Wulai 烏來

(Really, really late!)

This one is very late! I usually try to update the blog once every ten days or so (now), so that each month has three updates- but it looks like September will just have to be sad. :-)

Part of the reason I'm so late is because several things have been happening.  For instance, our good friend Jerry took off for Tainan two weeks ago now in preparation for his substitute military service. He was sad to leave, and a bit nervous about the future, but it's a temporary thing and he knows it- in a year he'll have satisfied the requirements and it'll be behind him. He didn't want a real going-away party, so instead we decided to have a special dinner, just the four of us roommates. 

Joel cooked! Hooray Joel!

Not only did Joel cook, he cooked really well. He made us a seafood dinner- crab and shrimp over rice with sweet potato greens. Not only was it delicious, it was cheap too- all of the ingredients were Taiwanese, and like everything else only imported food is expensive. We four ate this amazing meal for just over $12!

But sadly, no amount of food could keep Jerry from leaving the next morning. He boarded the southbound train at 10 am, off to face his challenge.

Although some people are leaving, we've recently gotten an influx of 外國人 (foreigners) to balance things out. About ten new people have joined up in the last few weeks, and the ministry groups have really benefited from their hard work!

The group last Saturday

And since we have so many new people here, we decided to take a group trip to the nearby village of Wulai 烏來, to show off the countryside a little more. One of our sisters, Alix, has been here over a month and said she had yet to leave Taipei City! Then again, I forget how long I had been here when I took my first trip outside of the range of the metro...

Anyway, we left last Sunday afternoon, after the meeting, and arrived at right around 3 pm. The weather has been cooling down lately, thankfully, so although it was still hot it wasn't the sauna it has been for the last few months.

Wulai Bridge

I've mentioned Wulai before in the blog, so I won't go into too much detail about its history- basically, it's an Aboriginal village that accepted foreign culture and worked with the Chinese, and later the Japanese, and now the Chinese again, rather than be conquered and dispersed like some of the tribes. Nowadays, it's kind of a low-key resort town for the people of Taipei- nothing fancy, but definitely has a touristy air about it. Not many foreigners know about it, and in fact our group of 14 people may be the most foreigners Wulai has ever had at one time!

So many foreigners!

We first took a hike around the hillsides, enjoying the scenery and beautiful temperature. Right now Jessica Bennet has her family visiting us, including her 14 year old younger brother, Josh, who was incredibly excited about everything. He especially loved the precipitous jungle-covered mountains surrounding the river- he said it looked like something out of a kung-fu movie!

I kinda see what he means...

After we crossed the bridge, we split into two groups- some of us, mostly those who had been to Wulai many times, wanted to get straight to the hot springs and river. The others, and myself and Nikolai, decided to hike up to the waterfall and small village first, then wander back down to the river.

Hey guys!

The waterfall was pretty impressive this time- unfortunately, all my pictures of it are blurry. :-/ Still, the town was fun. We ate ice cream and traditional food, checked out all the handcrafts...

Rode dog statues...

...you know, all that kind of stuff.

Another thing I mentioned earlier about Wulai was their very odd kind of alcohol- made out of bees. Not honey, actual bees.

The beemaster himself!

That guy standing behind his crop is in fact the man who makes the booze. We chatted him up a little bit, and learned quite a bit about his strange passion! Apparently, he makes three different kinds of... what am I gonna call it? He said 蜜蜂酒, which literally is "bee alcohol"... Wasp Whiskey. Nice ring to it. Anyway, he makes three kinds of Wasp Whiskey- one is made from flying bees that he gets out of trees, somehow, the other is made of a kind of burrowing bee that he digs out of the ground, and the last is made of bee larva. Once he has a few handfuls of live bees, he sticks them into a bottle- again, somehow- and pours millet wine over them, causing them to drown and die. Then he puts his concoction aside for six months, and once the normally clear wine has turned a pale yellowish color it's ready to drink. He may be slightly insane.

But if he is insane, at least it's a nice insane, because he gave us all free shots to sample some of his work!

Anica, the Wasp Whiskey connoisseur

You know what, it actually wasn't bad. It was spicy and a little smoky, although it had a bit of a rough aftertaste. He says it's really good for your joints and skin, which, you know, maybe. More importantly, me and Anica working together managed to bully most of our group into trying some, which was hilarious. I asked the man if I could buy a bottle, but he said the bottle he let us sample was his last one ready to drink- come back in two months and he'll have more. I guess business is pretty good?

(Side note: Bees don't have blood, they have ichor, so they don't need to be bled before consumption. So drinking alcohol made by drowning bees is totally fine, at least Scripturally.)

After we'd all had some Wasp Whiskey, and then gotten rid of the taste with some ice cream (not bee-flavored), we finally headed down to the riverside to enjoy the hot springs. It was really nice, alternately fun and relaxing! After the sun set, those who dared attempted to copy the Nordic custom of getting into the hottest water possible, waiting a few minutes, then diving straight into the icy cold water. I agreed not to post any pictures of anyone in swimsuits online... so I won't. Use your imagination. :-)

Instead, here's the lights of Wulai reflecting off the dark water.

Eventually, though, it was getting late, so we caught the last bus back into Taipei.

Good times!

The festivities haven't stopped, either- tomorrow, we're all going to Taipei Zoo after the meeting. Sunday Funday anyone? :-)

Also, for anyone interested, a small announcement: I will be going back to America for a short visit between October 13th and October 29th, so during that time there probably won't be any updates. I'll post something afterwards, though- I know that many of you reading don't actually live in America, and maybe you're interested in what it's like? But next week should have an update like normal.