Experiential guesthouses
"Experiences" are another thing that guesthouses strive to provide. Some of these are different cultural experiences; others are different lifestyle experiences.
Kavalan House, a guesthouse run by Taiwanese Aborigines, is located in Ilan's Wuchieh Township. Its "tree house" is its most distinctive feature. "We allow city kids to live out their Tarzan fantasy," laughs Chen Hsiu-e, the woman owner.
The tree house is plastered with notes left by guests: One of them reads: "This is the only place my kids have made a big fuss about wanting to bring back a bunch of friends to, to fish, slide down bamboo poles, ride their bikes, ride swings, and pick passion fruit. Everywhere you turn there are surprises!"
Chen says that the Kavalan people, who lived next to the water, have a tradition of building houses on stilts. Originally, she had only wanted to build an observation platform up in a tree. After she turned the platform into a room, it unexpectedly met with high acceptance, and in fact became their most popular room.
Apart from the tree house, the century-old well and large trees are ancient treasures. Chen Hsiu-e says that Taiwan guayule (Palaquium formosanum), a fruit tree that is very common in areas where the Kavalan people live, is a "tribal tree." Chen shares her unique tea--a mix of the leaves of cassia, breadfruit, and guayule trees--with her guests.
For the Fairy Tales Village Farm, which is located in the Plum Blossom Lake Recreation Area of Ilan's Tungshan Township, the route they take is experiencing farming village life, and do-it-yourself.
Fairy Tales Village, which has a candied fruit and smoked meat workshop, has agricultural products all four seasons of the year. From September to December, it's the roselle season; from March to September, the mulberry season; from November to March, the kumquat season; from December to June, the strawberry season; and from July to September, the sunflower season. There are also guava and organic vegetables throughout the year.
Fairy Tales Village provides various kinds of set itineraries with a great variety of content, from making handmade cookies, to picking fruit, to do-it-yourself candied fruits, to wild freshwater clams, to making sky lanterns and so forth.
Operating a leisure farm, as soon as you usher one group out, you usher the next group in. A bystander might think it seems exhausting, but the proprietor Wu Li-chu is happily busy: "The profits are about the same for operating a farm as for a regular guesthouse," she says, "but there's twice as much work." Wu knew all along she wouldn't make a lot of money with an experiential guesthouse, but she's in it purely because she's interested.
Kavalan House, in Ilan County, has a uniquely Aboriginal style which shows through in its architecture and decoration.