Wulai

On Sunday we went to Wulai, in the south of Taipei County, to get out of the city and see a little nature. It was sunny and 25 degrees- I love December in Taiwan! We started things off by taking the MRT to the end of the line and then taking a taxi to Wulai. There were 6 of us so we had to go in two taxis and the drive took about half an hour. When the taxi carrying myself, Mel and Jason was about halfway there we got a call saying that the other taxi had gone off in the opposite direction and it would take close to an hour before our friends would be able to meet us in Wulai! While we waited we got some street snacks (chocolate dipped mochi and a boar sausage) and had coffees on a really nice terrace until they arrived (minus one pair of Ray Bans).


We walked through the Wulai old street, which sells lots of snacks, drinks and traditional souvenirs until we got to the "Log Gart" train which would take us to the waterfall and gondola area.


On the log gart.


The main attraction of Wulai is this waterfall, which is quite a good size and empties into the nice bright blue river below. We relaxed here and enjoyed the view for a while.


Next, we took a gondola ride to the top of a mountain where there is a resort, some cafes and a few activities for the kids. The gondola was a little overpriced in my opinion ($220NT round trip), because I think there's lots to see for free at the bottom of the mountain.


View of Wulai from the top.


When we got to the top we all took a big swimming poo.


There was a nice area where you could rent paddleboats or simply enjoy the view while misunderstanding each other. Sample conversation:

Jason (points to a duck): "In the winter we eat a lot of injured duck in Taiwan. It's very delicious."

Shawn: "You eat a lot of injured duck??"

Jason: "Ginger duck."

Shawn: "That makes more sense"


When we went down to the water to take some pictures, Kris moonwalked his ass right into the lake. This was probably my favorite moment of the day :)


We went to a tea house and got some drinks (actually, Mel and I got beer because it was 1/3 the price of the tea- score!) and then we took the gondola ride back down the mountain. We started walking towards a suspension bridge that Nareesa remembered visiting in the summer, but halfway there we asked for directions and were told we weren't going the right way. Since it was going to be dark soon, we decided to head back to the log gart. At this point, a very peculiar man riding a scooter pulled over to the side of the road, introduced himself and followed us for about 15 minutes. Even though he was Chinese, he refused to talk to Kris and Jason in Chinese because he insisted that they looked Korean even though they told him they don't speak Korean. He also treated us to some English, French, Japanese and Russian conversation and even posed in a picture with us (he's the first guy on the left in the above photo). This strange gentleman who didn't understand social cues was probably my second favorite part of the day after Kris's swimming adventure.


When you go to a restaurant that's been featured on a TV show called "Bizarre Foods" you know you're going to have an interesting meal. When we arrived there the owner started recommending a bunch of dishes to Kris in Chinese and he asked if we should just order all of her recommended dishes- which included deep fried BEES and ostrich stirfry. Apparently foreigners love to try the deep fried bees. Not this foreigner!! We had some bitter melon (so bitter!), boar stir fry, banana rice (it tasted like a banana muffin- yum!) and rice cooked in bamboo instead.


For dessert we got some shaved ice with taro ice cream, kiwi and strawberries, all while I kicked everyone's ass at cards. Boo yeah!


After the taxi debacle earlier in the day, we decided to take a bus back to the MRT. We had to wait a little bit and watch the bus driver take his break before we were allowed on the bus. It was a long trip and I found myself wishing I had gotten some of those deep fried bees to snack on for the ride home......