Cosy up to the great outdoors with Nature's Paradise of Lazy-Bone

Making my way down to the see the sea, a 15-min walk from Nature's Paradise

Ten days in Taiwan, four different accommodations, and this emerged the absolute favourite! A view of the sea, up on the hills, a big patio and an outdoor toilet - incredible! I wanted something that was adventurous, outdoors, a bit off-the-beaten-track kind of living and I most certainly found that in Nature's Paradise of Lazy-Bone.

First of all, it isn't easy to get to. It's situated at Chenggong Township and you've got to take a train to Yuli from Taipei, followed by NTD 800 cab ride.

You wouldn't want to get out of the woods after living here

When we arrived, we were in for a bit of a shock - there was no one! The owners were both out! So, please, let them know what time you'll arrive. If they are in town, you can make arrangements for them to drive you up the hill to Nature's Paradise!

Lazy-Bone was one of the few properties they had. The room was spacious, with the window facing the sea. The bed was incredibly comfortable. Sank deep into it, with thick sheets perfect for the winter. That made waking up to witness the sunrise a little tough!

The bed faces a fireplace and a book shelf full of Taiwanese literature.

One of the two stunning highlights of this place was the patio.

Views of the Pacific Ocean on a patio with somewhat peculiar-looking furniture.

We spent a considerable amount of time just chilling out, reading, chatting, enjoying the view and the cool breeze, as well as the whispering of the leaves as the wind took off into the hills. Loved taking a closer look at the small details of the furniture. The owner made most of them himself. They were surprisingly sturdy and comfortable.

It even looks cool at night! Everything else was in total darkness.

The next highlight - the outdoor toilet!

It's cleverly built so that no one can look in. Doing your business in nature is surprisingly enjoyable. One thing that we overlooked was the fact that it was was a bit cold at night, which makes one rather reluctant to whip out your junk to pee, or to take a shower.

And of course, the water from the shower doesn't heat itself.

There were three small furnaces that heated the water supply to our gorgeous outdoor bathroom. David, the owner, would help us light one for the shower after dinner. What about the other two, you ask. They are meant for guests to light should they want to have enough hot water for a bath.

On the second night of our stay we felt adventurous and decided to heat water for a bath. We started off by chopping firewood and unsurprisingly, failed miserably. It was tough. Probably lacked the strength and technique to wield an ax properly. We then moved on to lighting the furnaces with matches, a blow torch, a fan and some wood. This we were better at, no doubt thanks to having some BBQ experience. Then, just as we thought that was it, the output of the tap for the bath was so slow that it took an hour for the water to get to a decent level!

Most people stay there for a night. I would recommend staying there for two, so you get to really experience living in the hills, especially if you're used to city-dwelling. Also there aren't restaurants around. You'll have to rely on the hosts' cooking, which they did for our breakfast and dinner. Bringing your own snacks would be helpful. There was also no reception nor wifi in our room, which was fine by me! The perfect opportunity to curl up with a book or HTHT. (There is, however, wifi in the living room, which served as the lobby for guests.)

Breakfast - we got to grind the coffee beans for it

You can check out the property on Airbnb here. The owners have got more than one house. There's also Nature's Paradise of Happy Heart and Nature's Paradise Spirit Castle, each with its unique characteristics.

If you've never used Airbnb, or even if you have you can try, here's SGD $29 to get you started!

I'll leave you with a video tour of Nature's Paradise of Lazy-Bone, which also has a bit of our cycling adventures (the owners were kind enough to lend us bicycles) where we checked out the nearby sights in Taitung.