Roughing It

This weekend, Richard decided we would pack up and head down to Miao Li County to stay with his friend who owns a car repair shop in Taipei.  His friend had told us that their house had "Everything you need".  I really should have followed my instinct and packed the kitchen sink, but ever-optimistic as I am, I took 2 sleeping bags, 2 towels, and a change of clothes for myself and the two kids.  And I threw in four toothbrushes and some antiseptic cream just to be on the safe side.  Packed and ready, we headed on the road trip.

We left at 11:30, right before lunch.  Luckily, I had packed bananas for the kids, as the trip was not just over an hour, but almost two and a half.  We arrived just before 2pm.  When we got to the door, Lao Jiao welcomed us with some oranges from his orchard.  Richard found some herbs outside and made up a tea for the kids.  Then we went on a hike up the hills behind the house.  It was just lovely, with views of beautiful trees, orchards, and a clear river flowing along below the road.  Richard and Lao Jiao picked some wild vegetables.  Kyle and Hannah played with the flowers growing along the side of the road, and Hannah and I kicked stones down the hill.  Then, the kids and I walked with Lao Jiao's girlfriend to worship the Local Earth God at the little temple.  About six o'clock, we had a dinner.  Richard handled the lack of meat very well, I thought.  We had a great variety of locally harvested and wild vegetables.  The children really enjoyed it, especially Kyle the vegetarian-in-training.

After dinner, it was decided that we would head on the "Short trip" to the hotsprings.  The kids were excited to be going.  Unfortunately, the trip to the springs was an hour, and both kids passed out in the van before we go there.  There were no rooms available at the "purest" hot spring resort, and we couldn't find anything to satisfy the budget or quality standard.  The private rooms were 300TWD per room, which is more than we pay in Taipei.  So, we headed back to the house to sleep, arriving after 10pm.

The children didn't really wake up even as we moved them into the room to sleep.  It was really freezing in the room, and I realised I hadn't packed pillows or enough blankets. So, Kyle was dressed in all his clothes and then had my sleeping bag, and Hannah and I shared the bedding.  It had been a long time since I had last felt that chill right through to my bones. Hannah curled into the fetal position, stating, "I can't cuddle you, mummy. I am TOO COLD!"  So I gave her another of the sleeping bags.  About 4am, Richard came in with another blanket for us, but it really was a little late for me.

It was all OK, though, upon waking up to the glorious sun shining on the mountains and trees.  And a cup of Lao Jiao's freshly brewed coffee, taken outside in the sunshine, sure helped, too.  We had a breakfast of rice porridge and vegetables, then headed off to see a friend who was harvesting rice.

When we arrived at the plot of land, most of the rice had been harvested, but the children got to see the machine in action.  They also got to play in the remaining stalks in the rice paddies, building castles and throwing them at some older kids.  The hostess had prepared a few plates of food for us, and we chatted with the other people who had come along.  One of the women there is a member of the Taiwan bird society, and gave Kyle and Hannah a book each: 100 common birds of Taiwan.  It's bilingual, and priced at only a little over 100TWD - something I have been looking for for several years.  They run free classes over the holidays, and I hope I can take the kids to an outing or two during winter break.

Hannah and Kyle also got to pick sunflowers and other plants around the rice paddies.  Then, we headed to Yinge, where the Ceramics museum and the old street for buying ceramics is.  It's hard to believe I have been in Taiwan for 15 years, and that was my first trip to Yinge.  After walking round for some time, Richard bought some bowls for our cottage.  Kyle was a bit upset, having been "tricked".  "You said you were taking us to PLAY!  We are only buying things.  This is not fun. This is not playing!"  I spent some time explaining that they really are lucky enough to do all these things and not go to any school on the weekend, but I don't think Kyle is fully convinced that we were showing them a good time!

About 6:30 on Sunday, we came back to the cottage.  As the kids had not brushed their teeth or had showers for two days, they were delighted to shower at our home.  When the soap was washed off, Kyle let out a big sigh of contentment.  And, it's the first time I think Hannah has volunteered to brush her own teeth!

And there it was, our weekend adventure over.  Gotta love it!