Northern Area, Taiwan
May & June 2018
In our efforts to circumnavigate the island of Taiwan, we continued North by train to where we started our journey 9 weeks prior. For our remaining few weeks in country, we split our accommodations between the towns of Tamsui and Taipei. From both locations, we took a few day trips to explore more of what the Northern area had to offer.
See video and photos below highlighting our days in the Northern area of Taiwan. To see all images of this location click the link at the bottom of this post or go to our gallery.
North Coast, Taiwan
On a day trip to the North Coast, we hopped on a public bus departing from Tamsui, for an hour long ride to our first destination, Fugui Cape. At Fugui Cape, we visited the lighthouse which also happens to be the northernmost point of the island. Nearby Fugui Cape, we walked the beach to see beautiful green reef furrows along the oceans edge. We continued our walk to a naturally created large stone archway. These three attractions were walking distance of each other and made for a nice way to spend the day.
Fugui Cape Lighthouse
This is the Fugui Cape Lighthouse bus stop, the first stop on our day trip to the North Coast. Public bus rides in Taiwan are relatively easy with one exception, which is knowing when to push the “stop” button which alerts the bus driver to pullover at the next stop. This task can be tricky as there are many stops along the way which come and go very quickly. The digital sign inside the bus will flash the upcoming “stop” name in English just a few seconds before arriving. When riding the bus, we learned to follow our route using the GPS on our phone which helped to keep track of our location and upcoming stops, but this method still isn’t foolproof. You must still pay close attention to the digital reader sign and then quickly push the “stop” button the second you see your desired “stop” name appear (it’s all in the timing!!). In an effort to stay on schedule, the bus drivers drive at a very quick pace and will only stop when the “stop” button has been pushed or there is someone waiting on the street at a bus stop. Failure to pay attention will result in a potential long walk!! 😉
Fugui Cape Lighthouse is Taiwan’s northernmost point. Originally built in 1896, the lighthouse was destroyed during the second world war. It was replaced by the current 47 ft. high structure in 1949, and was the first lighthouse built by the Japanese during their colonization in Taiwan.
Rick and Alisa in front of the Fugui Cape Lighthouse, Taiwan’s northernmost point.
Rick and Alisa at the Fugui Cape Lighthouse.
Fugui Cape Lighthouse, Taiwan’s northernmost point.
Laomei Green Reef Furrows
Over centuries these volcanic reefs were subjected to pounding waves eventually forming a 1.25 mile stretch of vertical furrows that are an average depth of 20 inches. In winter, moisture fosters large algae growths on the reef. By April when the winds ease, the reefs look like they are covered in brilliant green carpet. We visited at the tail end of the season which meant there was less green algae growth, but the green “carpeted” areas were still very brilliant, beautiful, and unique.
Laomei Green Reef Furrows, a short walk away from the Fugui Cape Lighthouse, and our second destination of the day.
Panoramas
Rick standing near one section of the Laomei Green Furrows.
Rick standing in a section of the Laomei Green Furrows.
Rick in one of the bare sections of the Laomei Green Furrows.
Closer view of waves rolling into the Laomei Green Reef Furrows.
An area of the Laomei Green Reef Furrows with plenty of the brilliant green algae.
Because we were late in the season, the Laomei Green Reef Furrows were starting to recede. The volcanic furrows are still beautiful even without the green algae.
Closer view of the late season Laomei Green Reef Furrows.
As the ocean waves rolled into the Laomei Green Reef Furrows, it created many fantastic and very entertaining explosions of water.
One of the many explosions of water at the Laomei Green Reef Furrows.
On the Way to the Shimen (Stone Gate) Arch, our third and last destination of the day.
This super nice lady saw us walking on the roadway and pulled over to ask where we were going. She said it was way too hot to be walking and insisted on giving us a ride the 1.5 km distance to our next destination.
To give you an idea of how hot it was…look at the amount of sweat on Alisa. The temperature outside was over 100 degrees F, but with the high humidity it was actually closer to 115 degrees F. We were happy to accept the nice lady’s offer to drive us the 1.5 km distance to Shimen in her air conditioned car.
Shimen (Stone Gate) Arch
Once under water, Plate Tectonic uplifting has the caused the arch to rise above sea level. It is currently 6.5 ft. at its base and 33 ft. at its crown above sea level.
Vertical view of the Shimen (Stone Gate) Arch. The archway leads to the beach and park area behind it.
Shimen Arch Park bridge. Note the bright green algae in this area as well.
Part of the Shimen Arch Park area. The green algae in the area is brilliant similar to the Laomei Green Reef Furrows a few kilometers away.
View from the Shimen Arch Park looking toward the Northernmost point in Taiwan, Fugui Cape Lighthouse, in the distance.
Video – North Coast (Northern), Taiwan
Pingxi Narrow Gauge Railway & Sandiaoling Waterfall Trail, Taiwan
Another day trip in Northern Taiwan consisted of an hour long train ride from Taipei, a short train ride on a 1920’s Japanese era narrow gauge railway, and a several hour waterfall hike in the Sandiaoling area.
Pingxi Narrow Gauge Railway Built in the 1920s.
Rick shooting video as our Pingxi railway train (our ride to Sandiaoling) arrives into the station.
Sandiaoling Waterfall Trail.
Rick walking up the train track to find the trailhead.
The first stretch of the trail consisted of a climb up several sets of steps.
View from the trail looking down at the small town of Sandiaoling.
One of two trees we came across on the trail covered in fuzzy caterpillars.
The second crazy tree covered in fuzzy caterpillars.
