Tuesday 26th April

After breakfast (with Edna and Dick) we were back on the bus again at 8.30 to go touring. As this was an extra day for us (at no cost to us as China Airlines had cancelled our flight even before we left home).
We travelled through the longest tunnel again (13kms) and it was dark and there was nothing to see.

We arrived at Yilan County and we were told there were mineral springs in most of the hotels.

We arrived at Wufeng qi Waterfall. It was a beautiful place and the waterfall was just something. We took lots of photos and (as far as we went) there were some ladies doing Thai Chi at the Waterfall Viewing Platform. The water just gushes down into the Canyon. The view is wonderful. At the bottom of the waterfall is a natural pond where the water is clean and clear.

We came back down after climbing 541 stairs to the bottom and had a peanut ice cream. It was different and mainly made of ice not ice-cream. They had lots of little stalls where the locals sold fruit and vegetables.

It is a famous scenic area in Jiaosi Township. The name comes from the 5 peaks that line the background of the waterfall which look like a flag from a long way away. Walking up the trail past the Earth God Temple near the entrance, you will reach the waterfall source of foot within the hour.

We got back on the bus and were off the Luodong. In 1914, the Japanese discovered Taiwanese juniper forests on Taiping Mountain and started a lumber business there the following year. The lake was lovely but it had a lot of rubbish, cigarette butts and papers. We couldn't see any garbage bins either. We walked until 12.30 and then we got on the bus to go to our lunch at Dragon Garden.

Lunch was OK but still Asian. We then went off to the National Centre of Traditional Art arriving at 1.15. It was a very big place and was very interesting. Due to the rapid changes in their current society, traditional arts are dying out because there are no people learning these skills. Therefore, in 1995, a proposal for the establishment of a "north Eastern Cultural Arts Park" was changed to a plan for establishing a 'Centre for Traditional Arts' and the Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan was put in charge of this plan.

We saw a ceremony in Taiwanese of a 'wedding'. It was performed by Taiwanese people and a sort of 'ballet'. It was made up of sea life, squid, whales, fish, dolphin, fishermen etc. They were dressed in costumes and the more you looked at them, you could see what they represented. We followed them to the centre stage after they had finished and watched them perform the last of the dance. We sat and had ice creams (in the shade) then went through some shops and saw what they were making and selling. Watched a man making sugar cane lollies. It just melted in your mouth but we found it too late to buy any.

We got back on the bus at 4.30 and going to our Farewell Tea at 4.30/5. Out tea tonight is a Mongolian Style Bar-B-Que and Northeastern Style. It was a very long day.

We arrived at our Restaurant for our tea. It was called Tang Palace but the sign said Tang Kung BBQ. You got a bowl and filled it with what you wanted and they had 2 chefs who cooked it for you on a HUGE bar-b-que. They had pork, chicken, beef, venison, veal, heaps of salads & oils and it was great. Ice cream and fruits for desserts too. The Mongolian Hotpot (I didn't try) but it was made with vegetables and you cooked your own meat in it (for just a minute, and no more).

After tea, we went onto the airport for our flight home. Yippee!! Looking forward to going home but not the flight.

Le tried to get us into the 1st Class lounge to wait for our flight but because we weren't Frequent Flyer's, we weren't allowed. We said goodbye to them and we went and had coffee and just sat and waited until our flight at 11.55pm. It was only 9.20. We ended up going to more comfortable lounge chairs next door but it was so cold with the air conditioning that we went down to our gate, A9 and waited.

Finally our flight was called and we got to the plane for a journey home.