Birthday Spa Time in Wulai

I love it when its Friday the 13th, especially when it's my daughter's birthday! The luckiest date of my life! I took off Friday afternoon, pulled the girl out of school and headed to Wulai as my gift to her.

Wulai is actually closer than our trip would seem. Its only 17 km from Jiaoxi (our nearest hot springs), there's an aborignal trail we could hike on.

Unwilling to brave the cold rain, we took a bus To Taipei, the MRT to Xindian and a local 40 min bus to Wulai.

Our room with a view

 We stayed at a decent hotel only 200 m from the bus top and right by the bridge into the small Old Street. The place had a complimentary breakfast, unlimited coffee all day and a cat my daughter couldn't get enough of.

bus to Taipei

Our old Italian traveler friend Bruno was in transit between his Okinawa and Sri Lanka trip and met us there. He spoiled us with some gifts, including a hand mirror with our names engraved and a little artist's case with supplies for her. It was perfect weather for hot springs, freezing! We didn't make it to the crowded public ones across the river, but our hotel's public pools were indoors with open windows  right on the river banks, and were empty.

Two nights was too much time for Wulai and not knowing any locals. We took our time, ate as much Atayal food as possible, took the gondola to the waterfall, had Z do some weaving with an Atayal girl, and did some shopping. I had wanted  Z to do some aboriginal archery, where they make their own bows and arrows, but I had needed to make a more advanced reservation. I also missed  meeting a friend  who was going to show us his favorite restaurant, but by Sunday brunch we were eager to get back. Hopefully next time and also stop at Wenshan Tea Farm on our return to Taipei to buy some world class tea.

On the cable car to the waterfalls

All in all the girl was grateful for her weekend getaway, everyone appreciates a change of scene. yet she was equally grateful to be back in Yilan. I was too, I had to catch up on housework and laundry and prepare for Monday, she had to catch up on some Trollhunters.

My Family's First Visit to Formosa: Waterfalls and Dolphins

After Taipei, we quickly left the busy city for some slow paced, nature time in Yilan County.

A bunch of goofballs,Wofongci Waterfalls

We arrived in Jiaoxi (礁溪) and took a taxi to our guesthouse called Atayal Xiang, which was just around the corner. In the stifling heat with all their luggage, taking a taxi from the bus depot was the only option. There are really no side-walks on the main road.

Double room at Atayal Xiang

The owner Paul is an aboriginal (Atayal tribe) and very welcoming, helpful, knowledgeable and his place is clean, comfortable and well located. He was able to book us the boat tour to Turtle Island and rent a car to drive to Taroko, among regularly surprising us with delectable trays of exotic fruits and teas.

Dolphin watching tour, Turtle island in the background

There was a typhoon stalking our itinerary. I was a bit worried we would be stuck indoors as the tropical storm approached Yilan and was growing into a massive typhoon. Fortunately for us it changed direction and hit Okinawa severely, sadly peopled died there. For us it meant our afternoon boat and island tour to Turtle (Guishan) Island (龜山島) was rescheduled from 1pm to the morning, and we wouldn't be disembarking. On the way to the boat docks we stopped for some motion sickness pills, my daughter who gets sea-sick, staunchly refused to take them and later suffered.

It didn't take long for us to be surrounded by a large pod of dolphins. There were dozens on either side of the boat, babies with their mothers. Some of the show-offs did amazing leap displays. My camera phone couldn't catch a decent shot, so I had to just enjoy it in the imprints of my memories. It was a beautiful trip, but most all the Taiwanese were getting sick, the back of the boat was one large group puke fest and my stubborn daughter was among them, she didn't get to enjoy the dolphins at all. I was pretty disappointed we didn't get explore the island, but after 2 hours on the boat, I couldn't imagine the others having the stamina for the real tour. My folks and brother were relieved to be on dry land.

Back in Jiaoxi, we had some noodles, chili ice-cream and took a taxi to the Wofongci Waterfalls (五峰旗瀑布). It was an easy enough walk, 10 minutes to the first set of falls, maybe ten more to the top and most impressive of the falls, but the humidity took its toll on my family and they dragged their feet. Z and I made the most of their slow pace by frolicking in the cold mountain pools.

 We returned to Atayal Xiang exhausted, everyone took a pre-dinner siesta. I had to convince my mom to come experience the Japanese style hot springs.

Grandmother and granddaughter admiring the falls

I was uber-excited for my mom to experience the tranquility of an outdoor hot springs with the Japanese bamboo setting. It was our second time at these springs, but being nude in a public bath (separated by gender of course) was inhibiting for her. After a while, the soothing waters and natural setting worked their magic. She explored the different temperature pools and we returned to our guest house in a light rain which cooled the evening off. Everyone slept well that night.

We spent 2 nights and 3 days in Jiaoxi. I had to go apartment hunting in Yilan one afternoon with a new coworker and a couple of real estate agents, but came up empty handed. In my absence my family went to the fish foot spas and returned with many jokes of their experience.