First trip into the country

It is good to know that scooters can be used for distance travel, and Google Earth can be used for directions. After a day of nothing but reading, scratching mosquito bites, and general all around laziness, it was time to get out of the apartment and try a short road trip. After a somewhat early start, (breakfast and showers before 10am), we took to the scooters for a trip to the Fo Kuang Shan, (try to say that five times fast), about 20 KM from the apartment. I was told that the trip would take about 45 minutes, and we would be in the country.

My guide was a little off, but not by much, if we did not count the time spent getting to the city limit. After parking the scooters, and getting a quick drink, and an Ice Cream cone, we stopped by the gift shop to pick up a hat, and Dave wanted to buy a couple of souvenirs. Then onto the temple, but first we had to get our temperature checked, (I am not sure how accurate the infrared scans are but they are using them everywhere). I was told we could have taken the elevator, but my time in Shimla, prepared me for the climb. Fortunately, there were a number of interesting photo opportunities along the way, so breaks were possible.

I have never seen so many Buddha's in one place, (BuddhaLand), but it was pretty spectacular, seeing hundreds upon hundreds of identically posed statues. I was a little concerned about the photo ops, we were attempting, but I realized near the end of the tour, where we saw many different types of statues (white ones), that enlightenment does not mean "no laughter", I like to think that if the wise guy was with us, he would have suggested other pictures we could have taken with these statues. Of course, what he would think, and what those who follow his teachings think are probably not the same.

I also sat in my first ESL class. While I am not sure if I would give up my day job to teach English, I do think you could have a lot of fun teaching this subject. The problem would be adjusting your language to match your students levels.

I have also been into a Taiwanese version of Future shop, I am happy to say that I did not buy anything, but I will not jinx myself, since we still have not browsed "computer alley"