The Call to Adventure: Apotheosis

"....a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return."

-Wikipedia

"Those who know, not only that the Everlasting lies in them, but that what they, and all things, really are is the Everlasting, dwell in the groves of the wish fulfilling trees, drink the brew of immortality, and listen everywhere to the unheard music of eternal concord."

-Joseph Campbell

Apotheosis. Perfect description for our little trip to Green Island. It was the most peaceful, beautiful, thrilling, enchanting, educational, and just marvelous place I have been yet. The perfect place for that "rest, peace and fulfillment" that I needed before the "return." Which brings me to this fact: we have passed our halfway mark and are officially starting the countdown. It weird to think that I have now lived here longer than the amount of time I have left. Dear Taiwan: You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead...

And so, to the beginning of our Green Island Adventure! Our journey begins in the futuristic metro station of the beautiful city of Kaohsiung. I've mentioned before how this MRT is a glimpse of the future and here it is:

So clean, so classy, so sleek, so scifi. If this truly is the future I welcome it warmly.

After our train ride from Kaohsiung to Taitung where we caught our ferry to the Island of Fantasy. I don't know if I've ever mentioned the fact that Taiwan is a country full of Yankee's fans. It is. Many of my students have their little Yankee's jerseys they wear on occasion. And here we have a game being played on our ferry to Green Island. I felt right at home instantly :) It's nice to be surrounded by supporters rather than the people in Utah who like to follow the crowd of Yankee hating because it's trendy to dislike them... good ol' Taiwan.

Here we have the whole gang ready for a serious ferry ride to our happy destination. Little did we know that a serious ferry ride was exactly what we were in for...

People warned us of sea sickness but of course we were skeptical. We would be fine. It's just a little ferry ride. Well, we were proved wrong pretty instantly. Almost as soon as the ferry departed we were rudely awakened by the VERY bumpy ride. Needless to say we did not stay seated for very long. It certainly was an adventure to get out on the deck of the boat. But it was worth it. I have never seen the big blue wet thing so big and blue and wet before :)

Once we were safely on solid ground again, we rented our scooters and headed out with the rest of the island's population to fill up our tanks at the only gas station on the island...

This is the line for gas.... and just a few hours later when we drove by again, it was completely empty.

After we drove around the Island for a bit we made our way to the snorkel shop where they take snorkeling safety very seriously. Here is Annalisa and Tricia in their full wet suits...
And Miss Kailey and myself.....
But we were just getting started. After the wet suits came the water socks and the life jackets. There would not be any snorkel accidents on this island. No sir.

But as if the wet suits, water socks, and life vests weren't enough, they then took us out in little groups tied together holding on to flotation devices. This is probably what we looked like being lugged around by our "instructor."

Despite the whole experience being overly controlled and cautious, it actually was quite amazing. The fish were remarkable. I can't even believe how many colors were to be found in that little coral reef. I wish I had had a waterproof camera....but it would not have done it justice. If nothing else, this excursion taught me that I REALLY want to become SCUBA certified when I get home.

After the snorkel, we drove around some more, pausing here and there to eat a tea egg or just enjoy the general splendor...

View from behind the 7-11....
A nice little scenic spot we came across....
Kailey is a champion.
Literally everywhere you looked there was intense beauty. I now understand the term "devastating beauty."
And here are two prime examples of what I'm talking about...
Haha. I've probably looked at this picture a hundred times. Both of our faces are ridiculous. It just brings me so much satisfaction... but do you think Columbus was worried about if he looked good when he discovered the new world??? NO! So why should we be?

Scooters are the best.
Do not fret. I did in fact drive the scooter too. It wasn't just Kailey. It's just a lot easier to take pictures when you're not driving...

That's how I was able to catch shots such as this....

After exploring for awhile, we settled down to watch the sun set over the ocean...

There really aren't words to describe it so i'll let the pictures do the talking....

And what does one do when surrounded by such beauty? Yoga, of course....
Dinner that night was at this fabulous all you can eat BBQ place.
I love how they do BBQ's here. At this restaurant you go pick up all of your meat and veggie's and what not and then bring it back to your table where you BBQ it yourself on a little grill in the middle of the table. The process takes a couple of hours but it is a lot of fun.

They had some interesting meat to BBQ as well. Such as the chicken heart...
Here is a nice little view of our BBQ experience...

And of course, the worlds most exotic food: rice soaked in pig's blood. Yum.
You know, once you get passed the initial shock of what you are eating, it really doesn't taste that odd. Not too bad actually.

