Beitou Hot Springs

Man, I can't sleep. So here's another story (no pictures) about our trip to Taipei.

On Saturday morning we went to a public hot springs in Beitou, kind of a suburb of Taipei. Had to go to the public hot spring because the private ones are mostly naked... It turned out to be a really nice place. 40 NT (just over $1 to get in) and you didn't have to wear a bathing cap (which you have to wear everywhere here). The water seemed to come straight from the source and there were 4 hot pools that got cooler the closer you went (I got into the second-hottest and got out as quick as I could). It was a pleasant setting- lots of trees and stuff around- and wasn't overly crowded.

One of the funniest lines of our trip happened when I was chatting in Chinese about where we're from, where I live, etc, and this guy asks me something in Chinese. I understood good, and VietNam, and something about work, but I didn't get the whole gist of things, so a lady translated: "He wants to know, is it advantageous to operate a factory in Vietnam now." I was like, I really don't know. I just teach English.

The lady turned out to be very nice- explained to me the levels of hotness, and how to enjoy them the most. She said they water was a little acidic and knowing that as helpful. She and her husband live part-time in San Francisco.