Day 6 in Taiwan was sort of split in two. The first half of the day Josh and I wandered around Beitou some while we waited for Shannon and Mike to finish their class performances, and the second half was spent with Shannon and Mike travelling to Lion Head Mountain.
This is the entry way into Beitou park. It's about a 15 min. walk away from where we were staying with Shannon and Mike.
Beitou park is green spaced that largely follows a hot spring river from close to its source. Josh put his feet in and said it was really quite hot... I put my feet in further down stream and it felt like a nice bath temperature.
Just beyond the end of the park is Beitou Thermal Valley; our destination for the morning. Beitou Thermal Valley is a pool very close to the origin of the hot spring. It is 71 degree Celsius and has a pH near 1.
The steam coming off the pond is so think you can hardly see the water, never mind the other side.
The origin of the hot spring in 91 degrees Celsius and not far beyond this little waterfall that fills the pond. Notice the blurred water effect... The evening before I read an article on photographing waterfalls and so I was trying out some of these fun effects.
Back in Beitou Park again. This particular patch on bamboo was pretty cool... there was even a shoe lost in the dense shoots.
Another little waterfall much further down stream. It was about here that I put my feet in the water. You'll notice the crisp frozen effect of the water in this shot... again playing with my photography skill. (I really should have had my tripod with me though... it would have really help me keep the camera a little more steady).
More scooters... Travel is much faster on scooter than in car in Taiwan. They can weave much more easily through the traffic and they get head starts at ever intersection. As a result, deliveries are made by scooters, hence you'll notice the KFC delivery scooter parked in this picture. KFC has done much better in Taiwan than in North America. They really love their deep fried meats (especially chicken) here.
Following our walk through Beitou park, we met up with Shannon and Mike and took the High Speed Train to Hsinchu (pronounced sort of like shin-shoe) where we spent the night so we could be nice and close to Lion Head Mountain in the morning.
We went to a restaurant that one of Mike's friends recommended. It was really good, and it was certainly where we ate some of the most fishy foods. You'll notice the beer tower on our table... because of the heat pitchers of beer would get very warm, hence this tower is filled with ice down the middle which kept our beer nice and cold. (This is Shannon and Mike by the way, for those who don't know them... Shannon is Josh's little sister, and Mike is her husband)
Meals in Taiwan are mostly family style. You order a bunch of plats and everyone shares them. Some times if you've ordered a fare amount, they will give you a free dish... these four little fish were one of those free dishes. They were cold, and meant to be eaten whole (they are about the length of your little finger). We all tried some, but only Mike was willing to eat the heads - so he ended up eating all four. We also tried some sashimi there and ordered one of our server's favourite dish, which turned out to be a whole foot long fish. That one at least came hot, and we weren't expected to eat anything but the meat... but we did have to pull the meat out of the fish ourselves. The adventures of eating! It was a fun night though... the staff also seemed to be having fun watching us try all these fishy foods. The lamb here was amazing - possibly some of the best lamb I've ever had.
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