We arrived at a mountain side to find this almost 500 ft. (150m) cave converted into a Buddhist temple known as the Eight Immortals Cave. Seven other caves exist in the area, but this one is the largest. You might not be able to really tell from this view, but our tour guide said the opening to this cave is shaped like a part of a woman's body so many young married couples come here to worship hoping to get pregnant. I read that archaeologists have uncovered various objects from within these caves over time which date back to 25,000 years ago.
Here is a closer look inside the cave where one can come to worship.
These are statues found outside this cave. Sorry, I do not have any information about them other than they are quite eye-catching.
Of all the places I visited while in Taiwan, the Eight-Arch Bridge was the most intriguing. I have never seen a walking bridge with such a unique architecture stretching across the water to another island. The island of Sansientai (translates to Three Immortals Terrace) in the distance is a nature preserve with three large rock formations. Legend says three of the Eight Immortals from Chinese mythology was here; thus, the three rocks.
It is a hike to get onto the bridge as well as the continuous inclining and declining staircase to get over the arches. Unfortunately, we only had time to make it through four arches. The winds got stronger as we moved further away from shore to where it felt like we were walking sideways.
Here you have a better view of the up and down motion of travel. It is a workout before you reach the island, but remember to save some energy to make it back to the mainland.
One of the benefits of traveling is learning about new cultures. The Amis culture is one of many indigenous tribes of Taiwan. To preserve its culture, a folk center was created to share its heritage with others. We stopped here on our tour to listen to a traditional musical performance. From what I read online, the Amis people had a spoken language, but no written language, so many of their history is passed on through folk songs from generation to generation. I uploaded an abbreviated video below so you can hear a sample of their performance.
I did not realize it at first, but soon noticed that this young performer was playing her flute instrument (or tipolo) by blowing it through her nose.
Almost everywhere we went in Taiwan, we encountered what I assumed are stray dogs walking the streets and even some highways. It was a sad sight to see some previously injured and walking on three legs. This one greets us as we returned to our tour bus. He must have gotten used to tourists feeding him.
I walked up onto the bus and looked back at him. He did not move or make a sound even as our bus pulled away. I thought of my dog back at home and thought how spoiled he is while this one isn't so lucky.
