The house was once owned by a very affluent family, and now it is a museum (free admission). It was nice to stroll through the property and see the various man-made ponds. What is also quite fascinating were the carved rock formations.
Overall it was nice but not anything so special. I would say not to make a special trip there unless you have some extra time.
From there we made our way to Wulai. Nestled among a steep mountain range, Wulai is a small town outside of Taipei especially known for its hot springs. Once we arrived, we started making our way towards the direction of the highest waterfall in northern Taiwan. Along the way we stopped in the Wulai Atayal Museum, a museum about the Atayal aboriginals live's way back.
After the museum we continued walking along the river toward the waterfall. Had we come earlier, we would have been able to get there by train (more like a ride in a cart) and then take a gondola over the river and waterfall. Instead we walked there and did not cross the river, but we still had an amazing view of the waterfall!
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| train to the gondola |
After we soaked in the view of the waterfall (no pun intended), and took a nice amount of pictures, we walked back down the road to the town centre and walked down a couple of flights to the river where the free hot springs were. There are rocks that form in circular shapes creating natural hot tubs. The water is heated by rocks underneath (even the cement close to the rocks was quite hot to step on). What is also interesting to note is that while most hot springs have an unpleasant odor (like the one's by Beitou from the sulfur), the hot springs here do not have any smell!
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| natural hot springs along the river |
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| you can see how the rocks form natural hot springs along the river |
When we started walking to one of the springs, a lady started yelling at us (in Chinese of course!) and it took a bit to figure out that since this one did not have a pipe providing a steady flow of cold water to cool the spring down, it is too hot to go into. She then went and got us one of the empty containers hanging around the area that had been cut open on the top specifically to take the cold water from the river and pour it into the hot water from the spring. She was very kind and friendly and I chatted with her for a short bit in my extremely limited Chinese.
Once the sun went down and the town lights were turned on, it was time to head back to Taipei, but not before walking on this really cool foot bridge!
Heading back to Taipei by bus, we took it most of the way back and got off right by the Chiang Kai-shek memorial for one last stop before going back home to pack for our flight the next morning. There were a number of groups practicing dancing and doing exercise.
In all, we had a great day! I am very glad I went to Wulai as there were so many gorgeous views and the best part was soaking in the hot springs. It would have been nice to have taken the gondola over the waterfall and perhaps do a hike there, but that will have to be for another time.
Click here for more pictures of Wulai.
Location of Wulai (烏來)
Small town, Museum, Hot Springs, Waterfall
From Taipei: Take bus 849 from Xindian MRT station to the last stop Wulai and the journey is ~30 minutes.
Sitting on the right side of the bust will guarantee you the best views!
More Pictures HERE.
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