Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Maokong Gondola and Tea Village
Forgive the delay in blogging: I really have no excuse now that I'm on vacation. But... our internet broke at the dorm, and I've just figured out that I can get a months worth of wireless at Starbucks for the price of a couple of coffees. Hey, I'm here all the time anyway. Anyway, Louise and I have been having a fabulous time perfecting our ability to relax, and we've gotten out into the city a bit too (Julia and Kathleen have been working at summer camps). Tuesday we decided to try out the new Maokong gondola that takes you from the city up to a tea village in the mountains. The gondola only started operating last Thursday, but it wasn't too crowded because it was a weekday and overcast. They did have partitions for line-ups set up (the wait time began at 120 minutes!) It was a great experience, and the view was incredible. While we were in the gondola, Louise asked me about lightning. I assured her that they must have state of the art equipment because it rains so often. Yesterday we read in the newspaper that on Monday the whole gondola had been shut down for five hours because a lightning strike fried two circuit boards! Passagers were taken by back-up power to emergency stations to be unloaded! So much for having faith in technology.
At the top of the mountain, we had our choice of dozens of tea houses. When they brought us the tea apparatus, we were a bit worried, but thankfully the owner gave us a quick demo. We put the dried tea leaves into the tiny black pot, followed by boiling water. Then we poured the tea through the strainer into the green pot, and the tea into our mini cups. All the other stuff was for preparing and keeping boiling water from ending up all over the table and our laps (yes, there was a lot of spillage!)
I have to say it was one of the most relaxing afternoons I've had in Taipei. We sat watching the sun set (through the smog), listening to the rain and drinking tea. Perfect.
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You have faith in technology?!
p.s. Hi, Kathleen. It's good to hear from you. xox