Once we were all there (the faculty member brought three of his students along with him), we had a 20 minute walk along the river bed to get to the swimming spot. The spot was idealistic. Just what you imagine for swimming in some pools on a tropical island. Due to some giant boulders having fallen there, the river opened up into some deep pools. Some of the pools were maybe 3 feet deep, others maybe 6 or so, and then in some spots it was well over 10 feet. We all swam around a lot, played on the rocks, jumped off some of the rocks/cliffs into the water, and tried to catch fish. The water was so clean and refreshing. I really liked swimming underneath the water with my eyes open and looking at all of the fish. There were thousands of fish everywhere all about four inches or less. Christian also found a frog and some tadpoles, there were a ton of butterflies, and we saw some really big spiders on our walk.
The faculty member also brought some rice cooked in bamboo, homemade spinach pies, and chocolate chip cookies (he is Greek and married to a Taiwanese woman). It was really the perfect morning.
We finished up there at about 12:30 and then spent a little bit of time back in our apartment. When we got back and started getting showered off, we realized how sun burnt we were. We were surprised because most of the swimming spot was in the shade for most of the time we were there. But, we are all still in a little bit of pain from the burns.
That afternoon we made our way to the restaurant that was closed when we tried it on Tuesday. We stopped off at a park and played for about an hour or so. Rebecca had read that the restaurant was one of those “once in a lifetime” meals, so she and I were really excited for it. It was a very interesting place. It was kind of out of the way from everything else in the city. It only had four or five tables in it. When we got there, there was only one other group of three there, and besides them, no one else came the whole time we were there. They didn’t speak English at all and had no English menus. I did okay with ordering everything though except for one small discussion about getting rice with our meal. We ordered four dishes and she said that the rice is ordered separately. I asked her how much the rice cost and she said I needed to order the rice by the bowl. The problem is, the word for bowl sounds exactly the same as the word for 10,000. So I thought she was saying the rice would cost $10,000, which is about $333 in US dollars. Since the other four dishes were only about $6 each, I just couldn’t understand what she was saying. So I said we would go without the rice, but she kept saying that some of the dishes we ordered wouldn’t be very good without rice. Finally, I was able to figure things out and the rice really only cost about 75 cents for a large bowl of it. The four dishes that we ordered were barbecued pork, ginger intestine, minced pork, and beef with scallion. They were all very traditional dishes. We made the children try one bite of each. Julia was really upset about having to eat the intestines. We tried to make a joke out of it by commenting that our neighbor’s dog back in Pocatello is named Ginger, but that didn’t help. Rebecca and I both thought the ginger intestines were really good and Asher thought they were yummy too. Most of the other children tolerated it. Everyone liked the beef with scallion and that was probably my favorite of the four dishes. Rebecca liked the minced pork the best. We were surprised, but none of us really liked the barbequed pork that much. It was a really satisfying meal for both Rebecca and I, but the children were still hungry at the end of the night so we picked up some fried potstickers on the way home. That dinner cost us about $25, way more than any other meal we have eaten here. I would definitely say it was worth it and I am glad that we went, mainly for the experience. But, I probably wouldn’t say it was one of the very best meals I have ever had in my life like the guidebook suggested it would be.
We got home late and the children were definitely ready for bed!
At the start of the hike in to the swimming spot.
Here is the more shallow part, only about 4 or 5 feet past the rock that Christian is sitting on.
Agnes made friends with one of the students. They played together most of the time there.
This is the deeper part. Those rocks probably go 8 to 10 feet above the water. I jumped off of them and wasn't anywhere near the bottom. I swam to the bottom a few times and it was hurting my ears. I would say it was definitely more than 10 feet deep. We also learned a new game. You hold on to a really big rock and then just walk on the bottom of the river as the water goes over your head.
It was just so beautiful to be swimming in the middle of the jungle covered mountains. It was the perfect day for it. Sunny and probably about 85 degrees or so. But then we were in the shade of the mountains for most of the time we were there. It also seemed a lot less humid, I guess because we were in and out of the cool water. The water was slightly colder than pool water, but still comfortable enough that you could stay in it all day without really feeling cold.
At the end of the hike back we were all a little tired and ready to head back and change out of our swim clothes.
When we got back Rebecca and I grabbed a curry to share. It was pretty good curry, but Rebecca makes really good curry. It was fun to have the different things in it.
Later as we went out we got a couple mango slush drinks with the chew bubbles in them. I think I am the only one who likes the bubbles though. I love being able to chew on them while you drink. For me, it keeps the flavor in my mouth longer. Rebecca says for her it just takes up space from the yummy fruit flavor. Besides mango flavor, we have also tried the papaya.
On one of our walking routes we see this shirt every day. It says "And does anyone feel the way no?" A lot of people have shirts that have English on them, but the English is either doesn't make sense or sometimes is inappropriate. When it is inappropriate, I think the Taiwanese people don't really realize it is. For example, you will see old ladies in their 80s and 90s wearing shirts that have swear words on them or that talk about inappropriate things.
Here was our dinner. The top dish is the pig intestines, then the next on on the right was the beef scallions (my favorite), then the next one in the middle the barbecue (I just spelled that word with a "q" and Christian corrected me and told me it is a "c". Smarty pants.) meat, then the last one on the left is the minced port (Rebecca's favorite). You can also see some the rice bowls with the different dishes in them.
It was a really unique restaurant. Small and out of the way so it was really quiet. And then they had a lot of older maybe 60s type decorations on the walls? Rebecca said that she read that this is the place the Taiwanese take their grandparents when they come to visit because of the traditional foods.
We asked to use the bathroom and they said it was on the side of the building. The squatter did have a door, but the urinal just had a current with a split in the middle. The boys and I did give it a try. That reminds me too. The first time Agnes used a squatter in Taiwan she came out and said she is a Chinese girl now.
Don't worry, he is not really going. I wouldn't get a picture of that.
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