Mud

It's become a sort of paradigm with me that, on days which I actually have something exciting to write about, I have no time in which to write about it. Today is one of those days.

In sum, I went with Karina and her LETs to mud springs, where we got to live out every kindergartener's dream: smear mud all over ourselves.

The trip there was pretty epic itself: we left my apartment at 2pm and got to the springs at 6pm, though we weren't going too far, just a bit north of Tainan; in the process, we used four different forms of communication, including MRT, walking, train (not HSR, just regular train--my first time here!), and car. In addition, both MRT and train cars were more full than we had ever seen them (looked like Taipei!), so we were standing for the entire first portion of the trip.

When we finally did reach the mud springs, though, it was fantastic. They had a bowl of mud and a mirror for you to watch where you smeared the thin, blue-gray mixture all over yourself, and then you entered the mud spring pool, which was already mud-colored and the perfect temperature in which to bask and let the mud do its glorious thing on your skin. Needless to say, a series of wonderful mud-related photos also followed. (Unfortunately, said photos are on Karina's camera, but I'll add them when I can.)

UPDATED 11/18: PHOTOS!

Bekah: "I can't believe I'm actually doing this..."    Karina: "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ACTUALLY DOING THIS!!!"

When we recovered from our childhood ecstasies of playing in mud, we moved on to the other pools (which did not have mud in them), our favorite of which was tinted blue-green and smelled like tea, or lemongrass, or some such herbal mixture. It was heavenly.

After the mud springs, we headed down the most adorably quintessential Chinese/Taiwanese street on a winding street which reminded me, by turns, of Huangshan in China, the area around the Great Wall in China, Kenting in Taiwan, and Maokong in Taipei. (Please note that only one of those links shows what I really mean: a twisty green road with little shops along either side--same at the Great Wall, and also at Maokong, with tea shops.) It was all of these things and none of them, a mystical place shrouded in mist and serving up some delicious roasted chicken and fried rice, once we picked a restaurant. Fabulous.

Well, after all that, our long journey back began; I walked in the doors to my apartment a little after 11:30pm and, of course, I have class tomorrow. So, epic day though it was, that's all for now! It's just one of those days.

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Bonus moment: I've had this song stuck in my head in the best possible way, and feel like sharing it with ya'll: