[Travel] Part 7 of 8, Taiwan

Hot and poisonous, and this is the actual meaning derived from tha Atayal tribe in Wulai, Taipei. But you shouldn’t be scared and intimidated by that word itself, because the beauty of this place is often indescribable by words.

Wikitravel has an extensive list on what you can do at this beautiful place.

You can get a set of breakfast at NT$25, that’s really interesting actually.

Breakfast with a pair of chopsticks.

Wulai

How you can get there? From wikitravel :

Take the MRT to Xindian Station (Xindian line). Take the bus with destination name 烏來 Sindian-Taipei Main Station at the bus stop in front of the station, just behind the Information Counter. The bus journey takes about 40 minutes (longer on weekends) and costs NT$40.

But we opted for a taxi instead, which costs about NT800 for 30 minutes trip. That is like NT$200 per person.

As most of the cars can’t go right into the village itself, you need to do a big of walking to reach the mini-train that brings you to the top of the hill. (One of the tourist attraction)

This place is famous for its hot springs and beautiful waterfall.


The buildings are surrounded by the river banks.

And there’s actually a lot of locals swimming on the river. Really.

There is a lot of shops that sell snacks and aborigines’ handmade items. But if you make a right turn on this road. You’ll notice there’s a 3 storey high museum that is dedicated for the local tribes.

NT$50 per person.

This caught my attention because Malas translates to Lazy in Bahasa Melayu.

Sweet potatoes.

This seems like a localized version of Corn.

Very filling Taro-ball in the making. (Yam)

It seems even here in this place, you can never get enough of the friendly people, smiles and food!

Some of the local delicacies including:

Mushroom soup.

Noodles.

Braised Pork Rice.

Cabbage.

Glutinous Rice in bamboo.

As you walk pass the bridge and a little bit up the hill, you will be able to take a mini-train.

Apparently this is the only mode of transport in the old times where people transport items.

The ticket

The train. It’s actually a pretty fun ride if you ask me. You can opt to buy a one-way ticket up the hill and take a walk down via the Lover’s trail.

As you arrive, you will need to walk a little bit more around to explore the scenery. Including the beautiful waterfall…

This is how it looks like up there. The train took approximately around 10 minutes to reach the top.

And the waterfall, from afar.

There’s actually a small scale performance art happening on a regular basis here.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on what performance they are offering.

There’s even lyrics.

Some of the stairs have these kind of interesting art.

And that is all to it on the top of the hill. Souvenirs.

If you decide to walk down the hill (which is much easier than climbing up), essentially you will pass through the Lover’s trail.

Outside of a washroom.

And you get to see how long the rivers runs.

Opposite an electrical generator?

The current is pretty fast as well.

Taipei’s Modern Toilet

Just when almost everyone in this world thought that different concepts of restaurants has been done to death, think again as there is this really weird idea of sitting inside a toilet having your meal.

Modern Toilet, sounds normal? If you are curious, go there via this map.

While there are nothing to shout about from the menu itself.

Wait until you see the decor of the shop.

And at how the foods are prepared…

Ice lemon tea…

Fries. While you may think it’s still alright to look at, wait until you finish the meal…

But worry not, no one gets any serious diarrhea after that.

And in case you are wondering, yes there is toilet, that you can use.

And some fake one.

A real one.

This is actually a mascot for a bank in Taiwan.

While you might be wondering, it is not Bak Kut Teh, but the same Braised Pork Belly Rice in Shilin Market.

It’s pretty crowded alright.

While it is still at June, the night gets pretty cold at around 15 – 20 degrees Celsius.


I had forgotten what this is for. And that is all for the last day in Taiwan. Last one coming up to sum up the trip and going back to airport via the high speed rail (HSR) from Taipei –> Taoyuan International Airport in less than 30 minutes.

The entire travel-log to Taiwan consists of travel to :

  • Taipei City
  • Shilin Night Market
  • Xinbeitou Hot springs
  • Wulai, Taipei
  • Hualien County, Taiwan
  • XiMenDing
  • Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
  • DanShui old street
  • Danshui Fisherman’s wharf

The links: