Yield to Yuanshan

To get off the beaten track in Yilan, which is already in the boondocks, look no further than Yuanshan Township. It still gets a few tourist buses from Taipei, but less so.

Yuanshan's element at first glance is the mountains, but equally so is the water element. There's so many lakes, ponds, rivers, even hot springs.   According to my kid Yuanshan is reknown for having the cleanest water in all Taiwan. Moreover, if I could describe the essence of Yuanshan in contemporary Western music, it's Beck's "Morning Phase". Or maybe I've just made the association  as that's what I'd listen to when my car CD player worked. My daughter and I have this fantasy of our last year in Taiwan. We'd find a traditional home in Yuanshan and get a goat and some chickens. Until then we commute here everyday for my job. It's a gorgeous commute, better on scooter. Driving my car is like living out Mad Max Thunder Road most mornings. Now with the construction of some fancy chain hotel the already small roads are clogged with all kinds of trucks and their equipment. Yuanshan will soon lose its wildness without a sound. See it while you can.

Yuanshan is just outside of Yilan City between county road 7 and Sanxia in the mountains. There are tons of BnB’s, recreational organic farms (scroll to bottom of this post), fishing, and hiking trails. Here are the tourist maps. The crown jewel of Yuanshan is Fushan Botanical Gardens, which is still on my to do list. You need to make a reservation in advance as they limit the number of visitors. 

I recommend renting a scooter from any of the shops across from the bus or train station in Yilan City to explore. Buses are infrequent and stop early in the highlands. A taxi to Dahu Lake or Wanglongpi will cost around 200NT from the bus or train station.

Gregorian chants in Mandarin with this view on a sunny day-timeless!

It becomes obvious soon enough that the most scenic, auspicious spots in Taiwan house all the cemeteries. Yuanshan is no different. The foothills leading into the mountains are speckled with them. Maybe I'm biased but they aren't the total eyesores they are in most places. In fact driving to work in the morning, the sunlight on a clear (rare) morning illuminates their white tiles, making a gleam against the dark mountains and sky. Clouds hover in and out, so that every morning is a different panorama on my commute.

 The graveyards in Yuanshan even has a Catholic section, the first in Yilan with a picturesque chapel over looking the valley. Surprisingly, there are several Catholic churches where one can take mass (in Mandarin and Latin). The most picturesque is in the Catholic cemetery on the hills but there is also one  (Church of the Holy Cross) across the street from Yuanshan Elementary school just off where 7 meet the 9A. 

Yuanshan Memorial Park

To begin a tour of Yuanshan you could start out at the Yuanshan Memorial park next to Yuanshan Elementary school and then head to Pillow Mountain, Dahu (Big Lake), or Hunshan Lake.  The park has a vertical set of stairs for a quick workout with some views of the of Yuanshan mountains that will wet your appetites for some further highland exploration. At the bottom of the stairs are some tanks and horses coming out of the grass which is kind of cool. Otherwise there’s not much else to see here. Elderly people like to hike the paths circling the hill in the mornings.

 

Dahu (Big Lake). My kid's first choice fishing spot  

Wanglongpi lake (望龍埤) is likewise very scenic. There are several hikes you can do from here that take you above the lake and you could continue to little villages further in the mountains. There’s a pizza café opened on the weekends and a coffee shop. You can buy fruit directly from the farmers from their orchards in the valley by the lake. The best place to stay is at the very orange Avignon Bed and Breakfast just down the road from the lake exit. Come early as Mainlanders tend to come here on the weekends, most don't do the hikes. There are more bodies of water too, the Shuanglian and Taiyang ponds popular with birders. 

Wanglongpi lake (望龍埤)

For free coffee (all you can drink) head to Athena’s Bakery (not to be confused with Artemis Garden). The tour buses definitely stop here, but you can sample the cakes and drink coffee for free. The gelato is excellent and flavors change according to which fruits are in season. If the sky is clear have coffee and some cake at the A-Maze Cafe at the top of the hill. If you're lucky you can overlook Yilan City on a fair day and see Turtle Island in the distance. Sadly. they cut down their namesake labyrinth. There are also some bed and breakfasts located on that hill. Accommodation should never be a problem in Yuanshan. Every post has about ten signs pointing to various farm stays. Still I listed the most famous leisure farms a the end of this post.

