Wulai and Datong Hike

Ok, so I've slacked off big time in the blogging department. Sorry. Since blogging isn't really my thing, and I'm clearly unable to keep up with it, I've decided to spare you all from my mundane day-to-day activities and instead just post about my trips. That still leaves me with like nine posts to write. Oh goody.

The first excursion I went on since my last post was a hiking trip in Wulai, hosted by the NTU culinary club (strange, no?). We met up with the group at the Xindian MRT station and then took a bus from there.  The bus ride was brutal as we had to stand and the driver whipped around sharp curves at unreasonable speeds, but luckily my shoulder wasn't pulled out of socket as I feared it might be.

The first leg of our long trek was up a steep road through what was basically a neighborhood.  This part allowed for socialization and we were able to meet a lot of cool people, many of which are in Taiwan for the year teaching English.  We finally made it to the trail head, and took some group pictures before submitting to the ensuing torture that is Wulai and Datong mountain.  Ok so torture might be too dramatic a term, but I'm not lying when I say there were times I thought I was going to die.  Apparently Taiwan doesn't believe in switchbacks or trail maintenance, so the 10 mile hike consisted mostly of steep, slick staircases on the way up, and rocky rope courses on the way down.  It was one of the most difficult hikes I've ever done, but the beautiful scenery and the promise of hot springs made it well worth it.

When we finally exited the forest, we made our way back to the town of Wulai, where we walked through the small night market and inhaled some much needed food.  The Wulai hot springs are great because they are public, which means FREE.  We were the laughing stock of the locals as we squealed in pain from the scalding water, wondering how anyone could endure it.  Eventually we became acclimated and relaxed, letting the hot water sooth our sore muscles and mosquito ravaged skin.

After jumping between the hot springs and cold river water until we were light-headed, we got dressed and made our way back to the bus stop, preparing ourselves for another painful ride.  Back in Gongguan (that's where I live) we ate some amazing cupcakes and cookies with Tim and Caleb from a shop owned by a Californian, before going home and passing out. Taiwan has some incredible hikes that are definitely worth the exertion, if you don't mind having extremely sore muscles for a few days afterwards.