Taiwan Trip 2015 (台灣30天環島記) - Day 4: Plum (& Cherry) Blossoms Sighting @ Wuling Farm (武陵農場賞梅記)

Wuling Farm (武陵農場) is actually quite an unknown place amongst Malaysian travellers to Taiwan. But when I read about it on what a place it was I was really ecstatic. In a nutshell it used to be a huge farm in the mountain areas for veteran soldiers to spend their time. Now it is a rather touristy area with huge span of flowers, mostly plum and cherry blossoms as well as other species including roses and maple trees. Every season will give you a different scene. For this trip, I was really hoping to see plum blossoms and hopefully i was lucky enough to catch snow fall. As a mini flower enthusiast I always hoped one day I can see all the so called famous oriental flowers (梅樱桃李花梨花 )in its real flesh.

Initially I was quite hesitant about visiting this place. Firstly it is really far off. From Yilan city you have to take a 3 hour bus ride to get here (another reason to spend a day at Yilan city). From the farm you could actually continue on to Lishan 梨山. There is only one bus per day at 7.30am and the bus leaves the farm at 2.30pm. This means that if I don't stay here overnight, I only get to spend like 4 hours here. Is it worth all the hassle? The bus fares itself is also not that cheap. I also thought of spending a night here but the accommodation prices here are really steep, about NTD2000++ per night at their cheapest rooms. The locals usually bring their own tents and camp here. So after spending some time thinking, I decided to just go, since I am already here, might as well. even though it's pretty hardcore lol. 

For more info on how to get to Wuling farm, please visit their official website here. Note that there are buses from Taipei as well but it will be double the travelling time. Good luck with that. 

Entrance fees

So the night before, after making up my mind, I then headed back to the bus station to get the tickets (NTD 510). I was worried tickets will be sold out but fortunately it was the low season. If you plan to go during the cherry blossom seasons it will be really tough to secure the tickets. And at 6am, I was up and ready. But the weather wasn't really kind and it drizzled a bit and caused all my shoes to be wet, again. 

Signboard showing the room availabilities at the farm

I thought the bus would be quite empty but boy was I wrong. At that morning itself suddenly so many people turned up to get their tickets, mostly a group of old uncle and aunties making a day trip up as well. The 2.5 hour bus ride up was quite okay, not too many crazy cornerings like Alishan, although the bus driver drove really fast At halfway of the journey, the bus stopped and let us go for a toilet break (first picture). 

After a few more kilometres on the road, we finally reached our destination! As I got off the bus the fragrant scent of the plum blossoms immediately hit me.I was sooooo glad I made my way here. The whole scene was so damn beautiful with all the flowers opened in full bloom. The weather was excellent as well with a warm sun and blue skies (though was silently hoping for snow lol). This means that I could enjoy the amazing scenery without the cold getting in the way and I can finally take nice and cheerful looking pictures.

The vastness of the farm really exceeded my expectations as I scurry around trying to immerse myself among the plum blossoms and take as my photos as I can. It was also quite amusing hearing some tourists mistaking the plum blossoms as cherry blossoms. The difference between the two species is quite obvious with plum blossoms having more rounded and full flower petals while there is a noticeable 'dent' in the cherry blossom petals. Also, plum flowers have a very distinct smell (that some people may not like but I do) while cherries are usually without smell.

On a side note, there is also an apple tree which originated from the apple tree that Newton discovered gravity. The tree was a gift from the Japanese government to Taiwan. Fun fact of the day.

From the picture above, it was quite obvious there was a lot to see and do here but due to limited time I could only cover a few, but my main objectives were already fulfilled upon seeing the flowers. I was extremely satisfied lol. If you did not drive up here, there are motorbikes and bicycles on rental.

Maple tree

As I walked down the main road I then headed to a salmon sanctuary of sorts to learn about the lives of fresh water salmon. Yes, this is one of the few places on Earth where they have fresh water salmon. Unfortunately all I saw was a very clear river with no fishes. You'd probably have to go higher up stream. However, I did manage to see one maple tree with all it's leaves still in golden brown colour. 

Thanks to the clear weather today I was also able spot Snow Mountain (雪山)! And away from the main area, there are also more flower trees which are more beautiful in my opinion, like the plum blossoms in the pictures below. Most of the tourists did not actually reached this area. 

Soooooo beautiful!

Plum blossoms galore

Plum blossoms as well with yellow flowers instead of the usual pink and white.

