Somehow, an entire year has gone by, and we have officially bid adieu to the year of the snake. What is there to say but, "Xin Nien Kuai Le", "Gong Xi Fa Cai, and a very happy [Chinese] New Year to you. May the year of the horse bring you luck!
For the first time in a while, the focus of the week was definitely not on class, it was on the lack-there-of. Working only a 3-day week, we began our 6-day holiday on Thursday, and a large percentage of businesses will continue to celebrate (and remain closed) until Tuesday. I have been spending weeks organizing a trip for my friends and I to take during this holiday, and I am happy to say it all came together. On Thursday morning at 6:12 we boarded the express train and started our 6-hour journey to the Southeastern city of Taitung where we boarded a ferry and sailed (for about 50 minutes) to the small island of Ludao (Green Island). I think we knew from the start that we were going to have a great trip because the ferry ride, which is warned to be one of the choppiest, most sea-sick inducing boat rides we will ever experience, was virtually smooth sailing. We arrived on the island in the early afternoon and were awe-struck by the bright blue waters and green foliage. The hostel owner picked us up at the docks and piled us into his open-bed truck, and, clinging onto rails for dear life, we took our first tour around the island.
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| Driving past the mountains and beaches with smiles on our faces. |
Because Green Island is located in the tropical half of Taiwan, even in January the weather is quite warm (80-90 degrees). In any other environment, staying in a wall-less shack with outdoor showers (nudity, bamboo walls, and close proximity to a 'major road'...a once-in-a-lifetime experience) could have been a recipe for disaster, but for us, it was perfect. The whole shack was reserved for our group, and the 7 members of our party split up into bunk beds in four little rooms. From my bed there was a clear view out to the beaches and the sunrise (which I slept through).
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| Home, sweet home! Hanging out at the "shack" |
The island is very small, only about 15km, which meant that we could pedal our motorbikes around the main road (which is a circuit around the whole island) in under an hour. This meant that we were easily able to get to any of the different attractions we wanted in very little time. Our hostel was conveniently located near two of my favorite attractions, the first of which is the Zhaori Hot Spring. Hot springs are pools of water naturally heated by volcanic activity, which tends to be fairly common around the world, but the green island hot springs are unique because they are one of three salt water hot springs in the world (the other two are in Italy and Japan). The salt water springs are better smelling, clearer, and leave your skin feeling much smoother than other springs. I personally enjoyed them because they provided a comfortable place to lie back at watch the trail end of the meteor shower streaking the clearest, most star-studded sky I have seen in years (another good location to watch the sky was found on our ride home from the springs, where we parked our bikes and lied out alone the sidewalk for a while). My other favorite location was the coral reef and 300+ species of tropical fish located just off-shore. Our hostel provided free wetsuits, snorkels, googles, boots, and gloves, which gave us unlimited access to the underwater paradise.
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| Fresh out of the waters on Dabaisha beach. |
Some of the other main attractions on the island are the rock structures caused by its volcanic creations. There are great hiking trails through the central mountain which provide a bird's eye view of the whole island while allowing their visitors to see the various flora and fauna (including giant spiders, deer, goats, and bats). I am sad to report, I didn't make it to any of the hiking trails this trip, but I did get to explore the coastal regions where I climbed several skerries, entered several caves, and partook in a bamboo "javelin throwing" contest.
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| The view atop one of our hill/rock climbing adventures. |
A great location with great friends, I have to say that my vacation was almost perfect. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a bit more luck on my part. For starters, I have been sick all week, and even now, as I sit at my computer reflecting, I experience a jolt of numb pain each time I swallow. Many people have been falling ill lately, which is a pattern brought on each year as the cold weather persists, and especially as teachers, we are exposed to the germs of our students on a daily basis. I contracted what I would have called strep throat, but what my doctors have told me is the flu (though I have no fever) last weekend, and have been confirmed as non-contagious and have devoured my share of medications, but the doctors say what I am really missing is sleep. The second morning of my trip brought on a new medical condition, it appears I acquired pink eye at the hot spring and couldn't even open my eyelids that morning. The hostel owner seemed unsurprised by this, and the local hospital was so accommodating that I walked in and within 3 minutes had completed my check-up, received my eye drops, and was on my bike (without having paid a cent). My eye healed quickly in the fresh salt air, and the eye drops made sure I wasn't contagious with that either. Not enough? On my way out to the coral reefs on day two, I slipped on a mossy rock on the coast, and while I didn't notice it before my swim, as I was sitting on the beach after, watching the blood seep through my wetsuit, I knew I had a potential disaster on my hands. The wetsuit came off and I had a decently wide hole in my knee, and a pain so strong I worried I had cracked my patella. All panic aside, I am fine now. I have a lovely bruise forming, but no stitches were necessary and no breaks exist, so I'm getting on alright. That is my medical update, it hasn't been ideal, but it has been bearable, and it didn't stop me from enjoying my trip.
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