Guanziling Mud Hot Springs

Fire meets water, a strange natural phonomenon means that natural gasses ignite upon contact with the water lighting an eternal flame. It was first discovered over 300 years ago by a monk. The flame is unfortunately dying and one day will no longer exist.

We went to Guanziling on Sunday for a relaxing day at the Spa. It was really good, really worth a trip. Its about an hour drive from central Tainan so not too taxing. We went with Mary I hadn't seen her in ages. The whole guanziling complex is based on a mountainside. Hotels and Spa sprawl up the twisting mountainous road. It was misty as we went up the winding serpentine road. the mountains faded into the distance like Japanese ink paintings. There were lots of stalls selling strange wares and foods. 

The famous fire and water natural phonomenom is at what seemed the top of the mountain. It felt really spiritaul and surreal. It looks like a natural hearth the flames dancing on the rocks. Its amazing to think the Typhoons don't put it out. We imagined what it would have been like to be that monk who originally found it. It must have been a roaring bonfire. We decided it must have looked like the gates to heaven or to hell. It is really mesmerising. 

After that we searched for a spa to go and relax. Octav suggested the police spa which is apparently the cheapest at only 100nt. The only down side is you have to be completely naked. We get enough stares being foreigners without my bits on display not really for me, we made a quick exit. Instead we opted for the nicest spa in the place at a cost of 450nt entry. Beware you need a swimmin cap and you can't wear boardshorts in there and as Octav found neither can you wear your boxers. The spa was really nice lounging in warm pools of thin clay and tea. They have the doctor fish which eat your dead skin on your feet, it really tickles. We tried it and my feet felt smoother but then Pra worried me about catching aids from them. I think that is just a rumour. I wonder if you fell in if they could kill you, a slow death that would be. I felt like I was back in 1940's Japan, the decor was very nice all Bamboo and flowers, It was called the 'the kings garden villa' or something along those lines.

On the way to the Guanziling village there are lots of chicken restaurants The area must be famous for this chicken or something. They cook it in a big pot like some kind of potted bbq. We tried it on the way back...delicious. it's like a big rottissery chicken. They serve it with chicken oil which you use for dipping the chicken and with a chicken soup aswell. decadence. the feast accompanied by noodles, rice, bamboo rice, veggies cost us 250nt each nt i couldn't not have stuffed anything more down. 

we kept the bones and gave them to a stray dog on the way home. At first Octav dashed the bones out of the car with the plastic bag on them. The dog just looked scared and bewildered. So I got out the car and ripped open the plastic bag the little dog looked like it was christmas. His expression changed from one of confusion to that of a dog hypnotised by the scent of chicken. 'yo, is that chicken?' We watched him devour the chicken and then drove off.

Green Island

The infamous puke boat 2minutes in and people were barfing.

Taitung harbor 

Green island beach near the lighthouse.

Coral sands

Local attractions include deer. Unfortunately most of them if not in the forest are tied up outside shops which sell deer meat. I guess what Bambi doesn't know doesn't hurt.

Kings of the hill.

It has been a great weekend, unfortunately I came back with a sore throat and a headache. I can only blame myself for drinking so much and walking for 5hours in the rain. Where did we go I hear you ask? Why green island.

Green island is a tiny island off the East coast of Taiwan. It’s a 50min ferry ride away from the mainland and the port in Taitung. The ferry is infamous for it’s ability to make people puke. I am lucky in the fact that I rarely get motion sickness, infact I have never been seasick. It’s not so much the size of the ship but more the motion in the ocean. 2minutes in and people were puking. There are puke bags at a handy for every passenger and you can see puke encrusted on the bins. I took seasickness tablets and was okay, my friends who also took seasickness tablets were not so lucky. I can still envisage my friends puke sliding into that sea through bag, that’s enough to make anyone hurl. But not me with my stomach made of steel. The boat speeds through the waves aswell, I am not sure if going slower would help or only prolong the suffering. You know that feeling when you ride a rollercoaster and your stomach is still in the air as you drop, imagine that feeling for 50minutes. It’s worth the pain tho as Green island is awesome.

You can drive the island in 30mins on a scooter which is the preferred method of transport. Normally you can rent one without a license but due to a fatal accident of a young westener we were left lumbered with bicycles which turned out far more enjoyable, when they weren’t breaking down. We took our bikes around the island and stopped off at every opportunity. There was a cool cave called ‘swallow cave’ which should have been renamed goat poo cave. There was a dead goat on the beach which must have died from childbirth because two Taiwanese tourists had found her baby and were cradling it. Very cute- the baby goat that is. We cycled to the lighthouse which has a nice little sheltered area for swimming. We were the only ones in the water and I got a tan in seconds even though I was wearing suncream. When we  bumped into our Scottish friends we saw the damage of fair skin without suncream they were two toned and sore. There is a really nice walkway out into the sea which is great for snorkelling just past the lighthouse. Snorkelling came free with our package and was really fun. There were fish of all colours and the guide threw pieces of bread into the ocean and all the fish swarmed around us so close you could touch them. We saw a grim looking sea snake which could have been one of Ursula’s babies, but it stayed away from us. The snorkelling is very over protected and reflects the Taiwanese love of the sea or not. We had full on wetsuits to protect us from poisonous bites, lifejackets to protect us from waves and had to hold onto a series of floating rings as the tour guide pulled us along. We soon let go and did our thing in the water which he was not happy about and swiftly told us off. The fish are beautiful and the diving is very good there, we didn’t try but our friends came back with awesome tales. I want to learn soon.

The weather pissed it down on Saturday but we thought we would take the opportunity and Bear Grylls style do the Ancient trail in the forest 5 hours later we had made it through the other side

We did take a detour up this path for a view on top of a mountain. I was way out of our route but worth it I think this was the best part as the view at the top was awesome. I couldn't take any photos as it was too wet at that time. We found an all you can eat bbq place 250nt on Nanliao well worth it. 

All in all wish I could have stayed longer. if you wanna book you can do through www.greenislandadvntures.com