It was while we were enjoying our little dinner that the torrential rains set in. We soon learned that there were a couple of impending typhoons forming in the seas surrounding us. Of course a typhoon would hit when we were stuck on a small island right? Well do not fret, it really never got too bad. We were still able to enjoy all the beauties of the island...we were just a little soggy the whole time. To be honest, the wetness just added to the experience. Not to mention, I did get to break out my classy poncho.

After dinner we set out for our hostel in the pouring rain. It didn't seem too bad at first but it got pretty ferocious towards the end of our journey. Once again I wish we had someone there to document this event because I'm sure Kailey and I were quite the scene as we sloshed along on our scooter, trying to keep up with Trisha and Anna. The rain became so fierce at one point that I ended up reaching my arms our Kailey to shield her eyes from the rain so she could see to drive. Quite the sight to see I am sure.

And of course, what would a true island experience be without a Dharma Initiative van?

While i'm referencing LOST let me pause here to say that Green Island is to Karyn as The Island is to John Locke. I understand his love for it now. It all makes sense now.

After wandering around in the rain, we finally surrendered to the weather and decided to head in. We were all quite wet by this time as you can tell by Kailey and Anna wringing the water our of their shirts before we went inside...
All we wanted to do was shower and dry off. Luckily the hostel did provide a towel for each of us...
Yes that is a towel. And yes I did eventually get dry. And then Kailey accidently sprayed me with the shower handle while we were brushing our teeth. There was much laughter that night.

Despite the towel deficiencies, our hostel was quite lovely. We were pleasantly surprised to find this on the ceiling when we turned out the lights...
Black light and white glowy paint. Very clever. Do not be surprised if my children's bedrooms have something like this in them one day. Coolest night light EVER.

One of the main hot spots on Green Island is the Hot Springs. There are only three places on this earth with hot springs that mix with the ocean (well, that are accessible to the public at least, I'm sure there are many others that are beyond our reach.) They are located in Italy, Japan, and of course, Green Island, Taiwan. As a fan of hot springs, I have visited several cultivated ones and natural ones in my little life. Those were all nothing compared to the grandness of the Green Island hot springs. We went, on supposed "local secret," very early in the morning, so as to watch the sunrise as we basked in the warm water. Turns out it wasn't so secret. Many other people had the very same idea. And I don't blame them. It was amazing just sitting there watching the surrounding beauty slowly emerge from the darkness of the night. It was almost as if I had forgotten the beauty I had noticed on the island the day before and I was completely reborn to it. It's amazing how just seeing something at a different time of day or circumstance of weather completely alters your perceptions of what surrounds you.
The architecture of this place was beautiful as well. The Asian's truly know how to use the nature surrounding their structures to enhance their buildings. By doing so their structures reflect and compliment everything around them. I think it's this aspect of their design that reminds me so much of Myst....

This is the gateway to the natural springs that mix with the ocean waves...
Anna and I at 5:30 in the morning. Beautiful mornings like this one really make me consider becoming a morning person...
And here we have the hot springs themselves...
Yes it is that cool in real life... if not more so. I just wish I could share the actual experience with you all instead of just pictures....

See, it's quite the hoppin' place in the early morn... I think my favorite part of this picture is the speedo guy in the background. It would not e complete without him...
We soon noticed that several people had brought eggs with them to the springs. And why else would they bring them but to boil them in the natural spring waters! In this picture you can kind of see people gathered around a little spot for egg cooking....
What a clever way to utilize the springs. Next time I will bring eggs for sure.

We did eventually venture down to the natural springs, but they were not very hot, at least on the surface, because the waves were mixing so much with them.... They were lovely though.

I love this picture of Tricia...

Me giving the waters a test...
I thought this spot was pretty cool too. You can see the waves of the ocean breaking against the edge of the pool...
After the hot springs, we followed a little pathway up a hill to this lovely little look out...
If anyone would like to join me up there someday to watch the sun rise you are certainly welcome. It WILL happen.

And it was a bit windy up there...
Green Island is known for the oh so beautiful and graceful sika deer. Unfortunately the deer preservation was closed while we were there... but we did get to meet a few of them yet.... apparently they make good pets?
I have never before fully appreciated the beauty of these simple creatures... I completely understand the animagus's and patronus's of the Potter family now. I would be honored if the sika deer chose to be my spirit animal...
Deer weren't the only unusual animals we found randomly tied up on this island either. As we continued on our circuit around the island we came across several goats tied up to random posts along the roadside. Here's one....

And two....

And three.... we decided that perhaps they were mile markers....? Just another one of the mysteries of the island i suppose...

As we scooted around the island we couldn't help but turn it into a little game of Mario Kart. Green Island=Koopa Beach= dream come true. Here you see Kaylee giving a victorious fist pump after a successfully thrown red shell....

