(Post by Alisha)

This excursion still lingers on my mind as a day of pure enjoyment. There is nothing quite like taking a 15 minute cab out of the smoggy city only to discover yourself wonderfully enclosed in a paradise of green leafy vegetation and teal-green rivers. Jenny, Bacon and I hiked for a few humid hours, drinking in the sights of waterfalls and tropical canopies along the way, until we decided we were ready for the second half of our trip. Our plan was to get roasting hot with a nice-paced hike and then catch a cab or bus to a place further down that had some pretty good swimming spots. However, when we emerged from our hiking trails back out onto the main road, we were dismayed to discover that taxis would take us to our hiking spot, but would not be waiting around for a return journey. Luckily, I am used to plans going awry and just going with the flow, so while level-headed Bacon and Jenny were starting to get flustered, I suggested we just keep walking along the road to see what we might happen upon. After about 15-20 minutes of trudging along in the unrelenting sun (and still about 45 minutes from the swimming place we had planned on going to), we all heard the faint sounds of splashing and rushing water. Without a second thought, we turned off the road and followed a little dirt path around the corner, stumbling right into our very own desert's oasis. In the midst of a circlet of fern-like trees blowing in the wind there was a fairly large, crystal-clear pool of water with a small cliff towering on one side and a mini-waterfall pouring into it from the back end. A few Taiwanese people sat on the rocky banks and motioned us down. We had to cross about 10 feet of thigh-high rapids to make it to the spot ideal for swimming. For the rest of the afternoon, we swam around and did some very fun, probably semi-dangerous cliff-jumping under the tutelage of a Taiwanese man who went before us to "prove" it was safe. When the sun dipped behind the clouds we finally decided to drag ourselves away and managed, by a stroke of luck, to find a cab ride home. It was definitely one of the highlights of our time spent in Taipei.