The Trip

I stepped off the bus in Taiwan, and hot air warmed me. Seoul has been getting colder, but Taiwan was like going back to Seoul a few weeks ago. It was stellar.

My hostel was a bit less than desirable, but it was adequate. I'm not even that tall, but the bed was too short. My bed had a curtain, a small fan, and a light. I quite liked it. :)

The highlight of my trip (next to seeing Nathaniel) was surely Baishawan Beach. We spent the day there on Wednesday. It was somewhere between 90-100 all day. We took the metro and bus from Taipei and arrived after about an hour and a half at the beach. After changing and walking through the little sea-side town, we finally hit the beach. Miles of white sandy beach with nothing but the sun and time.

The water was a beautiful clear blue with coral jut outs that created tide pools full of little fish, scuttling crabs, and coral roaches. I wore water shoes (thankfully) and we climbed on the coral and jumped off into the bathwater warm salty ocean. The sand was white and soft, and the ocean felt wonderful after being completely exposed to this blistering sun.

We walked down the beach and eventually came to a rocky path.

The path wound through what looked like the jungle. Green trees provided a canopy of sorts that was a wonderful welcome from the heat.

The path led around a rocky point. The rocks, big and small, piled high around massive boulders.

We climbed all over the rocks and swam in little beach-lets that we came across.

We eventually made our way to the end of the path and began walking the boardwalk. It was especially hot there because there was absolutely no protection from the sun.

We saw a nice little pool formed by the surrounding coral, and we lost track of time floating in it. That cooled us off nicely.

Then we finished the 4 mile hike to the sand dunes and climbed up the scorching sand. The view was beautiful. Coral spread out into the ocean, the sea that went past the sky line, beautiful mountains and greenery behind us, and soft white sand underneath us.

Eventually it was time to go, and we showered, changed, and finished off the day with milk tea and a beautiful sunrise that we watched from the "scenic lookout point."

The perfect end to a perfect day.

I was also able to visit the Taipei 101, which is the tallest building the world (as far as I know.) I looked at the overpriced shops and went to the book store where I read for hours (Where's Waldo and Guinness World Book of Records...) The day was foggy when I took the picture, so they top of the 101 was covered.

We also hit up the zoo with all the cute animals! It was super fun!!

It was an amazing trip all in all. I didn't want to leave, but I did and came home to chilly Seoul. I'm glad to be back and teaching again, but I'll always love Taiwan. God really blessed me with the money to take this trip and the time to go. It was relaxing, inspiring, and a really big blessing! Peace.