梅之家族 宜蘭礁溪/三星小旅行 上集 龍潭湖, 宜蘭礁溪 2015年5月1-2日
 |
| Longtan Lake, Jiaoxi Township Yilan County 龍潭湖, 宜蘭礁溪 |
Yilan is a long way away from Kaohsiung. Last time we travel to Yilan, it took more than 7 hours driving. So we have not visited the place for years. This Yilan trip was organised by a group of friends and it was an over-night stay at Jiaoxi, Yilan. We took High Speed Rail to Taipei and then group bus to Jiaoxi via Hsuehshan Tunnel (snow mountain tunnel). Hsuehshan Tunnel is the longest tunnel in Taiwan, located on the Taipei-Yilan Freeway no 5. The opening of the number 5 freeway and the tunnel in 2006 has shorten the travelling time between Taipei and Yilan from 2.5 hours to one hour. However, it is also because of the convenience of travelling via the highway and tunnel, this road is always jammed up on the weekend and holidays. So the easy one hour drive often becomes three hours drive due to traffic jam. By the time we arrived at Jiaoxi, it was right on time for lunch at 福哥石窯雞 Full Go roast chicken of stone kiln.
 |
| Full Go roast chicken of stone kiln, Jiaoxi Yilan 福哥石窯雞, 宜蘭礁溪 |
The only reason I put this place in the blog is because their stone kiln chicken is highly recommended! After walked into the front gate of the restaurant, there is the delicious smell of roasting chicken came out from those stone kilns.
 |
| stone kilns used to cook chicken 煮雞的石窯 |
Each one of the stone kiln cooks 12 chicken. The chicken is slow cooked using the heat inside the kiln. After 40 mins of slow cooking, every chicken is crispy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside. It was delicious! I have been thinking about it and I will definitely go back there to taste it again.
 |
| stone kiln chicken, highly recommended!! 太好吃的石窯雞!! |
After lunch, we did some business visits which I will not mentioned here. Then we headed to Longton Lake. Longton lake is the largest lake in the Yilan area. It is a beautiful lake and I think it will be a good walk around the lake if it was not raining. Shops next to the entrance provide bicycle rental serves which will also be a good way to take in the beauty scenery.
 |
| Longton Lake, Jiaoxi Yilan 龍潭湖, 礁溪宜蘭 |
We did not stay long at the lake due to the rain. So we headed back to the hotel. Jiaoxi is a famous township in Yilan county for it's hot spring. Chuang-tang Spring Spa Hotel is where we stayed that night. From the outside of the hotel front, it is actually hard to see that the hotel has more than 28000 square foot outdoor hot spring facilities on the ground level. It has 11 different scented hot spring baths completed with kids pool, adult spa pool, fish foot-eating pool, steam rooms, stone slates resting ground and a pool side bar. The kids and I had a great time there in the bath, going from one bath to the next. It is a place where people can just relax and enjoy.
The hotel outdoor hot spring area is open to both the hotel guests and outside visitors with a small fee. Wearing swim suit and cap is required when using the outdoor spa area. The hotel also provides private hot spring suite for guests who prefer more intimate experience. The hotel room is spacious with our own hot spring bathtub. Here we had a good night rest and ready for our next day adventure in Yilan Sanxing township.
Hotel information
Chuang-tang Spring Spa Hotel 川湯春天溫泉飯店
Address: No.43 Deyand Rd, Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County 262 Taiwan
Phone: +886-3-9889-889
Email: chuang.tanghtl@msa.hinet.net
website: http://www.chuang-tang.com.tw/e_spring/hot_spa.htm
 |
| Chuang-tang Spring Spa Hotel location map 川湯春天溫泉飯店位置圖 |
