Camping in Maolin (茂林), Duona (多納), Baolai (寶來)

Continuing our trip in Maolin County (for part one click here), we decided (for no particular reason beyond it getting dark) to camp in the valley of the town between Maolin (茂林) and Duona (多納). We had been trying to find a place my friend found years ago when he was here last but were unsuccessful. Not having much camping experience I still struggle to fall asleep to the sounds of fighting dogs and fornicating cats.

This island is small and trains are convenient, but wow, having a rental car is easy to get used to

Camping at the sight of a memorial probably wasn't the politest of things to do

In the morning we took one last stroll around Duona, a small town at the end of the valley's road, known for its aboriginal culture. The valley's riverbed is cluttered with slate which they seem to collect and sell. There are some short trails and murals, but mostly, as with much of Taiwan, it's all about the food. There doesn't seem to be much of an economy in the town, so nearly every home on the main road has a few tables and a restaurant mainly serving barbecued meats and my favorites: sticky rice steamed inside columns of bamboo and purple rice wrapped in banana leaves. I had a delicious all-carb rice lunch while my friend went for the barbecue (烤肉).

Before the devastating Typhoon Morakot hit in 2005, Duona was using their access to hot spring water to develop a tourist economy, but the typhoon washed away and closed off their pools. Abandoned hotels and hot spring areas can been seen here and there along the edges of town that we drove through.

Duona, a small, village with strong aboriginal history

Duona's famous slate houses

just passed Duona after the road ends, the river valley seems to go on for quite some distance

Remnants of Typhoon Morakot damage, Duona's hot springs used to be nearby

Since the makeshift natural hot spring pool my friend found a few years ago was now gone (replaced by a 70% finished small building with a hot spring pool and lockers, but no running hot spring water), we decided to head an hour's drive north to Baolai (寶來), a town know for its hot spring water. We went straight to their tourist center but had trouble deciphering if any of the hotels had public pools versus paying for a room (both our Mandarin skills are so-so). We got some recommendations and checked out a few but none of them had public pools. There is one older place that might have but reviews concerning cleanliness on Google weren't that polite. On our last trip I got pink eye from a less than clean hot spring pool in Dongpu (東埔), so I wasn't too keen on trying this one.

So seeing as in a few days my friend was leaving the country indefinitely, we decided to splurge and rent a fancy (by our usual standards) hot spring hotel room. Rooms are rented either for the night or for ninety minute sessions. I felt a little rushed knowing there was a time limit, but the place wasn't busy and they didn't seem to care that we returned the key fifteen minutes late. I can't remember the price, but it was somewhere around 1,000NT. The room had two hot spring pools (one with water jets), shower, a balcony, and a bed with a wall-mounted TV. I still prefer wild outdoor hot springs like Bayan (八煙野溪溫泉) in Yangmingshan (陽明山), but this was still really nice for a change, if not a bit kitsch in decor and amenities (British-style tea cups, individually wrapped Q-tips, personal lubricants, etc., etc.).

A hot spring hotel - Grand Orchid Villa (國蘭花園溫泉會館), Baolai (寶來)

My first hot spring hotel room

For more photos from this trip, click here.