Taiwan Day 1 (Part 2): Tea Plantation & Zhinan Temple

As the gondola took us up and over the mountains, the very first place we went was the Tea Plantation. This was kind of a wasted spot though. The girls shown in the picture were standing above all the tea plantation fields, but we couldn't find a way to access them to go tour them. We even walked up and down this road for the awhile in hopes we might find the entrance - but no dice. Everything was closed. The view was still spectacular though!

Next we went to the Zhinan temple stop. Being over in these countries has made Heather and I very found of their temples. Many of the temples here, as you will see from our other blog posts, are perched on mountain tops and sides. Primarily Confucius and Buddhist temples, the ornate designs and deep red colors are something to behold. The grounds are always well kept, and we love the beautiful architecture. You can tell little Monster loves being here as well...

Like Korea, there are lots of pathways highlighting love. Now I welcome that considering I am married to my best friend, but you can see from this photo that people will buy "wishes and dreams" and tie them to the trees along these paths. I think we have mentioned this before, but this is a big Korean thing to do these "hearts" with your fingers.

As we walked down this pathway we actually had no idea where it led us. This was an unplanned stop, but we came down this long ornate pathway to one of the most grand buddhist temples I have ever seen with the added benefit of huffing and puffing down at least a 30 degree incline.

The temple's deep red was so amazing, contrasted against the red lanterns. With tall stairways, burning incense, manicured bushes and grounds, and many people leaving of "sacrifices" brought a humble reverence of these temples. One thing I did notice however: People only come and leave something, say a prayer, then go. It makes me grateful to have access to the temple in which I can go and actually learn from Deity, not simply have a drive thru temple experience and place and order and wait for it for to be answered.

From the inside of the temple we went out to behold the view. We were able to look out over a beautiful view of Taipei, but the view could be had from multiple vantage points: Down at the bottom of the stairs, or up the 45 degree incline stairway to heaven and view it from the top. This temple was amazing to behold and truly a unique and random find that we didn't expect!

-Kevin