Taiwan Archives | Meghy Was Here

Gaomei Wetlands Travel Guide: Eco Sanctuary of Taichung

Meghy — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 05:48:33 +0000

Aside from Taipei, we also visited Taichung in Taiwan which is about an hour HSR train ride from Taipei Main Station. We visited few beautiful places in Taichung but my personal favorite is Gaomei Wetlands. I consider it the highlight of our Taichung trip as it showcases one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen in my life. The place tends to be touristy but it is not that famous among Filipino travelers. We were supposed to rent a car on the day of our visit to Taichung but got cancelled last minute. Good thing, Taiwan’s transport system is so efficient and we were able to pull up a DIY trip to Gaomei Wetlands at the last minute. Here’s a guide that you can follow if you wish to add Gaomei Wetlands to your next Taiwan bucket list.

Knowing the Wetland

Gaomei Wetlands is a flat land that lies in the coastal area of Qingshui District. Coming from its name, it is a wetland or an area where a mixture of soil and sands is covered by water forming a diverse ecosystem that serves as home to diverse wildlife such as crabs and mudskippers. The area spans over 300 hectares which is a good spot to watch the sunset and the picturesque windmills across its dock during the late afternoon. It is just about an hour drive from Taichung center and will absolutely turn up your Taichung experience.

How to Get There?

From Taichung Main Station or Xinwuri Station (if you will be coming from Taipei through HSR train, just transfer station from HSR to Xinwuri Station), ride the local train (TRA) that will take you to Qingshui Station. Please check the train schedule online to make sure that you’ll get to the train on time. The ride may take around 45 minutes, outside Qinshui Station you may take a taxi going to Gaomei Wetlands (about a 15-minute ride). In our case, the taxi ride to Gaomei costs us 300 NTD for a group of 4 pax.

If you prefer a less hassle trip, you can book a private or joiners tour through tour agencies or klook.

Gaomei Wetlands

We arrived at Gaomei Wetlands at about 5:00 pm just in time before the sunset. Their main viewing point is their 800-meter dock that lies from the main street and will take you directly to its wetland and the shallow sea. There are flocks of people but the spectacular views are worth steering the crowds. Despite the crowd you may catch in a late afternoon, it is still a good place to relax, take a breath of fresh air and reconnect with nature.

The Gaomei Wetlands is represented by a mudskipper mascot that will welcome you at the start of the dock. While taking a stroll on the wood dock, we saw a lot of mudskippers and a few huge groups of small crabs. Aside from the sunset, it is also a perfect spot for bird watching as you can see a lot of migratory birds here during fall and winter. Upon reaching the end of the wood dock, you can take off your shoes and take a step on its waters to capture more scenic photos with the windmills and sunset at your back.

You can also visit the Gaomei Lighthouse, the Gaomei Pedestrian Bridge and the Gaomei Wind Turbine Avenue near the area. I suggest renting a bike to get into the bridge and windmill area as for me, it’s a bit far and will consume a lot of time and effort if you just walk.

There are also food places in the area if you wish to get a meal after getting tired on all the walks and wandering. We decided to have chicken and fries for an early dinner while waiting for the same taxi driver who took us from Qingshui Station. Just tell the driver to pick you up again as finding a vacant ride in the area might be difficult, especially during the night.

Going Back to Taipei

From Gaomei Wetlands, the taxi driver took us back to Qingshui Station. From Qingshui Station, we ride the local train (TRA) going to Xinwuri Station, transfer to Taichung HSR Station and finally catch our ride back to Taipei.

Gaomei Wetlands is such a dreamy place that I’ll forever cherish on my Taiwan’s core memory. Visit the place and be mesmerized as well of the beauty it has to offer.

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Wulai DIY Travel Guide: Wulai Falls + Wulai Old Street + Yun Hsien Resort

Meghy — Thu, 23 May 2024 22:49:32 +0000

Want to experience a nature trip near Taipei City? Wulai got you covered! Wulai is a district nestled in the lush mountains south of New Taipei City that offers natural exquisiteness of its hot springs, river flowing on its valleys, waterfalls, old street and even a scenic gondola ride to a mountain resort settled on top of a waterfall! Another catch, you can experience all these in just one day. A day trip to Wulai district is possible as it is just an hour away from Taipei City. Here are the things that we did during our last DIY trip to Wulai.

How to get there?

From Taipei, make your way to MRT station and ride a train that will take you to Xindian Station (Green Line). Outside Xindian station, wait for Bus 849 that will take you directly to Wulai (last stop).

Wulai Old Street

Upon drop off at the last bus stop in Wulai, we made our way to Wulai Old Street and just like any other old streets in Taiwan, it is full of food stalls and souvenir shops. A trip wouldn’t be complete without a food trip so it is a perfect place to grab some bite before starting your nature journey to Wulai. At the end of the street, you have to pass through Lansheng Bridge. It is a bridge with glass flooring on the side that spans across Nanshi River. Water flowing in the river beneath is already music in one’s ears.

Wulai Log Cart

At the end of the bridge, just follow the sign that will take you to the Wulai Log Cart terminal also known to many as the Wulai Scenic Train. This is probably what I am excited most about on this trip as I’ve seen these colorful trains many times online and I badly wanted to ride one. This rail cart was originally designed by the Japanese government to transport logs until it was rebuilt to transport passengers or tourists. Fare is 50 NTD per way that will take you from the Wulai stop to the Waterfall stop and vice versa.