Hegu Falls, our first waterfall of the day.
Rick getting ready to walk across this interesting narrow bridge, the base in which you walk is made up of a large rope.
Motian Falls, the second waterfall of the day. There wasn’t much water in any one of the falls because this time of year is considered dry season.
To reach the third waterfall, we had to climb several very steep sets of stairs…this was only one section.
There was only a trickle of water coming off of our third waterfall of the day, Pipa Dong Falls.
A narrow section of the trail with several ropes and hand holds for safety.
One section of several very steep and slightly rickety ladders leading to the top of the trail.
Rick climbing up the last section of several steep ladders.
We made it to the top of the trail. Our hike did not end here, but our photos did. We put our cameras away to protect them from the massive rainstorm that hit us. We continued our hike, in the pouring rain, across and down this ridge trail for close to an hour before catching a spur trail to our final destination, the Dahua train station. The spur trail consisted of walking up 1/2 mile of steep and extremely slippery stone steps followed by 1/2 mile of even more treacherous downhill steps. The last 1/2 mile of the hike took a very long time as we were overly cautious to avoid falling and breaking our necks 😉 Thankfully, we arrived at the Dahua train station while it was still light where we caught our train back to town. Despite the downpour, the hike was a nice way to spend the day outside the hustle and bustle of the busy Taipei city life.
Video – Sandiaoling Hike (Northern), Taiwan.
Wulai, Taiwan
Wulai, famous for it’s many hot springs, is a beautiful and largely untamed area of Taiwan. Located 15.5 miles south of Taipei, it is a world apart from the busy city life of Taipei. Our day trip to Wulai greatly exceeded our expectations, it really felt like we were much further away from the big city.
To reach Wulai, we took a 30 minute MRT ride out of Taipei City followed by a 30 minute ride on this public bus.
The public bus dropping us off at our stop in Wulai.
Wulai Town.
Panorama view of the Wulai River. This is the scenery we saw as we arrived into town and hopped off the bus.
View looking up a small tributary which joins the larger Wulai River. There were many natural hot springs steaming along the river’s edge. Most of the hotels in Wulai offer various hot spring soaking tubs in their rooms. We did not partake in any of the hot spring facilities as the weather was way too hot.
View looking down the narrow and very clean “main street” in Wulai. To reach the main attractions in the area, you had to walk through this narrow street consisting of small hotels, local restaurants, food stalls, home-made millet wine shops, and souvenir shops.
Wulai Log Cart.
The Wulai Log Cart system was designed by the Japanese in 1928 to transport timber, logging tools, tea and passengers. Today, the log carts haul tourists roughly 1 mile up from Wulai Old Street to the Wulai Waterfall and Cable Car.
Three log carts at the Wulai Log Cart Station. The bright pink or green carts can carry up to 10 people and will take passengers on a 1 mile ride to the Wulai Waterfall and Cable Car.
Our log cart and driver. You can walk to Wulai Falls and Cable Car, but it’s much more fun to take a one way log cart ride up and then walk back to town.
The colorful graphics on the rear of our cute little log cart.
Rick and Alisa in front of our log cart. The ride was short and relatively quick but, it was fun and worth the cost ($3.50 US for the two of us).
One of the original wooden log carts seen during our 1 mile long log cart ride.
The very beautiful 262 foot high Wulai Waterfall.
You can take a cable car to the resort at the top of Wulai Falls.
Cable cars running to the top of the falls.
Wulai Cable Car Ride up to the Wulai Resort above Wulai Falls.
Our cable car sitting in the station prior to our ride to the top. You can see Wulai Falls in the distance.
View of town as seen from our cable car ride to the top.
View of town as seen from the cable car loading area at the top.
Wulai Resort & Park Area above Wulai Falls.
Wulai Resort Archway and a series of steps which lead to the actual resort area. We considered not taking the cable car to the top, but we are so glad we did. At the top of the steps, there are many beautifully manicured and landscaped areas with walking paths and bridges across a small lake and several creeks and waterfalls. The area also included a hotel and a few villas. A very pretty setting and a nice way to spend a few hours.
View from above the upper cable car landing area. In the center, note the slide damage on the hillside from the 2015 typhoon. Heavy flooding washed through the greater Wulai valley. We saw many construction crews clearing the river channel and hauling away flood debris as a result of the typhoon nearly 3 years ago.
View of town from the resort area well above the cable car landing area.
Resort area lake, bridge and walking trail.
Resort area small lake and bridge.
One of several bridges leading to walking paths around the resort.
Video – Wulai (Northern), Taiwan.
Taiwanese Snacks
During our 3 month stay in Taiwan, we came to enjoy the many delicious snacks. Some we enjoyed were unique to specific areas, while others were sold in convenience stores throughout the island .
Local Wulai Snacks.
Grilled local Wulai Taiwanese sausage. While you can find Taiwanese sausages around the island, the Wulai sausages are known to be leaner and more flavorful.
Wulai bamboo sticky rice and rice dumplings.
The bamboo is stuffed with sticky rice, steamed and then cracked open prior to serving. The bamboo infuses a nice flavor to the already tasty rice.
This rice dumpling included pork in addition to the sticky rice.
Island Wide Snacks.
One of our all-time favorite snacks were these triangles which consisted of rice and meat wrapped in seaweed. They are made daily and delivered fresh and are available at every convenience store in Taiwan. We were hesitant about them at first, but once we tried them, we were hooked. So good and cheap!!
Another favorite treat available throughout the island, was a waffle filled with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.
