Asia's best kept secret…

The geothermal activity in Taiwan spawns all sorts of hot springs; the most popular lie just north of Taipei City in Yangmingshan National Park. From Wikipedia: “The National Park is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes and hiking trails, including Taiwan’s … extinct volcano, Seven Star Mountain.” What the heck’s a fumarole? And everyone knows how well hiking trails and poisonous snakes go together!

My friend Victoria’s Mom works at a hot spring and they have been inviting me up for a visit for a while now.

I’ve resisted because basically, I’m not a nudist! I’m not sure what made me say “yes” this weekend but, at 12:40, V and I were outside of Taipei Main Station boarding the bus to Yangmingshan, driven by a young, betel nut-fueled-but-friendly driver. An hour later, the bus stopped in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

If you looked carefully you could see a paved drive heading downhill into a valley where hot spring plumes were visible. 20 minutes later, we entered a small resort, built around sulpherous hot springs. After a delicious meal (read: way more food than 4 people could eat), I opted for a private room. The naturally smelly water was HOT and 15 minutes was all I could handle. Afterwards I wandered around the lush, surrounding gardens.

I’m happy to report that no snakes, poisonous or otherwise, were spotted on today’s outing.