Week #7: Wulai, Yingge and Sanxia

In the past couple of weeks I continued my usual routine of teaching and acting. Prior to last weekend I finally managed to set up a bank account here in Taipei (with the much needed assistance of a translator, provided by my acting employer).  I feel like a real Taipei resident now.

I had a busy weekend sightseeing around Taipei.
On friday, before work I was up early and on the Metro and bus on my way to the nearby aboriginal town of Wulai.

Wulai is famed for it's hotspring's in addition to it's aboriginal culture. While only about one hour on public transport from my apartment, Wulai feels a world away from Taipei. Surrounded by lush, green, tropical forests, flanking either side of a large river, Wulai town is a tourist's delight. The main street sells mostly aboriginal tourist kitsch but also serves up a great selection of local delicacies such as the delicious hot-spring eggs, bamboo steamed rice and local varieties of sausage.

Across the river from the main street was a small tourist train, originally used for logging, now for bringing the many visitors up a small mountain to get a view of Wulai PuBu (waterfall). The pubu was pretty impressive and after catching the view it was a nice walk back into town for a visit to the famous hot-springs.

While Wulai is known for it's hot springs so are a multitude of other small towns and districts in the Taipei area. In fact, taiwan has the second highest concentration of hot springs in the world, being edged out only by Japan.

I hired my own private hot-spring room at one of the many spas that lined the "hot-spring steet".
My room included a hot bath, a cold bath and a cable TV with over 100 channels. For about $6 one could lounge around it the spring water all day but after just 1 hour I was as relaxed as I was going to get and ready to leave.

Tasty goat soup for lunch

After another quick bite to eat I was back on the bus en-route to teaching in the late afternoon.
The following day I went to two other nearby tourist towns of Yingge and Sanxia.

Ceramic pottery is Yingge's claim to fame. Tourist's come from all over to buy or make their own ceramic pieces many also pay visit to the Ceramic Museum. Ceramics aren't really my cup of tea, so to say, but the real highlight of Yingge was a renowned sushi shop selling budget pre-made sushi. It was really good and super cheap.




After some confusion finding the right bus-stop I was aboard the bus to Sanxia.
Sanxia has a popular walking street that features Japanese architecture from the nearly 50 years that Taiwan was a Japanese colony. The old storefront facades were a invited change from the typical architecture seen around Taipei.

Sanxia also has a famous Taoist temple with incredibly intricate carvings throughout it's interior. The carvings were done by a renowned  Taiwanese artist.  Sanxia's temple was the most beautiful religious site I have seen in Taiwan as of yet.  

Praying for more work

As with seemingly every tourist hotspot in Taiwan, Sanxia is not without it's own regional delicacy. "Bullhorn croissants"; a sweet croissant in the shape of it's namesake, are the snack of choice. I had one halved, hollowed-out and used as a tasty ice-cream cone.

The week that has followed my busy weekend has been uneventful.  My acting work was cancelled this week due to a lack of available performers.  That mean another hit to the wallet but I've got my fingers crossed for the receipt lottery draw this Friday.

I signed up with a modelling agency this week and went in to get some photos taken Yesterday (free of charge) so hopefully the sock modelling work will start flowing in. 

A delicious fried fish soup at a nightmarket.