After more walking I strayed away from the main road towards a tea farm. This is the place to be during the cherry blossom season as the trees line the roads and everywhere else. As for now, there was hardly any tourists here since the trees were mostly bare and only a few had begun to bud. Despite that, the vast landscape and greenery was also a feastful for my eyes as I enjoy my hike.

As I approached the tree farms I noticed there were cherry blossoms trees as well. And to my great delight, there were already some flowers in full bloom!! I was really really happy at that moment. This was a huge bonus. Cherry blossoms do not bloom this early and I was really lucky indeed. I tried really hard to get a good photo as the flowers were a bit high on the branches and the ground was soft. 

My best photo of a sakura

Nevertheless all good things must come to an end, mostly due to my stupidity. As I made my way from soily area back to the main road, I decided to make a small jump instead of walking properly. As a result my right foot landed into a small hole right before the tar road and I fell over, twisting my ankle in the process and got a huge cut on my right hand which supported my fall. I was flabbergasted. It's only my fourth day here in Taiwan and I had severely injured myself lol. To make matters worse I am the middle of nowhere (ok a bit of exaggeration there) and there was not a single soul around to help me lol.

But the funny thing is that I was not even mad, probably due to the fact that I have screwed up during my travel many times before after what happened in Taiwan 2 years ago and in Perhentian (a story for another day). On the slightly bright side, my camera was safely tucked in my pocket. If my camera were to be damaged I think I would board the next flight home to Malaysia lol. Also, the angle that I sprained my ankle was quite fortunate as well. I can still bend my leg forward without hurting too much, which means I was still able to walk, or rather limp, but at a much slower speed. My cut on the hand was also relatively horizontal, so I was still able to grip without feeling pain. But that was about it. I had to slow down my travelling pace and make changes to my plans all because of the injury. And even at this time writing this post, my feet still hurts. Oh well. Consequences of walking with a injury for 26 days without proper rest.

Back to the story. After accepting that I will not die at this place I picked myself up and limped my way back to the main area, hoping there would be some form of help. There was a toilet nearby and I was able to wash my wounds as there were some small rocks stuck in between and blood as well. Washing an open wound under a running freezing tap water was so much fun. Upon what it feels like the longest walk of my life I then finally arrived back at the main area, and was really relieved that they have a clinic here in these mountains! However, since it was a government run clinic it only opens 3 days a week. But, that day it was opened, only that the clinic hours was over. Lol. I was quite stoned when I saw the sign and the locked door in front of me. I thought I have no choice but to bear with an open wound and my ankle crying out loud.

As I was pondering my next course of action a car then stopped in front of the clinic. It was the doctor and his assistants returning from lunch to pack up! As they saw my wounds they immediately ushered me in. My wounds were clean and dressed and my ankle was sprayed with analgesics to numb the pain for awhile. The doctor asked how I got injured and I just told him I fell down after taking photos lol. And he said he saw this happened too many times. Ah well, finally I got myself fixed. Today had been a roller coaster ride indeed haha. 

There was only an hour plus left before the bus came so I went to the food stalls to grab my lunch and dried my wet socks and shoes under the sun. I thought my bad luck was over when I boarded the bus home but they were fixing the roads so all the cars and buses were stuck for close to 40 minutes. Back at Yilan city, I still have to drag myself 1 km back to my host's house before finally crashing on the bed lol.

Since my couchsurfing host owns a cafe on his own (which he has now shut down unfortunately), I told him I would want to pay a visit to support him, also a sign of gratitude for letting me stay at his home. But with my injury I thought I could never make it as the place was a good 20 minutes ride away. Nevertheless I still managed to pay him a visit as I figured out I could still handle the bicycle. Phew. Not that crippled I guess.

With that, I ended my day with a lovely Caramel Macchiato and a Belgian styled waffle topped with walnuts and waffles, before stopping by a pharmacy to get a cold path to reduce my swelling on my ankle.

p/s: After seeing plum blossoms and cherry blossoms side by side, I think I prefer plums more, simply because of its fragrance alone. The petals are also more beautiful for me. Too bad they do not receive as much hype as sakuras.

~ Day 4 end ~

Next: Day 5: New Taipei City (Fulong Beach 福隆海水浴場， Old Caoling Bikeway 舊草嶺自行車道), Hualien 花蓮 (Blackbear Hostel, Tzu Chi University 慈濟大學)

Previous: Day 3: Yilan 宜蘭 (Cheng Huang Breakfast 城隍早餐), Jiaoxi 礁溪 (Wufengqi Waterfall 五峰旗瀑布, 溫泉公園森林風呂 Japanese Styled Nude Hot Springs)