Hillside Temple — Second Attempt
It seems I’ve become the thing I’ve always dreaded: a lazy blogger. Sure, I have the same excuses everyone else has. I’m so busy! I have no time! Well, that’s kind of true but it’s also true that I’ve just been feeling pretty lazy.
Actually, I’m working a lot at the moment. In addition to my full time job and four hour Sunday class, I’ve also taken on an early afternoon class twice a week along with a late evening class every Wednesday, on what used to be my only free evening. So I really am busy, and when you add into the mix the fact that I now ride a bicycle to work and back everyday (5 kilometers each way), I’m usually pretty exhausted by the end of the day. More about that later, actually, because it’s a pretty beautiful ride to work.
The good news that comes from all of this is that I should be able to meet my goal of purchasing a car next month. In fact, I went and looked at a car on Thursday which I had fully intended to buy after my next payday on April 1. But I hit a snag when I learned that in Taiwan car taxes are due on the day the registration/insurance is changed to my name, which will tack an additional $400 onto the price. So, the car purchase will have to wait until mid-April, but after that I should be able to cut down on hours and actually have some time to explore and hike.
So in the meantime, here’s a post about our second attempt to reach the mysterious hillside temple. The difficulty we’ve had locating the place brought back childhood memories of the strange, hidden town in Exodus Ultima that could only be reached during a short window of the waning moon.
This was about two weeks ago. We started out by tracing our footsteps up the tiny trail off the small hillside road. Since we’d been so close to the temple on our last attempt, we were certain we’d be able to find it this time by trying some of the other trails in the abandoned orchard.
The view from the top of the first hill. It’s nice to know that even though Fengyuan is a fairly good sized city (similar to Portland, Maine), it basically ends where the hills begin.
When I saw this fallen tree, I just couldn’t hold back against my monkey instincts to shimmy on up.
Once in the orchard, we took what appeared to be an old trail heading into the jungle in the general direction of the temple. Even walking on this “path” was tough going, as the jungle is incredibly dense and had taken over the trail in many places.
Our little trail turned out to be an ancient rock wall, which soon abruptly ended in the middle of the jungle. This was us returning to the old orchard.
We didn’t manage to find the hillside temple this time, but on the walk back from the hills to our apartment, we came across this massive temple and monument. The picture just doesn’t give an idea how huge these really were. The fact that the moon can be seen in between makes for especially surreal picture.
The front of the massive temple in Fengyuan City, lined with countless Chinese lanterns. You can see one tiny person to the left, which gives at least some idea how giant this temple really was.
Inside the smoky temple. The giant brown shrine was for burning incense.
Taiwanese temples are elaborately decorated and are usually filled with fruit, flowers and Chinese lanterns.
More from inside the temple. The smoky air from so much incense made for a rather blurry picture.
Nok poses in traditional Thai fashion inside the temple doorway.
On the way out of the temple.
From the enormous parking lot, it looked merely ordinary.
Still on the walk home, Nok and I discovered this nice little park in the middle of Fengyuan City. It seems like every time we go for a walk we find a new park.
Also in the park as the light was beginning to fade. This monument with a typical, quiet Taiwanese neighborhood in the background made for a rather nice atmosphere. We didn’t make it to the hillside temple this time, but the day had not been wasted. But that temple can rest assured: We will be back.
