Wild Hot Springs at Si Leng (四稜溫泉)
In August of 2022 my wife Karolina Fomiciova Bhaduaria finally got to Taiwan and we did a one month round the Taiwan trip where I took her to some of my favorite places. One of these spots are the wild hot springs in Sileng 四稜溫泉, Taoyuan and my initial plan was to spend just a night or two here, but we loved it so much there and ended up spending our final week of the trip here. We got here on a Friday evening (after exploring the ancient trees in Lalashan), the hike down to the camping area was especially hard for Karolina as we were loaded with gears and she was not expecting such a steep hike down. We almost got lost as we took a parallel trail down (BEWARE don’t do that) in the beginning, but thanks to my muscle memory I realized it was the wrong trail (had taken it in one of my earlier trips), went back a bit and found our way to the correct trail (Taiwan flag is a nice landmark).
It takes about 1300 steps to reach the wild camping area and took us almost 45 minutes to get there. By the time we reached the camp site it was dark and we quickly got around to setting up the base. Soon we had the tent, tarp, hammock and a clothes line setup and were very pleased that no one else was camping there that night – we had the place all to ourselves. We were tired but decided to go check out the hot springs.
The hike down is even more steep and somewhat scary in the dark – we got scared of a few very noisy cicadas/other night creatures who were especially noisy and freaked us out. The final section is specially steep and there are ropes set up to use there. HOWEVER a word of caution – these ropes are old and I would not recommend you to put your full weight on them. Think of them like additional support or for emergency use. Finally we got down – I was a bit worried about crossing the stream in the dark but thankfully someone had set up the rope line there and the water flow was gentle. We crossed over successfully and had the hot springs all to ourselves – what an amazing experience it was to soak in the springs after a tiring day. We soaked to our hearts content, filled out water bottles and made our way back to the camp. It is about 1500 steps to reach the camping area from the hot springs. We played with the idea of making a fire – but both of us were too tired to search for dry wood in the night and hearing night insects we soon retreated into the safety of our tent and slept off (or tried – read more about the night noises later).
Next day morning we were woken by a group of four local Taiwanese who were heading to the springs for some soaking and catching fish. Inspired by them we decided to go down and have a better look at the springs. Made the long journey down and OMG the springs look gorgeous. The place is so incredibly beautiful and dangerous at the same time – perfect reminder of the constant dualities we experience in life. Take for example the beautiful serene pools of the hot spring waiting for you to soak in and just at the top this rock waiting to slide down one day (potentially causing an accident). Some of the rocks/trees on the way can easily come off on a rainy day/typhoon/earthquake – we felt lucky to have done our night hike while it was still dry. Plus if it rains the water levels can very easily spike up and crossing can become a bit of a challenge.
And we found another hotspring outcropping on the left side and it looked very much like a bathtub! This was new and I had never tried that in my previous trips – excited we quickly jumped into the water and went for a soak. Soon more people started showing up and we decided to head back to the camp to cook and satiate our hunger. We collected the water and made the journey back – much easier in the light. I looked at Karo and asked if she would like to stay here a few more days – it was like I was reading her mind.
One more thing was that it was actually cold here (even in the summer of August!). So that solved our problem of running around during noon time to a waterfall/cafe to escape the heat. We decided to stay longer – but we had run out of our food. It had started drizzling by this time so we were in double minds if we should hike up in the rain or wait for it to stop. We decided to don our rain layers and brave it out – and I am glad we did! We made it back to the car and the nearest nearest town where we could get some veggies and fruits was Lalashan – and took us about an hour to get there. And on the way we saw this GORGEOUS double rainbow! Message to self do not be afraid of getting out in the rain – its only in the rain that you can see the rainbows. And also the views from Lalashan are stunning!
We got some veggies, fruits and snacks. We got back to our campsite by evening and it was quite a change of atmosphere – lots more people in the campsite and someone had set up a FIRE! There was a big gang of Taiwanese (3 big tents) and 3 westerners who went river tracing earlier. We didn’t mind too much since we knew they were gonna be gone the next day. So we joined in the festivities – and the westerner gang taught us a new skill – how to cook on a campfire! Now that’s something new for me! I know how to set up a fire and keep it going – but didn’t really knew the trick to turn it into a cooking fire. That was amazing! That night Karolina used the fire to make ceremonial cacao and shared some insights about how Cacao was used as a drink of the Kings in ancient time! Will write about Cacao Ceremony in another post but soon we would be using the campfire to cook all our meals!
