Return to Taiwan Tour 2011 - On the Bus Day 4 - Continuted

We drove out of the Forest Park and back onto the highway

We had lunch reservations at a Aborigine restaurant a few miles south

Can you pronounce the restaurant name?

We walked inside, moving past the wash-up sink.

The entrance to the restaurant dining room.

This sculpture, a man carrying a fish, the theme of the restaurant

A reserved table for another party.

Our table.

Shortly, the beer and food begin to arrive at our table.

This fish was raised on the grounds.  It was tasty, lots of white meat.

The food begin to arrive at our table.

Someone pulled the skin back from the meat of the fish.

The bamboo tub of rice, wild rice, nutty flavor, it was good.  

A large fresh vegetable plate, lots of mixed flavors, a rewarding challenge to your taste buds.

And, plenty of Taiwan beer.

The kitchen sent out a large pan of mixed meat, fish, shell fish and vegetables in hot soup.  The lady then added a number of "hot" stones to the pan which quickly brought the soup mixture to a boil and cooked all of the ingredients.

Everyone was stuffed.  

Flavors not common to most of our palates, but food we all eat in different ways.

The remains of a great meal, the bones of our fish, picked clean.

As we scattered to the rest rooms, we entered another dining room.

This is probably an overflow room or used for larger parties.

Notice the woven ceiling and chairs.  Probably bamboo on the table tops.

Yes, now I see it.

On the way back from the restroom area, the owls are watching.

Too large a piece to take home in a suitcase.

Lots of "stuff" all around the outside of the restaurant.  

Our lunch fish was taken from this pond.

There is a constant replenishing of fresh water, on the left.

Lots of foliage, the lushness of the trees and plants.

I noticed these carvings just inside a room as I was walking along outside the restaurant.

I stepped inside to get this photo.  Nice carvings.

Our bus is waiting, we load and drive a couple of miles to the Hualien Sugar Factory.

Entrance to the old sugar factory area

Photo of the old sugar refinery, now closed.

We all headed to the ice cream shop.
All of the ice cream products are manufactured on site using only local ingredients.

Here are two servings, a cone with scoops of peanut and coconut  and a dish of taro with red beans.   Very tasty and smooth.

Looking toward the ice cream shop, which is located on the other side of the red pavilion under the beige awning.

The folks standing straight across on the other side are in the ice cream shop area.


Other shops in the area.  The green building in the back ground, remains of the refinery.


We spent an hour or so here, eating ice cream and browsing some of the shops.


We loaded up on the bus and got back onto the highway, driving south.

Our next stop, the Tropic of Cancer marker park on Highway 9

Ann is walking toward the marker.  Ted and Shirley already at the top.

Lots of displays up and down the hill.


All along both sides, patio type structures with tables offering visitors a place to escape the elements.

Looking out on another river valley in the distance.  It was beautiful here. 
The photo does not do the scene justice.


Standing close to our bus, L to R, Holly, Twan and our driver.

Another view of the river valley.  Ann and Ted in background.

We're back in the bus, Gene and the driver are sharing a joke.


We're heading toward our day's end destination in Zhiben.

We were talking about the countryside and raising crops as we drove south.


Twan had our driver turn off the highway and drive along some of the beautiful rice fields.

We went down this narrow road, not stopping, just looking out, this was my best photo, rice fields as far as you can see.

As we got close to Zhiben, the weather turned to showers and low clouds.

We arrive at the hotel, got our room keys and took up our bags. 


I'm looking out over the railing of the walkway in front of my room.  It was about 5:00 PM or so. Our hotel was one of the older ones in this area of town.  
There is a river on the other side of those trees along the street.

Looking the opposite direction into the parking lot.


The large tour buses begin to pull in off loading Chinese tourists.


Before long, the lot was full of buses.

The Hot Springs pool area.

The Hot Springs.  

The pool at the far end, with running showers, here in the front, the pool, after having been cleaned, is being refilled with hot spring water.


Some of our group went in for a soak in the pools.

There were soaking tubs in every room with hot spring water.

We had our dinner meal in the hotel dining room.

Everyone was tired and most of us turned-in early.




Tomorrow, we're off for the southern most tip of Taiwan.


We finally see the sun and clear skies.




See you tomorrow.