If you want to sample more than just coffee, Yuanshan happens to have its very own brewery,  Jim and Dad's (吉姆老爹啤酒工場). The owner invested a pretty penny for this top of the line brewery, shipping parts from Germany. They use fruits in season for various ales and stouts. They also serve high quality American root beer and ginger-ale for kids or the responsible driver. Its a little pricey but makes for a nice gift. Its a great venue for parties or live music, with a fun lighthouse. Too bad its such a drive.Taipei Times printed a nice review, " Yilan's Beer Oasis".

Kids might enjoy educational "hands on" tours about bugs at the Honey Bee Museum, Phoenix Beetle Museum (where you could stay the night),  farming,  water weeds, sheep or fish.  Older adults might prefer the Bowl and Dish Museum or the 23 Stone House Nature Culture. As for me, I would recommend my friends to stay at the sublime Beetle Forest. They are technically in Jiaoxi on the border of Yuanshan,  but you wouldnt have guessed. Beetle wise they are more professional than the Phoenix and have a modern BnB set up with a cheerful space. Plus I am friends with the entomologist there.

Bike riding in Yuanshan

Yuanshan is mostly bypassed by weekenders from Taipei stopping in Jiaoxi or further to Taipingshan, but if you want some muted repose, with less crowds, Yuanshan is definitely the peaceful alternative.

Leisure Farms in Yuanshan:
Yosemite
Daan Herbal medicine
Zhen Shan Zhuang Villa
Country Orange Leisure Farm
Hua Quan Living Workshop
Old House
Sansui
Shen Yang

To World Gym or Not?

One of the minor questions I was facing prior to CNY holiday was if I should join World Gym  or not. Finally, a first rate gym was coming to Yilan! Yilan City has been inundated with airdrop raids of flyers that have littered every available wall space and mailbox.  I could use a shot in the arm regarding jazzing up my fitness routines. I haven't exactly gained weight on the scale, but my clothes are noticeably tighter this semester.

Train here and you can look like her or attract her

My  memories of going to the local gym in Anping are mostly blissful, it would be great to have that community again. I miss mostly the classes, yoga and kickboxing, so I checked out World's gym schedule and they're basically is like 24 Hour Fitness back home. They offer the same "Turbo" kick-box classes, etc in other words they bought the rights to use the choreographed materials. World Gym had cheaper sign up fees before the Lunar New Year so I was feeling pressured to sign before my trip.

World Gym is located in the Yoai Department Store. Parking is available free for 2 hours in the basement of Yoai or across the street. I went to go see them, ready to sign up. First of all, I had to consider my schedule and if it was worth paying 1,000NT a month. I already go to Super Fitness on Tues/Thurs and Saturdays for TRX or weight training and am happy there. I do have my friends and sweat comradery. Also I recently started ballet on Wednesdays and strip tease dancing (class) on Mondays. So I would really only use World Gym on  Sundays or Fridays (usually busy). I was already on the fence, but I was willing to pay the 1000NT (for a 2 year contract, 1 year was twice as much) for going to yoga or kick-box classes.

I guarantee she does no TRX

What I didn't like is that it would be automatically taken out of my account and they wanted a credit card. I know thats the way the world works. Yet, I like having the choice and when given the choice I prefer to pay cash. My debit card is a Visa and they wouldn't accept that which is nuts because I use it online to buy things regularly. The only credit card I have is from the US and I only like to use that when I absolutely have to (like when my ATM card got eaten in Borneo last year). They were unwilling to use my Visa debit card. So forget it. I use YouTube videos a lot for yoga and I am in walking distance to the Sports Park. There is also a new gym "Green Light" that just opened near me, much like Super Fitness (TRX and weight training classes) just down the street from the University.

