Sunday, January 2, 2011

East Taiwan hot springs

Last night I stayed over at my relatives place. They were curtious to let me stay over. I went with her to the local traditional market. It is unlike a night market where they mostly sell clothes and cooked food. It's more like a daytime market full of fresh produce and meats and fruits. It's usually outside and a lot dirtier than a supermarket. But the prices are cheaper too as long as you can stand the grittiness of the place. Shortly after that, Lucy and Hatuyen showed up at the house. We then headed into the mountains by car to reach the east side of Taiwan. About a half hour drive. We ended up on an old historic street and nibbled on street food for lunch. I bought some small mountain zongzi (粽子) to bring home.They were extremely fragrant and delicious. It had a more smoked and herbed flavor to it. Kind of like being in the mountains :). Afterwards we headed over to the hot springs (泡溫泉, pao wen quan). Another half hour drive east. We found a rather nice one. Relatively clean environment, not too crowded and a boar meat vender opposite the street. $300 for entry all day. That's cheap! They have larger pools of varying temperatures, smaller hot tub styles, private gender separated nude hot springs, napping area, dry and wet sauna and a couple whirlpools. There was still a lot more to offer, but I didn't go exploring that much.The feet get pretty cold walking from tub to tub. If you can get yourselves out there without too much cost, it's definitely a cheap and extremely relaxing for only $300. I don't know if that goes for all the hot springs around the area, but it's definitely cheaper than what you'll expect from the Beitou Hot Springs. Still I'd be willing to pay more and try Beitou since they're much easier to get to. I live very close to the Beitou springs, and it's just a MRT ride away. I can't wait for next time, and there WILL be a next time!


2 comments:

  1. What's the crunchy looking dish with chili peppers and cilantro on it? More stinky tofu? Or fried fish? I can't tell...

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  2. I think it's Vietnamese lemongrass chicken

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