That night it rained a bit and we had some water in the tent (mostly from condensation). Next day I made some changes to the tarp design and we had more water protection. Surprisingly the Fire was easily going even after the rain! And so began our next 5 days around the fire. The next day everyone left by evening and it was just the two of us. By now we had become more comfortable with the night insects/animals/birdies and we managed to keep the fire going till our bed time. And soon life fell into a routine in this little paradise.
Our Daily Routine
Mornings we will wake up
Poop – Yes we were pooping in nature! There is no way around it in the forest. WE would bury our poops with some sand and dry leaves and collect the tissue paper back to our trash bag. Before pooping however I will begin with my water cleansing practice – something I do everyday to have a better intestinal cleansing.
Time to hike down to the river. Do the 1500 steps and take shower in the river and get a nice cleanse of the body.
Yoga Time – the best time for yoga is in the morning after you are done with your bowel movements & cleansing. I really enjoyed those mornings, practicing next to the river. My practice included traditional surya namaskar sadhana (sun salutations with mantra, kumbhak, bandhas, chakra awareness), asana sequence, pranayama and meditation. Yoga is a lot about cleansing the body and mind – this process happens automatically when you in such places.
Hot spring time – post yoga is some hot spring and exploration. We went a bit upstream – found another hot spring pool. Downstream – more outcroppings, one even on the right side of the bank which has potential for a pool. It seemed like a hot spring valley – they were coming out of holes everywhere.
Water collection – so everyday we would collect 8 liters of water between the two of us, filter half of it for drinking and rest for cooking and cleaning
Hike back – to the campsite and then look for firewood. The forest is full of fallen branches & dead trees. Finding firewood soon became my hobby and I started looking everywhere for firewood we could collect
Start Fire – usually the coals from the previous night are still warm and it was quite easy to restart the fire. I even made a bag (which I brought to the car) where I keep small dry branches which make it very easy to start a fire. I call it my fire starter kit now
Cooking – we really enjoyed cooking on the Fire and then life sort of revolved around the fire.
Evenings – Soon the sun will start fading, it will start becoming colder and we will work hard to keep our fire going. We started doing our evening practices around the fire and I led my online yoga class in the night time from the fireplace. I even started keeping some firewood under the tarp to protect it from rain!
It was an experience of simple life like that of our ancestors – collecting water from the river, wood from the forest, fire for cooking and keeping us warm – and it brought great joy to us. We felt as one with the forest and I hope to see you again, friend.
Mystery of the Night sounds
The first few nights we were very afraid of all the animal and bird sounds of the forest and at times it felt like someone was out to get us. There was especially this high throated sharp loud sound which we both found a bit unnerving. Every time we will hear this shriek in the night – we both will totally freak out, look at each other and I will take comfort in the fact that I had my knife with me somewhere close by. On the 3rd day Karo figured it out – it was baby dears! She saw them in the daytime and they were making the same noise and soon we started finding the noises cute! What a difference light can make! And same is the profound change you can observe if you can manage to look inwards, find the light within and dispel the darkness of ignorance.
Also one evening, I was chilling on the hammock when I heard some noises from the trees and felt that something was out there. Soon I felt the thing moving above and some branches falling around – I was already spooked. Then one branch fell on me – I screamed and ran to the fire and picked up my stick. The thing kept moving around and I retreated to the tent and close to my knife. Next day I again saw a bunch of fallen leaves around a tree and saw a monkey up there – hah soon we were talking about the monkeys in Rishikesh and what a racket they used to make and the monkey god Hanuman from Hinduism. Next time the “thing” came in the evening – I didn’t bother to get out of my hammock. Just knowing makes such a difference! Ignorance is bliss, some say – for a yogi Ignorance (of who you are) is the biggest crime.
This story is over - the story of life continues
As I am writing this post we are both back to Taipei. Karolina has gone for her mandarin class and I am preparing for leading my evening yoga class. Do drop into my next class or check availability for our private classes which we offer in person in Taipei or Online. My wife Karolina runs private yoga classes for women and I offer private yoga classes for working professionals.
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