I should mention they weren't too keen with my kid waiting at the sofas by the entrance doing her homework. I had to explain I didn't have a spouse or extended family to watch her, and I have been going to gyms in Taiwan for 7 years and no one ever had an issue with her hanging around.

Back to Borneo: I let IS change my itinerary

Treetop Jungle Lodge, outside Miri

Its near to impossible to make travel plans  for Chinese New Year last minute. You'd be lucky to find an affordable flight, and the best accommodation will be booked. This requires careful planning and research months in advance. Knowing this I created my little central Javanese dream itinerary in October.

Unfortunately 2 weeks before my plane left to Jogjakarta,  IS bombed Jakarta (same island), targeting a Starbucks, killing a Canadian and six others. IS' Indonesian  leadership and support coincidentally comes from central Java (Solo) and some of their supporters are in the very cities I had planned to travel through (like Semerang).

If you know me, then you know I am not one to cower from an adventure. I volunteered teaching English in Sudan, spent a month in Kashmir and was caught in a middle of gun fire between a Pakistani separatist and Indian police. I traveled alone through Egypt for 5 months, India for 3. I (stupidly) hitched-hiked with a my friend from Barcelona to Amsterdam. And my daughter and I have traveled to Malaysia 5 or 6 times, Japan twice, Sumatra, Hong Kong and Thailand, which are safe enough places but its still no walk in the park traveling alone with a child, gender aside.

Niah Caves

 If I were alone I would so be on that plane to Java, but with my daughter, I am cautious. Traveling is my affirmation in the goodness of strangers and hopefully offering them an alternative (better) view of Americans, but I also want to be relaxed. The chances were nothing dire would of happened, we would have had another legendary exploit, but I didn't want to look at locals and suspect the worst. Maybe our taxi driver has an ISIS flag in his home or something.  ISIS also was targeting Borobudur, the 8th century Buddhist temple complex I simple had to see. Our hotel emailed me that they had stepped up security, and security at tourist places like Borobudur, but more men with guns  is hardly reassuring.

Treetop Home Stay, outside Miri. She caught 3 huge fish.

So I decided to return to Sarawak, but a different part. Sarawak is blessed with amazing national parks. There were a few on my list I still had to see and Miri was our logical base.We didn't stay in Miri the city, but 20 km south on the coast.  I probably could of axed 3 days in Miri, it didn't take long to explore the nearby region. In other words, we had a lot of non-connected to the outside world, jungle time; lounging in hammocks, fishing, lazily doing yoga or laundry. I got my adventure fix renting a standard car for 3 days of driving British style (opposite side of the road, driver sitting opposite side of the car) on the crazy roads of Borneo. People drove insanely fast and  passed one another by a hair's width. It was good bonding time with my daughter. The radio didn't work, so we talked and sang a lot.

Our home stay (Treetop Jungle Lodge) charged me 90 RM a day for using their car plus filling the tank. We stayed our first few nights in their deluxe double with hot shower (not that we needed it) and eventually migrated to the cheaper longhouse above the water. The expat Rhodesian owner, his wife and her sister made us feel well taken care of, which as I get older, I don't take for granted.

 My daughter didn't want to leave this place, and after 3 days on the road she was happy to return. There was not anything for her to do, which I suppose was the charm. Walking 10 minutes to the beach was the height of activity- if we even ventured that far. She caught 3 large fish, one Tilapia of which we ate and the other catfish I assumed they ate. My daughter was the only person to have ever caught anything and that place has been around for at least 15 years.

My first day with the car was a day trip to the nearby Lambir Hills National Park. It was kind of strange shifting gears with my left hand and the turn signals were on the opposite side too. After driving for a day I was confident I could do a longer road trip. It was empowering because my confidence in my driving was severely damaged after last years accident. We hiked to the waterfall which we had all to ourselves.

Lambir Hills National Park

The  Niah Caves were truly impressive. I was unprepared for the amount of walking and in hindsight should of brought more water. It was 3 km to the cave, after crossing a crocodile infested river (according to our boatman), 3 km back and I'd say 3-4 km exploring the caves.

