Last Day in Taiwan

What a break!  Our indefatigable friend and leader, Prof. Mei-Hsin Wang, gave us until 8:45 Saturday morning to meet for breakfast.  Into downtown Taipei on the MRT's Danshui line and then onto another line to take us to the Maokong Gondola where we rode up the mountain to visit the Chih Nan Temple complex.

Amazing detail and lacquer work in service to multiple deities (although the main god is still ticked off at his girlfriend for dumping him when his spirit took over the body of an ugly lame beggar).  Not equal to the carvings in the Dilwara Jain Temple in Mount Abu but quite extraordinary nonetheless.

Then down the mountain and a one-hour ride visit the Wulai Village, an aboriginal community that traces its origins to Polynesia.  The Han people have largely displaced Taiwan’s aborigines over the last several hundred years and today they number only several hundred thousand of Taiwan’s total population of 23 million.

Some Wulai folk put on a high-energy stage show three times a day--a bit cheesy IMHO.  But a several hundred foot waterfall, hot springs (no time for a dip, sadly), and the all-around mountain ambiance make this a worthwhile tourist trap.