Yilan Outing

Saturday, the 18th of Oct. we decided to take a trip to City Of Yilan - just to look around...check out the different scenic spots, and of course some of the town's delicacies.... normally it would have taken an hour and a half or two hour drive from Taipei... With the newly constructed and opened tunnel through the mountains - it is not under an hour.... we had a late start so of course, the first stop was to hunt down some local delicacies... a bit of a late lunch / early dinner.... and that WE DID!!!
After satisfying our tummies, we drove on to satisfy our eyes... we decided to drive a bit more to the town of Jiaosi and hike up the mountains to view the famous Waterfalls - Wufongci (5 Peak-Flag)Falls It is the oldest and most famous scenic attraction in Jiaosi... and got it's name from the 5 peaks that line the background of the waterfall which look like a flag from afar.... Within the Peak is the St. Mary's Church and Villa Located at the top of Wufongci Scenic Area, St. Mary's Villa is considered by Catholic pilgrims as a sacred place. Legend has it that, Mother Mary once appeared to 5 climbers in the St. Mary's Pavilion here helping them to safely descend the mountain. In order to remember and pay gratitude to Mother Mary, an outside Grotto with a statue of her was erected on the side of the pavilion.
After the hike and with the sun having set already, we drove down to the town center, which is running amok with Hot Springs, after Hot Springs... this MUST be the Hot Springs capital of Taiwan...The Jiaosi Hot Springs won their fame early on during the Qing Dynasty when they were known as the "Tangwei Hot Springs", and were selected by Wu, Jhu-Fan, the Qing Dynasty Kavalan Magistrate, as one of the "8 most scenic spots in Yilan". On this crowded weekend, we were LUCKY enough to have been able to at least, soak our tired feet to some really soothing Hot Springs... Across the street from where we soaked our feet, Fried Tofu and Bing Tahui was calling us... the laoban (owner) was soooo kind, and must have taken a liking to us, we were treated to a lot of freebies... I seem to think that he wanted us to sit there as long as we can in order to attract more people to sit and dine.. and it worked as more and more people came... the laoban also took his time to chat up with us... told us some town history and told us of the many places to check out, and best hot springs to go to... notes for when we return, and he is so sure we will....

Heading on to the nite market for some more delicacies before heading back to Taipei, we came across a bakery super crowded with people -- we of course, had to pop in and check out all the commotions... and we were treated to some really nice Cold Tea and slices of different muffins and sweets... all courtesy of the shop... SUPER NICE and GENEROUS shop.... all in all, the township of Jiaosi, we have concluded, is a very KIND and GENEROUS town....