My long weekend getaway!

September 25th was the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival here in Taiwan. Many businesses and schools are closed. Plus because the holiday was on a Tuesday some companies closed down from Sunday-Tuesday….like Inter English School….the school I still work at. Hello four day weekend….which NEVER happens in Taiwan.
Never say never!
Hello road trip! And by road trip, I mean a 2 hour scooter ride with all your gear, driving through the beautiful Nantou County mountains, with clean fresh air, awesome sights and the hot sunning beaming on us.
I was asked the previous day…right after my hiking plans were cancelled……to join some friends on this weekend getaway to Dong Pu.
“What the heck is Dong Pu?” Sounded like my buddy was setting me up for a bad joke.
He explained that one of his friends had done this hike a while back and it was great….and then something about hot springs the next day.
Well….sounded good to me. 8:00am the next morning we were off. 7 friends, 5 scooters, 4 tents….and a lot of bottled water!
We met another of Ross’s & Jeremy’s friends. His name, Simon….and coincidence enough….Simon use to work for Giant (my boss), in Homei at my school, back when the cram school was called Shane English school, a large chain school, which Giant has since broken an alliance with. Simon is from England and is now married to a Taiwanese woman, and they run a cram school of their own. He joined us on the hike for a few hours and turned back. A short visit, he had other Moon Festival plans and a wife waiting for him back home.
When we finally arrived in Dung Pu, a very small mountain village, we stocked up on more water and snacks. We’d be away from any stores and had to pack enough food and water until our return. I packed an excess of light-weight Sunrider foods to keep me well fed and energized along the way. Still….with my tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food and other gear….my backpack was weighing me down. Where was Michelle when I really needed a massage!!! (In Thailand studying massage…can’t wait until she comes back!)
The trails were beautiful….dangerous….but awesome. The first 2 kilometers were intense and steep. Lots of stairs to begin with, then walking through rows and rows of tomatoes growing on the side of the mountains, then more forest and cliff areas…and landslides!!!
There were a couple parts on the trail that were quite dangerous to cross. Previous landslides had washed out the bridge with rocks and all that remained was very loose slippery mounds and nothing to hold on to. But other than those few times, and a few times were the path became very narrow with immense drop offs…the sound and sights of the waterfalls every 15 minutes apart was breath-taking and a refreshing change from the scooter infested cities and towns of my Mon-Fri work week.
Some waterfalls on the trail fell or ran directly on our path so we had to get soaked by the falling water and take off our shoes and socks and cross very strategically. Good times though!
After about 9 kilometers…and coming to a point on the hike that was too dangerous to cross…another landslide….we turned back looking for a place on the trail big enough and flat enough and safe enough to set up our 4 tents for the night. We had barely got all our tents set up when darkness was upon us…and the mist and light rain fell.
With only myself sleeping in my tent, and it being the bigger tent….it also became the dining room. So after water had been boiled and noodle dishes ready….all 7 of us piled into my tent for the evening of shared food, drinks, conversation and games! It was a great night!
The rain became more intense as the night went on….kept having dreams of waking up flooded…so I had a bad sleep….but my tent remained quite dry….not the case for Ross & Rea or Jade & Ria. But Jeremy & Mena had a good dry sleep and were the first packed up and ready to go in the morning. Not a lot of fun packing up a wet tent….in the rain. Needless to say I spent the next few days cleaning off all the dirt and bugs from the tent once I got back home.
Things were wet…but people were still in good spirits…we began our trek back down. It was much easier than it was the day before. Also…since we were all soaked already…we no longer stopped to avoid getting our feet wet from the deep waterfalls streams and splashing. My poor new shoes!
Once we reached the bottom of the mountain we noticed a sign that we hadn’t paid too much attention too going up the day before. Mena, who is Taiwanese, read the information in Chinese and told us that this mountain has been closed due to recent landslides and dangerous conditions. OOOps! Well, we all remained unharmed and safe so that’s great!
Then it was time to relax. AHHHH…my aching shoulders….we all checked into a Japanese style Hot Springs Resort Hotel. All 7 of us shared one large open room. Each person received 2 large duvets…one to sleep on and the other to cover you up. The room also had a bathroom…with squat toilet (oh no) and shower.
BUT outside were well groomed flowers, trees and beautiful mountain scenery….and just feet away were 3 natural hot spring pools.
1- VERY hot
2- Warm, very comfortable and enjoyable
3- FREEZING cold
We enjoyed all of them but mostly the second pool. The other ones were a real shocker to your body….in a tingly pins and needles kinda way.
It was so relaxing. We all hung out from lunchtime Monday until breakfast time Tuesday relaxing, eating, and hanging out playing more games. We enjoyed a LOT of Taiwan beer too! A great little get away.
On the way home we timed it so we would stop in a city called GiGi for lunch.
Gigi has the remains of a temple kept on site for tourists that fell in 1999 during one of Taiwan’s biggest earthquakes…its a big attraction for visitors…a huge temple that has just fallen in on itself. There is also a bee keeper…who has set up shop right beside the temple who sells bee pollen and honey….which he claims…and I believe…is good for your body. So we stocked up on some of his products, went for dinner and drove back to Chunghua….but through the mountains…a little longer way home but much more relaxing and enjoyable.

It was a great weekend! Just wish Michelle had also been around to enjoy it with me!
But I’ll be enjoying her massages soon enough…2 more weeks!