taitung and made our way to the Gringo Hostel which the lonely planet guide listed as popular with the backpackers . . .
We are sitting in the most modest room I have ever experience - but for $7 CAD a person per night you really can't expect more, there is barely walking space around the hard old double bed and yet there is a cot crammed in here on which I will spend the night. We do have a bathroom and AC so really it is all we need. Thank god I brought my thermarest to save my back from the two large metal bolts poking through the broken foam. We have been living off of sweet buns from 7-11, it's kinda sad but we have not had the best of luck with the local cuisine. Lunch is never in our budget and we always go way too long on empty calories before we eat dinner - usually so hungry we can barely think. There is no front door on our hostel, so we will upgrade first thing tomorrow morning. Guess this will build lots of character.
The next morning we caught a bus up to Chihben Hot Springs. We went to a spa that pumped the natural spring water into a different pools. A variety of jets existed to massage different parts of your body. It was a tropical open air spa on the side of a misty mountain. We soaked the pains of the previous few days away and had a magnificently relaxing time.
Then we caught a train to Haulien, the next day our plans got rained out so we wandered the streets in the rain for nearly 8 hours and caught a movie at the local theatre. The following afternoon we went to the most famous spot in all of Taiwan - Toroko Gorge. . .
4 hours on the bus for 1 hour in the most serene beautiful place I will likely ever see was a fair trade. Sheer marble cliffs with the misty mountains looming far above - we climbed up to a Buddhist temple nestled in a small Atayal village at the top of the pass - amazing! There are no words, I was so moved I could have cried.
The bus back filled with small school children that probably have rarely ever seen white people. They were all staring and giggling and it turned into a frenzy of excitement when we tried to take pictures of them - they would all duck behind their seats and hide - it was really cute.
The following day we made our way to our final destination - Taipei. There we stayed in the most disgusting place ever! They wouldn't let us look at the room before we paid but we didn't want to be wandering down the back roads of a city of 10 million people with our backpacks so we paid first. There was water dripping from the ceilings and the place smelt of mildew and mould. There were no windows and the bathroom door was rotting off and the bathroom floor was covered in black mould and cockroaches .
The state of the room forced us out to spend the rest of the day on the town. We found a night market and ate supper from street vendors - everything was fantastic. Then we caught the mass transit system (MRT) to the oldest temple in Taiwan it was really beautiful. On the same street there were 3 other markets - but these ones were selling everything you can think of. We ended up on the famous snake alley and tourist markets. And yes there were snakes - and anyone that knows me at all knows about my severe phobia, I would get Angela to tell me when to cover my eyes and I would walk really really fast. But I did accidentally see one and started to cry a bit. Thank god the shopping distracted me and we found a handful of really pretty Asian things.
The next day was busy - we went to Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world. One of the highlights of the trip - and ended things with a world wind tour of the national palace museum were we saw a glimpse of the largest collection of Chinese art in the world. The next night we stayed in a slightly nicest hotel but there were more cock roaches which we trapped under some cups and left for the maids to deal with.
Now I am back in Kaohsiung doing homework and Russ and Ang are in Bangkok. Two more sleeps until Hong Kong.