 It was not an easy walk. The bat feces (guano) and dripping water made the pathway deathly slippery. Few tourists were inside, but one woman coming back slipped and just broke her wrist. She put the contorted bone in my face close to my flashlight so I could see it. Fortunately we met up with a Canadian woman at the ticket office and she  was an extra pair of helpful eyes, hands and light to help me with my kid from slipping into the abyss.  Nice single traveler, my age, we had some intimate chats, dinner and breakfast and I dropped her off at the bus stop the next morning.

What was exciting about this cave was we had already some experience caving in Sarawak, outside Kuching. The Fairy cave was quite magical. Niah was even more spectacular especially knowing that the oldest human skull (40,000 BC) in Asia was found here. They had it on display at the forgotten museum at the start of the trail. It was our mission to make it to the farthest cave, to see the cave paintings of burial boats that was disappearing from view. My daughter almost didn't make it, the wooden path was that greasy and perilous. Parts of the trek were in utter darkness, the handrails covered in bat shit. It was an experience to take to the grave. Literally we felt we were on a heroic journey to the Otherworld, the abyss. The ferryboat to the cave only added to this certainty. There were magic moments of coming out of the obscurity to see holes in the ceiling revealing the outer world, life, the rain forest piercing through. The camera could not completely replicate these moments of sunlight illuminating raindrops.

Painter's Cave: Burial ships

On our road trip we headed south to the Similajau National Park on the beach. Its located 4 hours south of Miri and 30 minutes north of Bintulu. We got lost on our way here and fortunately found it. It was weird checking in.Staff was on siesta so we had to wait at the gate office with a bunch of men for 2 hours and it felt uncomfortable being the only 2 females and foreign. Eventually I just we went to the cantina for some drinks and finished waiting there.

Similijau National Park

 The park is vast. The accommodation was at the beach with a bit of green, with trees and picnic tables separating the lodging from the beach. The sound of the waves was loud. There was absolutely no one but a group of men having a BBQ. So it felt kind of lonesome. We had a dorm room all to ourselves away from anyone and I didn't sleep well. A huge family of about 30 people checked into the dorm next to us around 9pm and it was reassuring to see women and children in the dark with their flashlights and laughter. It seemed so empty I found it unbelievable that all the beds were occupied for the weekend (which was the holiday Chinese New Year weekend.) Apparently we had the only remaining room for that night, yet the dorms and chalets between us and the cantina were like a ghost town. I assumed staff didn't want to clean those up. No one had swept our floor, but for 400 NT a night I wasn't complaining. We had running water and 4 comfortable beds and the sound of the ocean .

Similijau National Park

Eventually we left the security of Treetops and stayed our last night in Miri at a 3 star hotel (Mega Hotel) in the center of town which was a treat. They had a nice pool and across the street was an Indian restaurant. It was back to civilization. We hopped on a plane the next day to Kuala Lumpur and stayed at my friend's fancy condo with the most amazing views to the Petronas Towers. Sadly my friend had to bail back to the States to her mother's deathbed. so it was pensive and surreal sitting on her sofa, sleeping in her bed, enjoying her breathtaking view, texting each other and she wasn't there in person.

Our bedroom  window view

I had a plan of day trips we could do from KL that I still hadn't done on the several previous trips. The pools were so stunning and the condo such a luxury, my kid and I just vegged by the pool. She made friends with some of the kids and I could finish a book. After a few days we went to my other friend's apartment and pretty much did the same thing. She is leaving for Jordan in a couple of months so we definitely had to catch up while she was still in the SE Asian vicinity (a trip to Jordan is planned.)

We ate well in KL. Fancy juice shops, Indian and Middle Eastern, my kid and I had lamb for lunch and lamb for dinner. Ultimately my child grew bored of paradisaical swimming pools and perfect weather and when driving in our taxi back to Yilan  in pouring bitter rain and gloomy skies she was utterly happy to be back, she in fact missed the rain and cold. I on the other hand already missed the blue skies.

