Taiwan Trip 2015 (台灣30天環島記) - Day 3: Yilan 宜蘭 (Cheng Huang Breakfast 城隍早餐), Jiaoxi 礁溪 (Wufengqi Waterfall 五峰旗瀑布, Shen Lin Feng Pin Japanese Styled Nude Hot Springs 溫泉公園森林風呂)

So my journey around the whole Taiwan island officially starts today, which will begin in Yilan city. In the morning, I bid my host good bye and then headed towards City Hall bus station. From there I managed to board a direct bus (Capital Bus 首都客運) to Yilan, thanks to a new highway. This is so much more convenient  and faster than taking a train which requires going around the coastal area in New Taipei city. On a side note there are also a lot of buses leaving the City Hall station, which means that people can skip Taipei Main Station for their buses for some stops. A whole lot more convenient now.

Yilan Train Station

I reached Yilan city in 1 hour! The bus dropped me off at it's station which is located 150 metres away from the Yilan train station back exit. Unfortunately Google maps does not know about this so I made a huge detour and walking around in circles before finally reaching my 2nd Couchsurfing host's house which was about 1km away from the station. 

Yilan city street view

My host's house was actually located in a shop lot so I even went into the wrong houses sharing almost the same address haha. But once that's settled my host (a guy) warmly welcomed me into his cozy home. I was given a place to sleep in his reading room (i presume) on a thin tatami bed. Not the most comfortable but it was still really nice and comfy with the thick quilt.

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After chatting with him for awhile and passing to him a few packets of Bak Kut Teh herbs that he requested, I then set off to explore the city for awhile using a bicycle that he kindly provided. I was recommended to try out Chen Huang Breakfast, also another popular breakfast spot, which was located about 15 minutes away on the ride.


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Not knowing what to order, I ordered their Pork Belly rice (扣肉飯), some egg biscuit (蛋餅) and a cup of soya bean to go with the meal. The pork was quite nice with the meat being cooked to really tender and succulent. The egg biscuit was so so, I didn't really enjoy this dish throughout the trip actually. Just too much flour haha. The soya bean had a burnt taste, which is present in a lot of shops selling soya bean in Taiwan, which I also didn't really like lol. Not very sure if they purposely made it that way but I have asked some Taiwanese friends and they didn't like the burnt smell as well.

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After getting my brunch settled I then headed back to the train station and took a train 10 minutes up northwards to Jiaoxi. Apart from being an overly commercialized area for hot springs, Jiaoxi also has it's fair share of scenic areas.


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My only mode of transport here was with the Taiwan Tourist Bus (台灣好行), as with other places. It is really good that the Taiwan government had assigned selected bus companies to run routes to cover different tourist spots in a particular area where public transport may be scarce. However these buses are usually not regular, mostly hourly, but punctual, serves as a decent way to move around for backpackers like me who can't afford to take taxis or do not have a driving licence to rent a motorcycle. 



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After waiting for some time, the bus or rather mini-van arrived and I made my way to Wufengqi waterfall which was a few kilometres away from the main town area. The main attraction here is its waterfalls, which consists of three layers, and they measure 100 meters from top to bottom.




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Mini dam

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The van drops me off at the parking area and it was a few hundred metres walk before reaching the main hiking trail.  I was really worried that it will rain as the sky was really, really cloudy back at Jiaoxi station but thankfully the sun came back. If it rained it would be quite dangerous to hike up with the stairs being all wet and my shoes isn't exactly the best shoes for hiking.

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Fortunately my life was made a lot easier with proper man made steps to climb up the hill. Not sure whether was it me that was really unfit or the cold weather made a difference but I was found to be gasping for air after awhile, as I passed the first layer of the waterfall. I am guessing it was the former haha. 

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After more steps I have reached the second layer. The view here has begun to look to really beautiful and there are many chairs around just for visitors just to sit there to admire the majestic view. I saw an old couple just sitting there and meditating while listening to waters crashing in the background. There are also some empty areas where people can do picnics but nobody in their sane mind would do that during the winter season.

Wufengqi Waterfall

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The climb towards the final layer was much more higher to reach and took me a longer period of time to arrive (in this context, it's still a pretty short climb compared to say, Broga). But the effort was worth it in the end. Even though I was a good distance away but I could feel the water splashing against my face. The scene was even more beautiful when the sunlight hit the waters at a certain angle which produced a rainbow. Too bad I couldn't capture it on camera. Unfortunately as I had to catch the bus back to the main town area, I only got to appreciate the moment for a good 20 minutes before I literally ran all the way down hundred metres of steps to get back to the waiting area in case I miss the van back. 




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On the way back I decided to hop off at the Hot Spring Park to reward myself after a strenuous hiking session. You do not come to Jiaoxi without trying out the hot springs!

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For more budgeted travelers or those who simply who do not want to undress themselves to have a taste of hot spring experience, the local government was kind enough to provide a public hot spring park whereby people can soak their legs in the hot springs for free. Not the most hygienic but it would do for most people who are too lazy to get wet.

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Since there was tonnes of other hot spring resorts around I spent a good 20 minutes out in the cold weather Googling which was the best one with a reasonable price. In the end I settled for Sen Lin Feng Pin Hot Springs which was about 10 minutes walk away from the park. The special thing about this hot spring resort is that it follows the Japanese style nude bath whereby everybody, segregated by sex, share same the same pool area completely naked. I kinda missed the experience after trying it out at Spa World in Osaka and I was really glad I could try it once more. 

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I paid for the Economy Ticket (NTD 250) which included towel rental and in I went. There's a limit of how many visitors (max ~ 50 people) that could enter displayed at the entrance so expect to wait for your turn during the peak season. And every week they would switch the male and female areas so regular visitors can have the best of both worlds.

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Once you enter it is very easy to see who are the first timers lol. The hot spring area is actually not that big and there are lockers to keep your belongings for a small fee. There is a semi indoor pool which is  80% covered by walls which protects the visitors from the cruel winter wind when they get out. Waters here are about 40°C and is the hottest among the lot. There is a bigger outdoor pool with temperatures around 38°C which I can tolerate better. Lastly there is a cold pool with waters below 10 °C and I only managed to put my legs inside before thinking nope, very bad idea. 

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After a really satisfying hot spring experience (spent about 45 minutes there), I then headed back to Jiaoxi main street area to hunt for dinner. At last I settled for a stall which has quite a lot of customers and ordered a plate of duck fried rice. Taiwanese fried rice is very similar to Japanese fried rice considering the similarity of rice used and it tasted quite good.


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I then bid Jiaoxi good bye and headed back to Yilan city. On the way back I passed by Dongmen Night Market. One half of the market sells clothings and other stuff while the other half was basically a huge hawker centre selling your regular Taiwanese street food. I grabbed a popiah ice cream and then left for my host's home. 


~ Day 3 end ~

Comments

ZS said…
@Happy walker

Thanks for the visit! Glad you liked it.