With breakfast settling in our stomachs we headed out to see what Wulai had to offer. Our first stop was the river side hot springs. To find them, cross the main walking bridge, take a right and then in fifty meters take another right down some stairs. Follow the stairs down to the river, take a right and you will walk right past the man made pools filled with natural hot spring water that is running down the mountain.
It was really neat as it looks like there has been much time spent to make it what it is. Right along the riverside in the rocks you will find small man made pools that fill up with water from the mountain. You can relax in them until you get to hot, then take a dip in the river to cool down.
I decided not to participate due to it being outdoor. I didn't want to expose my wet self to the cold air for fear of getting sicker, so I sat on the side and took in the scenery. It was in one word, beautiful. It is a very lush mountainous area, the river cutting through the middle, a few older apartments along the opposing bank and the calm quiet that comes with few people.
One of the locals ended up coming to me and talking with me in pretty good broken English, real friendly fellow. Told me all about him self, the area and the pools. He also insisted I follow him while he showed me what he said was the best sauna; a surprisingly nice hut of tarps and sticks that instantly fogged the glasses upon lifting the flap of a door. He seemed to be some sort of caretaker of the place so it was neat to be welcomed in this way.
From there we headed up the hill to take a look at the local waterfall. It was worth the trip.
Seeing the waterfall reminded us that we it was just about time for lunch so we snagged a spot at the local restaurant complete with a view of the waterfall. We each got a plate with a ton of food for about $3, it was unreal. By this point I was feeling a little better but decided that if I ate some food perhaps I would recover even quicker so I had my first real meal in Taiwan. My plate came with a smoky style tube meat and it was quite delicious.
It had started to drizzle shortly before we stopped for lunch and it had continued but we decided to press on and check out park with another waterfall just down the road. It was a nice ride down the road for a short way and then a gravel path till the entrance to the park(I don't remember the name). From the gate we had to abandon our bikes and walk, it was an easy scenic trail just above the river that took us to the base of the waterfall.
If we were to compare it to the previous waterfall I would say that I was disappointed, we had to pay money and walk to see something that wasn't even as big. that being said there it was a triple tier waterfall and we were just looking at the bottom tier. There were trails up to view other parts of the waterfall but we were to tired and short on time to explore that option.
From there it was a bit of a grind. We decided that we did not want to stay another night in Wulai and so it was time to move on. It was also at this point the the food decided to let me know that I shouldn't have eaten it. As a result I veto'd going to a village we had talked about as it was twice as far as we had already gone so that meant it was time to bike back to Taipei and return the bikes.
Thankfully because we had more uphills on the way there, the way back had only two major uphills and many, many long downs. Nevertheless, by the time we got back to the bike shop I was cooked.
A big shout out to Alan's Mountain Bikes where we rented the bikes. They were super friendly and more than capable of shooting the breeze in English, they gave us a great deal and helped us out with everything we needed, the bikes were in great running order and we didn't have any trouble. If you are going to be in Taiwan and are thinking of renting a bike check them out here.
After we returned the bikes we made our way to our place of residence during our stay. I was so sick by this time that I was down to basic functions only, it took all my concentration to follow the others to where we were going. I had to think about every step. If I wanted to look at something to the side I had to stop and look because I couldn't walk and look. Definitely the sickest I have been for quite some time, but God gave the strength to make it to where we needed to go.
Took a quick dip in the spa at the apartment we were calling home and then called it a night. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.
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