Beach, 10 min walk from Treetop Jungle Lodge

My Central Java Itinerary:

2/1- 2/3 Yogykarta  Phoenix Hotel (4,351 NT /Rp 1,936,000) 
 Mount Merapi for hiking and camping. Borobudur is a Buddhist stupa and temple complex in Central Java, Indonesia dating from the 8th century, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is one of world's truly great ancient monuments, the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on earth, and few who visit fail to be taken by both the scale of place, and the remarkable attention to detail that went into the construction. Set as it is in the heart of the verdant Kedu Plain, the backdrop of mighty active volcanoes only enhances the sense of awe and drama. 

2/3-2/4 Semerang Hotel Candiview Semarang (1,292 NT/ 575,000Rp) 
Semarang It takes less than 2 hours to drive from Semarang to Yogyakarta. Solo is also only a one and half hour drive from Semarang. From Semarang and Yogyakarta you can go by tourist car/rent car with 7 seaters vehicle like Central Java Transporter, ☎ (+62/0) (thejavatransporter@gmail.com),  who operates the car to Dieng Plateau.

2/4- 2/8 Karimunjawa Cocohuts Hotel  (4046NT/ 1,800,000 Rp)
Mon 2/8 Return Ferry Karimunjawa to Jepara (Express 7am- 9am) Jepara to Semerang

2/8-2/12  Semerang to Purwokerto (5USD 5x daily, 5 hours via Nusantara) + Taxi (5USD) to Baturaden

 Green Valley Resort Batu Raden Purwokerto address: Jalan Raya Baturraden KM 8, 53151 Baturaden tell: (4091 NT/ 1,820,000 Rp) f

2/12-2/13 Yogykarta: DusunJogja Village Inn (2,000 NT)

2/14 Retrun to Taipei

Monkey on Fire and Happy Lunar Year

新年的祝福，平日的希冀，愿你心境祥和、充满爱意，愿你的世界全是美满，愿你一切称心如意，快乐无比。

Xīnnián de zhùfú, píngrì de xījì, yuàn nǐ xīnjìng xiánghé, chōngmǎn ài yì, yuàn nǐ de shìjiè quán shì měimǎn, yuàn nǐ yīqiè chènxīn rúyì, kuàilè wúbǐ.

At New Year and always, may peace and love fill your heart, beauty fill your world, and contentment and joy fill your days.

Happy Lunar New Year! It's that time of year to receive blessings and bless each other. Check out  15 fabulous blessings to share or bless yourself with. If you have time read 108 Chinese New Years blessings.

The astrological predictions are a good time for expats like me to see how Taoism is acdmittadly practiced. I myself am a Tiger (apparently a brave-hearted, humanitarian loner, with a ferocious bite) and if I believed any of this I could read what a Taoist seer predicts  how the monkey year will be for me (to read yours click here). They all seems like doomsayers to me.

Prior to coming to Taiwan I was (and still am) fascinated by the words of Lao-tse and the Yi-Ching and their influences on Chinese culture and cosmology. In the years living here I have aquired immeasurable recommendations about eating and preparing food according to the weather, season, my menstrual cycle. This is Taoism and the principals of the 5 elements in practice on a very practical day to day level. The 5 elements are found everywhere and in everything, each organ, hour of the day, not to mention every year is ruled by this relationship between light and dark and the 5 elements. It gets all beyond my understanding when  I read the writings of Lao-tse which speaks nothing of deities and yet in Taiwan Taoist temples host literally hundreds of gods and goddesses.

According to experts, the year of a fire monkey is seen to bring calamity and unpredictability. Taiwan surely experienced that with the Kaohsiung earthquake and building disaster in Tainan. It was a bereaved way to begin a New Year. Taoist fortune tellers and feng-shui masters offer advice on how to avoid further catastrophe, specifically on what to wear or not wear and placing special amulets in the homes. Women this year reputably will yield more power as indicated my the recent election of Tsai Ying-wen in Taiwan and perhaps Hillary Clinton in the near future. Time will tell but I'm voting for Bernie.