Wulai Falls

Upon reaching the Waterfall stop, you have to walk for a few meters to see the majestic Wulai Falls. This is perhaps the main and most iconic attraction of Wulai district. This waterfall is about 80 meters high and such a breath of fresh air that you can’t stop yourself from mesmerizing it. There’s a platform in the view deck area where you can take photos with the falls for no fee. There are also a lot of café in the area where you could sit back, relax and enjoy the view of the falls as your backdrop.

Gondola

The most thrilling part of this trip is riding the Gondola to get into Yun Hsien Resort which is a nature resort located above the Wulai Falls. Yes, you read it right! It is located on top of the waterfall and only accessible by gondola. Actually, I am a bit scared riding this since I have a fear of heights but who would miss the chance to have a scenic trip on top of a waterfall in her lifetime? The Gondola ride costs us 300 NTD each, which already includes a 2-way cable car ride and the entrance to the resort. The ride would only take about less than 5 minutes but my heart pounds out of scare and amusement as I can see how high we are through its glass flooring but at the same time, how fascinating it is to see the beauty of Wulai Falls above it.

Cable Car Operating Hours:

Weekdays – 09:00 to 17:00

Weekends – 09:00 to 17:30

Yun Hsien Resort

Yun Hsien Resort went beyond my expectations. Not only it is located on top of the Wulai Falls but the fact that it is situated in a cloud forest with diverse flora and fauna make it even more fascinating. The resort is quite huge that it requires a lot of walking to get around its facilities. There are a lot of activities you can do inside the resort such as boating, archery, ecological tours and even firefly watching every summer. The resort’s cooler ambiance and nature’s natural sounds are a perfect source of one’s calmness and enjoyment. Visiting Yun Hsien Resort is one of my memorable trips, calm yet magical.

Going back to Taipei

Basically, you just have to go through the same means when going back. Ride the same cable car going down and make your way again back to the Wulai Log cart terminal. Upon reaching the Wulai log station, walk again back to the Wulai Old Street until you reach the bus stop (Bus 849) to go back to Xindian Station.

Conclusion

We enjoyed our day trip in Wulai district and will definitely recommend this trip to you guys! There are more things to do in Wulai that we would try next time we visit such as visiting a hot spring and seeing cherry blossoms in full bloom during its season. It is also recommended to have a DIY trip to enjoy the place at your own pace. The commute trip is easy as we all know how convenient Taiwan’s transportation system is. Visit Wulai in your next Taiwan trip!

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Huian Park + Takemura Izakaya Alley: Getting the Perfect Shot of Taipei 101

Meghy — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:59:14 +0000

Taiwan is our first international travel destination this year and I would like to start this Taiwan blog series with a travel guide that will let you see Taipei’s number one stunner and icon, the Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is the highest building in Taiwan and used to be the highest in the world way back 2004 until it was surpassed by Burj Khalifa last 2010. This skyscraper will indeed give you a majestic view from its observatory deck at the top but the structure of this stunner will give you a different level of allure when staring at it from afar. You just have to get the perfect place to appreciate its beauty, and you’re ready to take those dreamy photos as you want!

Tourists would usually go to the Elephant Mountain for an elevated view deck and get a photo with Taipei 101 but little did they know, there’s another place they could check to get that perfect shot just located in the same area. On our last Taiwan trip, we opted to visit Huian Park for that Taipei 101 shot that we are aiming. After all the long walks we had on this trip, we were quite tired to get into a trek up to the Elephant trail and would like to simply enjoy the view away from the crowd so we ended up deciding to go to Huian Park.

Huian Park is located at No. 10, Alley 9, Lane 284, Wuxing St, Xinyi District, Taipei City about 1 km away from Taipei 101. To get there, we ride an MRT going to Taipei 101 station and from there, we book an Uber for our convenience. The driver was confused about why we wanted to go to the park, as he insists that tourists usually go to the Elephant Mountain for photo ops. He even said that there is no good photo spot in the park lol

Upon arrival, we understood the driver’s concern since the area was actually a residential area. But upon taking few steps of stairs up to the viewpoint of the park, we saw the beauty that we came for and it didn’t disappoint. The Taipei 101 stands beautifully amid the chaotic yet charming neighborhood. We arrived at about 8 in the morning and the park and the view was all by ourselves! We got a chance to relish the scene without the messy crowd with the birds chirping in the background and took as much photos from as much angle as we could.

After getting enough photos we headed to our second photo location, the famous alley beside the Takemura Izakaya restaurant. The exact location would be Alley 1, Lane 253, Songren Rd, Xinyi District or just pin Takemura Izakaya restaurant in Google Maps. We walked for about 800 meters but upon reaching the street, there was a flock of tourists doing photoshoots so we decided to take breakfast first in a nearby 7-11. Luckily, after finishing our meals, there were no tourists anymore in the alley and took our time to pose and get our desired snaps. Just be mindful of the vehicles since this is also a residential area with a lot of vehicles passing by.

Overall, Huian Park is a great place to get a perfect shot of Taipei 101 if you are not into trekking steep staircases and want to avoid the crowd. The famous alley along the Takemura Izakaya restaurant is also a good photo spot that you should not miss out on if you are already in the area.

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