Green Island!

11:30PM Friday evening eight of us piled into the van for yet another weekend excursion. Monday was Moon Festival, which means that we actually had a three-day weekend and the opportunity to travel outside of northern Taiwan.

 

By sunrise, we had made it to the southeastern coast of Taiwan a little south of Taitung. Upon arriving, we located a hotel and a quick place for breakfast. Groggy from lack of sleep, we changed into our swim attire and head to the beach. We spent the next four hours roasting on the beach. After playing frisbee and swimming, we piled into the van and headed off to a local Thai restaurant.

North about a forty minute car ride was a place called Sanxiantai. Upon arrival we walked across a giant (1050ft) arched bridge, connecting the island to the beach. The small island is supposed to represent three Chinese Taoist deities who stopped while crossing the sea. I’d like to think that my own version of the bridge was a little more entertaining… a great story about the Great Philippine Invasion of 1497. Whatever the reason for the bridge, it was a fun afternoon spend wondering around the island.

That night we stayed at a local hotel, grabbed some food down the road and a well deserved night of rest. The following morning, hopped up on Dramamine, we boarded the ferry for Green Island. The ride was not nearly as bad as we had heard, and all the medicine just made us want to sleep.

Since nothing was available for a few hours, that’s what the majority of us did. Two hours later we hopped on our scooters and rode around the island viewing the majestic sights. After a few hours of riding, we went to the local dive shop to go snorkeling at Shihlang (Sorry no awesome photos of fish). It was a ton of fun and truly amazing. The variety of fish we saw were amazing and the coral was really well-preserved. The two hours I spent snorkeling definitely moved getting my diving license up a few notches on the to do list. Really cool experience and I’m looking forward to exploring some of SE Asia’s more well know spots for diving, hopefully  in the near future.

That afternoon we showered and grabbed a bite to eat before chilling near an airport and dock drinking. Realizing that we were forgetting something, I finally remembered that we had yet visit what made the island famous!

Outdoor saltwater hot springs needed to happen. The Jhaorih Hot Springs can get as hot as 165F – I didn’t get anywhere close to that. There are only three in the world and the other two are in Japan and Italy. We worked out a deal for the hotel to drive us to the springs. We spend the next few hours easing into steamy springs right along the beach. Jagged rock formations surrounded the springs and just slightly separated them from the crashing ocean waves. Awesome experience. Our evening concluded shortly after and we all crashed at the tiny 1 bedroom hotel room.

The next morning Rachel, Paul and myself woke up early and toured some more areas of the island. We found some of the most beautiful regions, as well as the Guanyin Cave, which remains a holy site today. Shortly after, we went back to the hotel to wake everyone up. We jumped on the next ferry out and started our epic trip back to Chungli.

The ride back included stopping at a famous beef noodle house as well as a famous rest stop in Taichung. Kid you not, they were both impressive and a much deserved break from the 9 + hours in the van. We also drove along the 9 and 11. I will be cycling both of those roads during my trip, which made me quite happy to see how awesome they would be. We finally arrived home around 10:30 and called it a night. Awesome, awesome trip. Probably best yet in Taiwan.