As for myself, I staunchly recommend acupuncture and cupping for minor illnesses which like all Traditional Chinese Medicine is rooted in Taoism, but I deliberately draw the line about which metaphysical tutelary I consent to rule over me.

Birthday Wingding In Osaka

Infamous red bridge at the Zen Ruanji Temple

It just so happened that my Thursday and Friday classes were canceled (they had tests of course) on the weekend sandwiched between my daughter's 10th birthday and my 41st. So wasting no time I secured the approval for two personal days and promptly booked return tickets to Osaka for 3 nights and 4 days.

I researched a lot of options for excursions we could do, but our stint terse and having to balance the fancies of both me and my daughter, I didn't do everything I could of. We didn't go to the Aquarium, the Ferris Wheel or any of the zany shopping malls like Shinsaibashi or Dotonbori. (Shopping in a mall is less important on my radar and even less on hers.) I would of liked to see the iconic Glicoman, but she thought it way too touristy  (it is) which was code for her being too tired and wanting to return to our ryokan. If I had more time I would of loved to catch a traditional Edo period puppet bunraku show and see Shitennoji Temple.

The flight was brief and affordable on the budget Peach Airlines. We landed in terminal 2 and took the airport bus to terminal 1 and walked down to the buses into town. The bus was the cheapest and most convenient option. The airport bus limousine (as they call it) was pretty affordable at $13 USD a pop (1,550 yen/ 427USD adult and 780 yen for child). It took us directly to Amagasaki station which was one station away from the stop closest to our ryokan (Deyahsiki station) The airport had loads of female attendants freezing on the bus platforms who pointed the way. Yes it was bitter, around 2 C at night and 11 during the day.

Train leaving Umeda station last day

Our traditional traveler's inn Takeyaso Ryokan inconveniently is closed between the hours of 9 am -4 pm.

Z in front of Takeyaso Ryokan

We arrived around 3 on Thursday, so we just hopped into a little mom and pop cafe (literally, they were the cutest old couple) around the corner and used pointing and body language to order anything on the menu.

The only character my daughter knew was beef and they were out. What a pleasant surprise to have lunch, our first meal in Osaka being the local specialty of Okonomiyaki, savory pancakes full of everything and anything; cabbage, shrimp, fish, whale, octopus, squid, chicken and pork.

sMy daughter somehow communicated chicken for herself and I just let the old lady give me whatever she wanted. I'm not sure what my meat was, sort of tasted like kidney, but I'm afraid it might of been whale.

Lunch day one: Okonomiyaki!

 It seriously stuffed us both and by the time we finished, our little medievel ryokan was opened and waiting for us with slippers, tea and the traditional yukata robes. Our cold room had tatami mats on the floor and a piping hot communal bath.  In the evenings the inner brought is tea and from their little bar near the entrance they played soothing jazz.

Our closest communal bathroom was charming with a nippy stone walkway, requiring wooden geta sandal clogs to reach the toilet hidden behind an ancient wooden hatch door. Needless to say, the numbing toilet seat wasn't heated unlike most toilets in Osaka.

Ice skating detour, Osaka Station

Not wasting anytime after checking in we left for the city center which was easy to reach by train. At the next stop (Amagasaki) we switched our local for an express to Umeda/Osaka station which is the main heart of public transportation. I had a mind to watch the sunset from the observation deck of the Floating Gardens and eat at its basement Edo period food court but when we passed by an outdoor ice-skating rink on the way, we had to indulge. My kid had a blast. We missed the sunset view and returned to our ryokan after slurping down a piping hot bowl of noodles at a stand-up noodle bar outside Deyashiki station.  We further warmed ourselves in our sento (communal baths), before wearing all our clothes to bed.

Day 2 was all about Universal Studios. We got their shortly after they opened and hit the first rides.The lines were massive, but worth the wait. We hit all the rides we wanted to except the space ride which was changed, we certainly chose not to see any shows. It was lucky to start out at the Back to the Future ride because that was the least exciting. Then we hit the Spiderman ride, and then the big roller-coaster, the Hollywood Dream Ride. It was my kid's first, real big roller-coaster and she was so scared she was utterly silent.



