THE KELLERMANS OF TAIWAN

I was happy to leave Kenting, and we got away early in the morning to catch a train to Taitung in the southeast. The train took us right around the southern coastline which was very pleasant. Unfortunately the train ride came to and end and we were forced to continue with our adventure.



G had found a good online deal on a room at the "Luminous Hotspring Resort and Spa" a resort about half an hour from Taitung. Hotsprings are a big deal in Taiwan, and although there are still a few public springs free of charge, in all hotspring areas you can find an astounding number of hotels and spas.

It was a rather surreal experience, I suppose at some point during what turns out to be a nightmare of a holiday, you just have to sit back and laugh. This moment probably occurred for me right here when we were greeted by these cardboard cut outs. Does the one on the left look a little familiar to you (lei excluded of course)??

The place had a mildly Hawaiian theme, it was enormous, I counted 70 rooms on our floor alone and the place had 7 floors. It was located in a valley in the middle of nowhere and there was absolutely no need to leave the building, in fact there would be no point, as there was nowhere to go. Spa, dining room, recreation center, cafe, gift shop, bike rental, what more could a girl need?

All in all it reminded me of the Kellermans resort, the setting of "Dirty Dancing". Of course, that was the sixties and times have moved on.... except here. I was sad to learn that it is only about 5 years old! Maybe the developer was a movie fan?

The creepiest thing was that although we ascertained at meal times that there were other people staying there, you never ran into anyone. The hotsprings, the pool, lobby, hallways, you hardly ever ran across another guest. The place was just so enormous.

However for all the weird, the highlight of our entire Taiwan adventure was to be found here. The pool. A lap pool with a hot pool at one end. The pools were perfectly heated and to sit in the (mineral) water, looking at the mountains around us was heaven. Especially if you think of all the health benefits from the minerals :)

N.B I hate to be so negative about this trip, but it was the truth. I know that being able to travel is such a privilege and I feel very blessed to have had this year. I think that as New Zealanders we sometimes tend to idealise the whole being overseas thing, expecting that it will always be better than home, but if I have learnt anything, it's that we have it pretty good where we are! I'm looking forward to coming back now, see you on February 25th!