dear green island: you are beautiful

As our last vacation together in Taiwan, Amy, Brandon, Susan, Megan, and I headed to the south eastern region of Taiwan. 

We left bright and early at 5:30 Sunday morning, as check out time was 7AM anyway, because the new teachers were coming. We were startled by our train heading south when we thought the train route would go to the most northern regions first and then head south. Nonetheless, we figured it out and we were off on our 5 hour journey to get us to our first stop: 

Taitung

Taitung was actually a relatively dull city with only a few spare beaches and some lousy street shops. 

We seemed to make the time pass just fine though. 

Next stop: Green Island

It's nice to feel wanted or at least know Susan's wanted. 

We had 3 scooters between the 5 of us and we spent many hours just circling the small scenic island. 

Ocean view breakfasts

We snorkeled for a few hours one morning but have no pictures to prove it. 

We climbed through some really muddy swamps and improvised a movie about a king lizard (the swamp was obviously not fascinating enough to keep us entertained). 

We saw the historic prisons and encampments where inmates were kept. It used especially during the White Terror period.

We took ridiculous photos in the themed shops. 

We went hiking (climbed stairs) through the center of the island. 

We did some laying out but most of the laying/floating was either done in the ocean or in our air conditioned room during the peak hours of the day. 

We normally do these things when we watch the sun set over Taiwan, but our most favorite thing was to wake up bright and early to watch the sun's rays beam over the morning east horizon.  

Here are some of the pictures from our early mornings on Green Island:

We're standing in one of the only three saltwater hot springs in the entire world. 

Green Island was definitely a splendid way to end my time with some of my best friends. I'll miss them!