Green Island: Hot Springs and Snorkeling

Hot Springs: The first two nights on the island, we thought it best to take it easy and relax in the hot baths (also, we had vouchers to get in for free). Hot springs are a popular way to relax and socialize in Taiwan. Hot spring water is channeled from the depths of the molten core of the earth as it is infused with sulfur, to provide you with a nice, steamy bath. Pretty cool. The hot springs of Green Island, on the other hand, are filled with salt water rather than sulfur water. It is one of three places in the world where hot sea springs exist. The baths are staggered like mountainside rice paddys, so each subsequently lower bath is cooler and cooler. The idea is that you start at the bottom and work your way up, alternating hot with cold to open and close your pores, cleaning out your system. Not scientifically proven, but it is relaxing nonetheless.

Snorkeling: It was just one of those days when we decided to go snorkeling when one little thing after another keeps going awry, until the world is about to implode in upon itself and compress all that exists into a single tiny entity, and then flick it to the side of the road. When all is said and done, though, you walk out a hundred feet from the shore and you're floating above a coral reef staring down at some of the most incredible creatures you only ever see on the Discovery Channel. Our guide, eager to tugboat us along on rescue rings like most groups of Asian tourists, seemed a bit lost when we told him we all could swim. So we all went in separate directions to see what we could see, not to be let down (like our guide).Big, small, tiny, some bright, some camouflaged. Angler fish, Clown fish, eels, snakes, you never want to pull your head away from the water for fear of missing something beautiful. I catch what appears to be a treasure chest lodged between a few rocks so I dive down to try and wriggle it free when I feel a tap on my foot. It's one of the other guides. He shoots a scowl at me and I swim back up. It must have taken him a long time to put that chest there.