The flight arrives early in Taipei. It is 5:00 AM as we walk through the airport dragging our luggage behind us. We are exhausted. But we have planned for this. We have a car to take us to Beitou, a district just north of Taipei famous for its Hot Springs. I have booked ……….wait for it ……… a rather glamorous hotel. What other sort of hotel would I book? It is in the picturesque, wooded hills above the town, with its own onsen (the traditional Japanese hot springs). We will soak in the hot springs today and be on our way tomorrow – it seemed the perfect way to recover from jet lag.
As we arrive at the Hotel, we can smell the sulfur. Fortunately, it is not the full-on rotten eggs smell, but it is there, the side effect of the hot springs, lingering in the humid air of Beitou.
The hotel, like its onsen, is heavily influenced by Japanese design, all sleek, elegant and minimalist,
The Fabulosity Meter starts ringing immediately.
But shuts down just as quickly when it sees the Chinese New Year decorations
The room is lovely, and the bed looks inviting, so the first thing we do is take a nap!
We wake up at 8.30 and go down for breakfast. There are two choices, a traditional Taiwanese breakfast, or a traditional Western breakfast. And that is it. No descriptions, just the two choices. We have no idea what a Taiwanese breakfast is, so we go for the Western. The restaurant is in the Michelin guide, so we are excited to see what we get. It arrives all at once on a tray that is placed infront of us.
Now dear readers, I do love Japanese design, and I am a fan of minimalism, but the breakfast spread is taking it too far
We wait for whatever is to follow. But there is nothing. We ask if we could have something else and they offer us another bread roll.
I have no idea where in the western world these people went for breakfast, but it clearly wasn’t Denny’s.
It doesn’t take long to eat breakfast! So now it is time to enjoy the onsen.
The island of Taiwan is famous for its hot springs. Most of them are aimed at families, with big swimming pools and hot tubs. But this one is adults only designed like a Japanese onsen. There are two separate ones, one for men and one for women.
In our room there are two traditional antique outfits that we were instructed to wear when we went to the onsen.
We put them on. Oh dear. Not my best look –
It has clearly been laundered many times, making me very aware of the many antique traditional Taiwanese men who have worn them before me. I never liked shopping in thrift stores (charity shops to the English) and this reminds me why.
I feel a little unclean and even more than a little foolish, as we make our way to the elevator and head down to the onsen. We are given keys to a locker where we have to leave our fabulous outfits and enter the olsen stark naked.
Another look that is not my best.
But I needn’t have worried. There must be a rule that you have to be overweight and over 65 to enter.
There are 4 separate baths, ranging in temperature from too bloody hot to too bloody cold. Each one has at least one naked overweight wrinkled old man in it. I consider becoming a heterosexual.
But it is a little late for that.
I put my foot into the too bloody hot bath and take it out immediately. It is bright red.
I try the next one. It is hot but not too hot.
Perfect
I sit down on the ledge provided and close my eyes.
One more naked overweight wrinkled old man.
Andrews Fabulous Travel Blog 