Taipei, Taiwan: Hot Springs!

Taiwan has an enormous quantity of geysers and volcanoes, so there are also a lot of natural hot springs.

Hot springs (温泉) are an excellent way to relax and cleanse your body. Taiwanese people have a very funny way of saying “going to the hot springs”; they refer to this kind of activity as “泡汤” , literally “boiling in soup”. It’s funny trying to imagine the hot springs as a sort of pot of boiling water, with tourists carelessly relaxing in it.

There are three ways to enjoy the hot springs, all offered in different types of facilities. One way (and the most common for locals), is to bathe in the hot springs completely naked (men and women with separate facilities, obviously). The second way is to bathe in it with a bathing suit. The third way is a family friendly service, where the natural hot water flows directly from the water tap and into a bathtub.

I personally don’t think the bathtub concept is that special because it just feels like you’re taking a bath.

For conservative or shy people, I think that the swimsuit option is quite nice.

However, the authentic way to enjoy the hot springs (and to get maximum exposure to natural skin cleansing treatment, haha!) is the good old fashioned way from the old days: nude. This way of bathing was inherited from the Japanese culture left behind a few centuries ago (If any of you read mangas, I’m sure you’ve seen scenes where the characters are bathing in a hot spring, with a small towel placed on top of their heads). Of course, there’s no need to worry about being seen by outsiders or the opposite sex while bathing nude. Even if the springs are outdoors, there are very tall surrounding walls, thus protecting us all from peeping toms. Also, another advantage of an outdoor hot springs experience is to enjoy the mountain view as you bathe. Very therapeutic.

The hot springs we went to was nestled very high up in a mountain in a Japanese-styled setting, with tiled rooftops and narrow passageways. For just 400NT (new Taiwan dollars, so approximately 14CAD$) per person, we had access to unlimited bathing time and various other spa facilities. The place we went to was called 川汤 (chuan tang), and it’s a place where locals go to, so it was very cheap. There are certain hot springs which attract only tourists, and a visit there could cost as much as 1000NT per person.

There were three “tubs” in the facility we went to. A tub filled with water from the hot springs (the water was 43 degrees Celsius), a tube with icy cold water, and a tub with lukewarm water with various pumps for water massages and such. They also have a steam sauna, and “showers” (shower heads of various shapes that pump out extremely powerful jets of water), both of which allow a really relaxing treatment.

If you’re wondering about the hygienic issues of all of this; worry not, I had the same questions and I can testify to the cleanliness of the whole experience (I ended up going to the naked-style hot springs. Very risky and uncharacteristic of me, but I thought it an interesting experience that I should at least try once in my life). Anyways, to start off, it’s mandatory to scrub yourself clean with soap and water before stepping into the tub. If you don’t all the other ladies in the facility will not hesitate to tell you to do so. However, “sashing yourself” is very subjective. For those of you who are still having doubts fear not. The natural hot water also has a relatively high amount of acidity, giving off the distinctive smell of rotten eggs. So the stronger the smell of rotten eggs, the higher the acidity, and the easier any lingering bodily bacteria will die once in contact with the water. Although the smell of rotten eggs isn’t immensely appealing, it’s barely noticeable after a few minutes and I think that the smell vs. hygiene tradeoff in this condition is worth it.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of inside the bathhouse to post here – I don’t want my blog to get flagged down for porn, haha.

To sum up: the hot springs are a definitely great experience and a perfect way for tourists to relax and take a beat amidst all the exhaustive sightseeing and traveling. Choosing a facility with a swimwear rule is fine, but if you can, take a chance and try the “authentic” way! Try avoiding very expensive facilities (1000NT and up), they may offer a better view for customers while they bathe, but that’s about it. And last piece of advice: definitely do not go to the facilities that offer “family hot tubs” (where you basically sit in a bathtub and hot water from the springs flow out of a tap) because it will be indoors and you will not get to see the scenery outside (therefore, it won’t feel any different from a regular hot bath due to the bathroom-like surroundings).

Taipei, Taiwan: Overview

The second leg of the Asian adventures continues! Next destination: Taipei, Taiwan.

Taiwan has always been a place of mystery, a place that I only know through the opinions of others. Actually, I’ve never known anything about Taiwan except that 1. It’s in a political independence brawl with China, similar to that of Quebec – Canada, 2. People have a cute accent over there, 3. Food is amazing, 4. It’s Jay Chou’s place of origin.

So in others words, I didn’t know anything about the place and know that I’ve seen Taiwan, I take back all the misconceptions and political opinions I’ve previously held about the place.

First of all, Taiwan is beautiful. Mountains. Ranges upon ranges of mountains as far as the eye can see, especially in the less urban areas. About 70% of the terrain in Taiwan is mountainous, and the vegetation on the mountains is lush and bountiful, nothing like the giant conifers we have back at home. I thought Hong Kong had amazing scenery. Taiwan beats Hong Kong (in terms of scenery) by a mile. Even in Taipei, the capital, the terrain is mountainous, and the roads small and cramped, making each car ride an adventure. Back in Quebec, major cities are usually situated on flat terrain and any sort of forest or dense vegetation is usually cut down. In Taiwan, cities big and small are built in between mountains and there is green as far as the eye can see. In fact, the mountain ranges are so impressive that one often forgets that Taiwan is an island.

The temperature in Taiwan during this time of the year (early February) is very mild and nice; it’s the nicest time of the year to visit the country. Temperatures were on the high side when we visited (going up to the high 20s!!), and apparently this is the hottest Taiwan has been in the past 50 years in the month of February. I can’t imagine what it must feel like traveling to Taiwan in the summer with temperatures as high as 35 degree Celsius.

Second of all, Taiwanese people are some of the friendliest and most heartwarming people I’ve met. This goes not only for employees at tourist attractions, but also locals, from waitresses, to street vendors, to random elderly people on the streets. It’s a totally different mentality from Mainland China, in a good way!

Third of all, amazing food is an understatement. As one of my good friends would say back in Montreal, this food proves the existence of God.

Fun fact about Taiwan:

·      Taiwan has an enormous amount of Bin Lang (槟榔) trees. And by enormous amount, I mean that they are everywhere. Locals owning land would cut down the regular trees on their properties and plant a whole field of these trees. These trees resemble palm trees, except they are incredibly thin and only have a few small leaves. The reason for this Taiwanese obsession is that BinLang trees are extremely easy to plant (they grow relatively fast) and locals love to chew their leaves. It’s sort of like marijuana, because it’s a stimulant and people get easily addicted to it. The only difference is that it’s legalized and Taiwan even regularly imports BinLang leaves to satisfy national demand.
(The girls who sell the binlang are also quite a tourist attraction because they’ll be selling the stuff while wearing bikinis [they’re called 槟榔妹妹])