Drunk without Wine at Reikei Hot Spring

Exterior of Reikei Hot Spring Resort (Image courtesy of Reikei)


It was past dark when said goodbye to Zhong Hui, our guide from Tainan Tourism. We’d spent the last two days together, exploring on the first day the history and esoteric art scenes of Tainan city and the second a few natural and cultural wonders of the county. These explorations behind us (and soon to be documented in full as part of my responsibility as Editor-in-chief for MyTaiwanTour), it was time to relax.
The bureau had graciously offered to drop us off in the hot spring town of Guanziling, in the far northern reaches of Tainan county. As something of an afficianado of Taiwan’s hot spring scene, Guanziling was one of the few hot spring areas I’d not yet visited, and I’d heard good things about the place, specifically of the deeply relaxing properties of the waters.
The Reiei Hotel LobbyWe were welcomed at the front desk of the Reiki Hot Spring resort by Ms. Chang, manager of the Reiki. Setting down our bags, we took a moment to drink in the lobby’s ambiance. Twilight and I were especially drawn to the man-sized amethyst crystal by the hallway leading to the elevator. We were preparing to head upstairs when Ms. Chang steered us towards the front door.
“You’ll be staying in the Fashion Building,” she told us. We were intrigued.
Manager Chang walked us up the road past the Reiki’s public hot spring. “You may soak there anytime you wish during your stay, but you’ll need to wear swimsuits. Your room, of course, has two private baths.”
Exterior of The Fashion BuildingFrom the outside, the Fashion building seemed, well, less than fashionable. The main distinguishing feature of the long, single story white annex were the beautifully lit golden leaves of a tree that hovered over the building. But stepping inside revealed an absolutely beautiful ambiance.
Our lovely bed
Our room was spacious, minimalist, and in a word, gorgeous. Aside from a cupboard, closet and wall mounted flat screen television, the only furniture was a cloud soft canopy bed at the foot of which was a small divan. Next to the windows was an easy chair (from which I’d soon be unable to rise). Lovely as this was, the best part of the room was yet to come. Through a sliding door, we found ourselves in the marble tiled semi-enclosed bathroom and bathing area about the same size of the room itself. In one corner of the patio sat two square marble tubs.
The larger tub took a full thirty minutes to fill, while the smaller - meant for between soak cold plunges - filled in about ten. And it’s here that the focus of this post needs to switch from decor to biochemical, or at least mineral. 
The tubOne thing that’s always fascinated me about Taiwanese hot springs is their diversity, with waters of different springs having their own particular properties. Guanziling bills its waters as mud springs, which isn’t entirely accurate if you are expecting the thick mud baths of a place like New Mexico’s Ojo Caliente (which we were). Instead, the waters that filled the larger of our two tubs was more of a dark gray.
We settled into the larger tub, watching our bodies disappear into the opaque water, water which had a distinct earthy, almost eucalyptus smell, milder than the pi dan (smelly egg) fragrance of Beitou’s hot springs but more pronounced than the odorless waters of Wulai. The waters of Guanzaling were different in effect as well.
It had been a long day, filled with mountain hikes and temple hopping, but I’m no stranger to ending days of intense activities with a soak (I generally plan all my bike tours around Taiwan to end at a hot spring). But after 45 minutes of soaking in our tub at the Reikei, a soak punctuated with three cold plunges, we both felt like we were floating on clouds of opium smoke.
Ms. Chang had told us that the restaurants on the main drag wouldn’t stay open much past nine, so we dragged ourselves out of the tub at 7:45 and headed into town for dinner of chicken, vegetables and bamboo shoots. The meal was delicious, and though I’d not touched a drop of alcohol, I found myself nearly weaving like a drunkard along the sidewalk back to the hotel. We stopped into a small store selling homemade mochi, and I asked the owner if this was an unusual occurrence. He just smiled.
“Drink more water next time.”
Though we could have both collapsed in our feather-soft bed, the water in the tub was still warm and the thought of soaking beneath the open roof was too tempting. Adding a bit more brought the temperature to hot, and as we both slipped in for a second soak in as many hours we realized that slipping out would be increasingly difficult.
“Is it possible to overdose on hot springs?” I mumbled.
“Don’t think so…” Twilight whispered back. “But you never know.”   This time we drank copious amount of water, but the lithium effects of the dark springs were no less pronounced. It was like soaking in the waters of the fabled river Lethe.
Neither of us went the way of Keith Moon that night, and managed to make it into bed before passing out into a near-dreamless sleep.
The Reikei's public spa area includes four pools. (Not shown: Wet and dry sauna)

The Reiki Hot Spring Resort is in the town of Guanziling in northern Tainan County.  732, Tainan City, Baihe District, 關子嶺61之5號Phone: 06 682 2588 http://www.reikei.com.tw/index https://www.facebook.com/reikeihotspr...