We love Nantou County!

Natalie reporting in! Our days continue to be packed full of new experiences, good food and even better people... here's a quick recap of just two incredible days in Nantou County, the only county in all of Taiwan that does not border the ocean.

DAY 5 - SUN MAR 22
Our fifth day in Taiwan started by saying goodbye to our host families in Yuanlin and driving about 45 minutes to a gorgeous hotel in Puli, Pretton Garden Inn, owned by Propeller from the Rotary Club of Taichung. There we were greeted by DG Jim, GSE Coordinator C.S., the Outbound GSE Team, and some other Rotarians. The Taiwanese GSE Team practiced their presentation and we can't wait for them to be able to share it with our District when they come to Orlando next month! 

We dined not once but twice at Jin-Du Restaurant, which features local ingredients and herbs that are known to promote health and healing. The 15+ dishes at each meal were all absolutely delicious!

In the afternoon, we visited Chung Tai Chan Monastery, one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world. We then toured the local chocolate factory to learn about the process and - of course - sample some of their incredible chocolates. Chocolate is not very common in Taiwan, so our visit was a special treat for us and our Taiwanese friends! 

DAY 6 - MON MAR 23
Our day started bright and early at 6:30 AM for a walk to the large Taoist temple up the road from the hotel. Most of us woke up eager to enjoy the beautiful scenery and get some exercise, which is a luxury on GSE Trips.

We then headed to Dong-Feng Black Tea Farm where we learned about tea farming and the process from seed to sipping. As you can imagine, we then tasted some local teas. Coincidentally, two tea farmers from India who have a small organic operation were in our tour group, which made for very interesting discussion - we got to learn from experts in two different parts of the world! 

Later in the day, we visited Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake in Taiwan and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. It was extremely foggy out but it was beautiful none the less, especially from our view on the 11th floor of The Wen Wan Resort and the cable car that goes over the mountain ride,

We then visited the Formosan Aboriginal Villages, where we learned about the lifestyle of the different Taiwanese aborigines tribes. The day ended with dinner with the Rotary Clubs of Nantou County and Sun Moon Lake, where we met our new host families for the next three days and returned to our new homes to rest for more adventures in Nantou County that were to follow.