Days 46 & 47 - Soaking In The Hot Springs Town Of Beitou, And Conclusions From The Long Walk South In Taiwan

 

Days 46 & 47 - Soaking In The Hot Springs Town Of Beitou, And Conclusions From The Long Walk South In Taiwan

Some say that life is a dream.

Others say that life is a game.

Either way, we must devote time and effort to understand and solve the serious problems of life and death, to understand this world and the world beyond death…. 

During this pilgrimage, I did devote a lot of time and effort to contemplating the question of life and death.

During long walks in difficult weather conditions, it is only natural to have questions rise up in your mind, about why, for what purpose, I am doing this.

It is easy to just enjoy yourself without questioning, when you’re having a fabulous time and enjoying the scenery in great weather.

Anyone going out for a pleasant walk between charming villages with beautiful nature all around, can answer the questions of why and for what purpose.

“I am going out for a walk because the weather is fabulous and it would be a shame to waste such a glorious day indoors”!

“I am going out for a walk because there is such amazing scenery and by walking, I can smell the flowers, take in the beauty and see more details between the trees”!

“I am going out for a walk because during walking, I feel calm, my mind slows down and my body feels strong and alive”!

“I am going out for a walk because walking is a great form of exercise and has much less impact on the body than running”!

Well…. Most of those answers were not applicable during this pilgrimage.

The scenery was mostly urban streets full of cars and service shops, until the last week, when we walked through the beautiful Kenting National Park area.

There is no doubt that Taiwan is a safe country.

Not just for walkers and cyclists, but also to live in and to visit.

Almost everywhere in Taiwan we saw kids or single women walking alone in dark alleys or going for a run in dark parks.

We really felt very safe everywhere.

All around the country, there are  designated cycling lanes, which made walking much easier, even where there wasn’t a sidewalk or a walking path.

We never worried about theft, often leaving money and our passports in our rooms, or in bags we left behind, which we never do in our travels around the world.

It is not only us who were not worried about theft.

Other people clearly didn’t expect to be robbed.

On the weekends, when the Starbucks cafes are fully occupied without a single seat available, people often leave their computers and phones on their tables, and go to eat lunch and return to the Starbucks to study for the afternoon, never worrying about their phones or computers or bags being stolen while they were gone.

It is really amazing.

People are mostly honest and helpful.

I have observed many times when people displayed great integrity and honesty, where they could have easily been dishonest and gotten away with it.

It warmed my heart to see that they didn’t.

The whole world needs more honest people like we saw in Taiwan.

Overall, the people seemed happy.

They seemed to be happy with their lives, happy to enjoy the little things in life, like food, family, their friends, their jobs, their craft, their holidays, etc.

Often, after walking long pilgrimages in Japan, I am happy to leave the country, feeling like the people’s unhappiness slowly is sipping into my own veins.

I am grateful to go on to Bali or Thailand, where people are happy and smiling and enjoying the little things that make up their lives.

Not so this time.

I am not leaving Taiwan feeling sad.

The people here are often cheerful and happy.

The path that we walked on, was not so challenging or difficult.

The only difficulty came from the hot weather.

We have never before walked in 100 degree weather (109 degrees with the heat index).

This has been the hottest pilgrimage we have ever walked.

On one hand, I am glad that we had the experience.

If someone had asked me before we started, if I would sign up to walk 45 days in extreme heat, I would have said no!

I would not have signed up for this kind of challenge.

It is OK with me NOT to know whether I can walk in extreme heat.

But now I know that we CAN.

It’s funny that now, after the last typhoon crossed the island, the weather has become so nice, and even a little cool!

It would have been fabulous to start walking this pilgrimage now, at the beginning of November, instead of in September.

The city of Beitou looked a bit scruffy after the typhoon.

All over the streets there were fallen trees and branches, scooters and bicycles, and lanterns that flew into the road.

There were crews of people cleaning the streets and a festival was being held near the old train station in Xin- Beitou.

We had switched hotels to a more centrally located resort, which was very elegant and with different quality hot springs.

Instead of sulphuric waters, it had softer minerals in the hot baths, which have less of a sulfurous smell.

The fridge in our room was filled with a selection of free face masks and high quality teas.

The resort’s public pools were empty, because each room has a private hot springs bath, and even though I had my own bath, I chose to enjoy the bigger ones downstairs.

The lady at the check-in counter at the entrance to the baths, who gave us towels, clasped her hands in happiness when she saw us again.

There was real happiness and joy on her face.

I don’t remember when we were greeted so warmly when we stayed multiple days in a hot springs hotel.

The festival in Beitou was a big affair.

People came from Japan and there were dances, music, performances and displays of kimonos and hats.

There were also booths of arts and crafts, food and local hotels advertising their resorts and offering incentives for those who wanted to book future stays.

It was a fun weekend in Beitou.

We strolled around, visited the local weekend market, ate delicious food, visited the festival, soaked in the hot springs, visited some sights and celebrated the end of our pilgrimage.

Next, we will return to central Taipei and get reunited with our luggage and diving gear.

After walking around with just a few changes of clothes in our backpacks, and feeling light, it now feels like we have packed so much more stuff than we needed in our suitcases.

But I really prefer my own equipment to dive with. 

The diving equipment available for rental is not great in most of the remote places we go to, and I am looking forward to spending some restful days on the beaches and under the waters of Bali.

With love,

Tali