One of the sights of wonder on the lovely little island is the "Little Great Wall." It is nothing more than an incredible look out point but it is designed to resemble the Great Wall of China.

And indeed, at a distance, it does... this is the part of the journey where I entered the realm of Mulan.
I must say we do kind of look like ferocious Huns laying siege on the Great wall....
The view from the wall was spectacular indeed....
Once again we found ourselves in the midst of a wild wind. While at the top of the look out we were overtaken by a fierce rain storm. As we made our way back down, however, the rains calmed down once again... It seems as though the storm was confined to the hill top. It did provide opportunity for a few good photos though...
As we ventured on our way we came across a cave. I must admit this cave was unlike any cave I have seen before. But not because of it's grandness. Oh, no. It was different in it's presentation. I got the feeling that they aimed to make it much more than a simple small cave by turning it into some sort of shrine....
The path was small and the cave was not very deep, but as I came across a rather large and frightening spider, I quickly proclaimed it Shelob's Lair and made my way out without hesitation...
It really was a small cavern, but they certainly made the most of it.
Our journey commenced and we continued enjoying the delights of the scenery around us...
We paused for a little walk in this meadow on the shore. It was quite possibly my favorite spot on the island. I was once again overcome with the irresistible feeling of familiarity. It was a very similar to what was felt at a very small and quiet meadow unexpectedly found in southern Utah. And so it was that I found myself, again, in Narnia...
As if from a dream...

These pictures and my weak descriptions just don't do it justice.

If I were to pick one spot to define the moment of "Apotheosis," this would be it.

It was ideal in every particular. Right down to the wild goats grazing mere feet away from us in the meadow.

And as if what we had yet seen was not enough, we were able to get quite close to some very large swells in the ocean.

So powerful and so overwhelming. If nothing else, Taiwan has showed me that I am very much an ocean child.

And then came the part of the journey that appeals to any sort of anthropologist: ruins. Here we have a delicate remains of a rather old prison sight.
So intriguing.
And after the ancient ruins came the more modern ones. Green Island used to be a very prominent location for political prisons. The history contained in these walls is absolutely fascinating.
Eerie....
The Prison has since become a memorial to those confined there and a museum in it's own way. Of course they did hold me captive for a few hours time....

And Kailey was put in a padded cell...

She did escape and ran rampaging about until she had freed all of the inmates from their cells...
Except for one....
But of course I used my keen intellect and jedi mind tricks to weasel my way out of holding.

The lovely Chinese characters on the rocks behind me condemn communistic rule. I thought they were quite lovely...
We heard there was a wax museum so we decided to check it out. The figures were not quite the Marilin Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Justin Timberlake we Americans seem to expect from their wax designers. Instead they were very convincing depictions of prisoners....
Just trying to see what he was reading...

Meanwhile Kailey was being creeped on by another prisoner...
Anna found pleasure in this guys tunes...
And Tricia was trying to converse with this man but he wasn't having any of it...
And of course, it wouldn't be an accurate depiction of a prison bunker without this...
To finish up our tour around the island we made our way to the lighthouse....
One day I will live in a lighthouse. It's in my fantasy journal and everything.

This view of the island is the perfect example of how Green Island is Koopa Beach...

The beach was not the type of beach you lay out on and enjoy the soft warm sand, however. It was completely made up of broken up pieces of coral. I confess it added to my admiration of the place...

Here's a little piece of heart shaped coral conveniently placed to express my feelings of this place...
As our journey came to it's end, we packed up and made our way to the ferry. I found the most convenient way to carry my baggage was to sport the pregnant hunch back look. Quite fashionable I must say...
And of course, back on the time travel train. This time, however, we were unable to get seats so we found a few places to squat down for the six hour journey ahead of us...
Despite our misfortune in the seating arrangement, our train ride was not too terribly unpleasant. We met some great people on the train who were very friendly and happy to make our acquaintance. For instance, an older couple surprised us by giving us all these handmade pencils they crafted while in Taitung. They were made from branches of Taiwanese plum trees that had branches from Japanese plum trees grafted onto them. They said they had a few extras and wanted to share them with us so as to unite three countries: Taiwan, Japan, and America. I only wish I could have really spoken to them in Chinese so I could have gotten to know them better. That is my greatest vexation in this little country. More than anything I wish I could get to know the people better by talking to them fluently in their own language rather than broken forms of both English and Chinese... Oh well, I guess it just means I'll have to return after I have taken a few classes in Mandarin.....

And that concluded our incredible adventure to that lovely little island. Apotheosis: you have treated me well indeed.