Shamelessly we dorked out at the Harry Potter section which was fabulously recreated; the train, the shops, the haunted bathroom stalls, even butter beer was served. The 2 adult rides there were also good fun, despite the wait. My phone counted over 12,000 steps that day.  We had another noodle dinner at Universal City just between the train station and park entrance. There was a little bit of a stressful situation. I needed to hit an ATM, having spent all my pocket money on food in the park, I didn't have enough for the train fare back. Insanely, the 2 ATMS near the park entrance and Universal City convenience store didn't take either of my cards. We went to one of the several hotels and they also had no ATMs. I was afraid I might have to beg for coins back to our inn. Fortunately, the ATMs inside the station took all the usual, international cards. After another blessed sento bath and having the owner loan us a heater, we contentedly slept.

Day 3 was about some history and culture. To my kid's dissatisfaction we passed by the history museum, it was just too big and we hadn't enough time. So we walked around the grounds of Osaka castle, took some cheesy photos of Z with a Samurai and found our way to the empty and sublime Peace Museum.

Miro Waterdalls

It was a small space with exhibits on 3 floors showcasing World War 2's impact on the civilians of Osaka. It was certainly sobering. They had an interactive bomb raid shelter which scared my kid and yet surely wasn't realistic enough having just read the testimonies.

War sucks!

This painting resonated a powerful reaction to both my daughter and I. Its titled, " I was Lifted Up by my Grandmother."

In the afternoon we headed north out of the city to Minoh (Minoo) and meandered up a 3 km path to a waterfall- I'm a sucker for waterfalls. It was a lovely saunter along a river with shops sporadically built along the way, with forests all around and even some statuesque redwood looking conifers. There were mysterious trails everywhere and I imagined if I lived here I would certainly make weekend trips to explore them all.



The terrain was like a combination of southern California (the sunshine and dryness) with northern California (the redwoods and cold). Our first stop was an insect museum which Z was thrilled about, followed by the red bridged Zen Ruanji temple complex.

Its hard to believe this quiet bliss is only 30 min away by train from Umeda Station. I read how crowded it gets when the maple leaves blaze crimson in the fall. We  had most of the temples to ourselves and certainly most of the walk too. There were mostly old people exercising, walking briskly, jogging and a few families pushing strollers. Although there were blue skies, most of the path was shadowed in forest which made the temperature quite cold, colder than Yilan.

Ruanji's red bridge behind me

Ruanji Zen monk

Near the waterfall we splurged for the local nibble of deep friend maple leaves in sweet batter (momiji tempura).

Momiji Tempura

We dined on sushi on our last, night per request from my kid at the other mom and pop place around the corner from our ryokan. We eat sushi in Taiwan and of course miso, but even now we still rave about that simple meal.  The tuna was so fresh and the color so ruby. It was served over a bowl of rice with powdered white sesame and seaweed they pounded with a mortar, so their little diner, the size of my bedroom smelled of soothing sesame. I got a local bottle of beer to wash it down with. The miso was rich and dark barley based, so very hearty and unlike the more sweeter, lighter miso of Taiwan.   

Our last day we had to check out around 9am and with lots of time to s

pare (our return flight was at 4pm) I decided to take the train south to one of the oldest Shinto shrines, Sumiyoshi. It dates back 1800 years, with a moat and sacred bridge. It had a busy carnivalesque feeling. There were breakfast stalls and a plant market before the sacred red bridge. I was impressed by the bonsai cherry trees. What botanical superpowers!

Whats really special about these temples is because they predate the arrival of Buddhism, their architecture bears no influence from the mainland. They are quintessentially Japanese.

I had no one to explain to me the various rituals, but I guessed their holy of holies was the oldest construction in the inner courtyard. Worshipers threw coins money into the central pit and paid to walk thru this small construction which was closed by transparent plastic. Priests in traditional clothes assisted people with their short pilgrimage where of course they took of their shoes. Being a temple traditionally devoted to travelers and fishermen it seemed only fitting we should be here before our flight back to Taipei.