The wife and I booked a day trip to Taiwan's north coast through Klook.
The meeting point is near Ximen MRT Station which is coincidentally near our hotel.
The area is crowded because this is also the meeting point of other tour operators; no worries since the coordinator would be holding a sign and announcing their tour company and destination.
Since it was an early morning trip, there were less traffics in going out of Taipei City. The lady tour guide tried her best to explain everything about our trip. She even acted as our photographer. Surprisingly, almost all of us in the tour group are Filipinos. There were around three who were of different nationalities.
Our first destination was Yehliu Geopark. At that time there was a slight drizzle aside from strong sea breeze so we were not able to explore the entire area but nevertheless we had plenty of times to enjoy the views and the astounding rock formations. Some of the visitors purchased raincoats from the vendors; our umbrella didn't hold out in such strong winds so we preferred to loiter near the observatory deck. There is a famous rock formation and they called it "The Queen's Head" since it really looks like a head of a queen. We stayed here for an hour.
Next in line was the Ying Yang Sea. It seemed that this is an abandoned military camp facing the sea. After a few minutes of sightseeing we proceeded to Golden Waterfall. The guide has explained to us that the golden color of the waterfall was due to certain mineral or chemical; nothing especial actually in this area. We stayed here for a couple of minutes.
After a while, we reached the old street of Jiufen. We stayed here for around two hours. Since it was raining we found it hard to find a place to take our lunch. We ended up taking a bowl of steaming hot soup with dimsum and noodles. Shops selling different local delicacies and souvenir items lined-up the main street while old houses serve as food shops. We strolled along the crowded main street and bought sweets and souvenir items. Since it was chilly due to rain we opted to spend our free time and have a cup of coffee at Family Mart if I remember it correctly. If not for the rain we would have fully enjoyed the place.
The last on our trip itinerary is the old railway of Shifen. Before reaching the place our guide passed a list where we can select the number of colors our sky lantern would be, each color represents something good; we selected 4 colors. Upon disembarking at Shifen, we were lucky to witness an actual train passing.
We followed our guide to the shop where our sky lantern has been prepared; the staff showed us the sky lantern that we reserved and paid; the more color you choose the more expensive the sky lantern. We wrote on the four side of the sky lantern and waited for our turn to release it. Soon afterwards, one of their staff brought our sky lantern outside and started to light the small burner or candle while another staff acted as our photographer. It was a well-coordinated move so in no time at all we got plenty of selfies and our sky lantern flew together with our money, lol.
All told, it was a memorable experience for both of us since it was our first time to light a sky lantern and see the local cultures of Taiwanese people in a pretty convenient and safe way. I just hope that what we wrote or wished on the sky lantern would come true for this year.
The meeting point is near Ximen MRT Station which is coincidentally near our hotel.
The area is crowded because this is also the meeting point of other tour operators; no worries since the coordinator would be holding a sign and announcing their tour company and destination.
Since it was an early morning trip, there were less traffics in going out of Taipei City. The lady tour guide tried her best to explain everything about our trip. She even acted as our photographer. Surprisingly, almost all of us in the tour group are Filipinos. There were around three who were of different nationalities.
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| Geological Rock Formations |
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| Restricted Area |
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| Yehliu Geopark |
Our first destination was Yehliu Geopark. At that time there was a slight drizzle aside from strong sea breeze so we were not able to explore the entire area but nevertheless we had plenty of times to enjoy the views and the astounding rock formations. Some of the visitors purchased raincoats from the vendors; our umbrella didn't hold out in such strong winds so we preferred to loiter near the observatory deck. There is a famous rock formation and they called it "The Queen's Head" since it really looks like a head of a queen. We stayed here for an hour.
 |
| Golden Waterfalls |
Next in line was the Ying Yang Sea. It seemed that this is an abandoned military camp facing the sea. After a few minutes of sightseeing we proceeded to Golden Waterfall. The guide has explained to us that the golden color of the waterfall was due to certain mineral or chemical; nothing especial actually in this area. We stayed here for a couple of minutes.
After a while, we reached the old street of Jiufen. We stayed here for around two hours. Since it was raining we found it hard to find a place to take our lunch. We ended up taking a bowl of steaming hot soup with dimsum and noodles. Shops selling different local delicacies and souvenir items lined-up the main street while old houses serve as food shops. We strolled along the crowded main street and bought sweets and souvenir items. Since it was chilly due to rain we opted to spend our free time and have a cup of coffee at Family Mart if I remember it correctly. If not for the rain we would have fully enjoyed the place.
 |
| There goes our sky lantern |
The last on our trip itinerary is the old railway of Shifen. Before reaching the place our guide passed a list where we can select the number of colors our sky lantern would be, each color represents something good; we selected 4 colors. Upon disembarking at Shifen, we were lucky to witness an actual train passing.
We followed our guide to the shop where our sky lantern has been prepared; the staff showed us the sky lantern that we reserved and paid; the more color you choose the more expensive the sky lantern. We wrote on the four side of the sky lantern and waited for our turn to release it. Soon afterwards, one of their staff brought our sky lantern outside and started to light the small burner or candle while another staff acted as our photographer. It was a well-coordinated move so in no time at all we got plenty of selfies and our sky lantern flew together with our money, lol.
All told, it was a memorable experience for both of us since it was our first time to light a sky lantern and see the local cultures of Taiwanese people in a pretty convenient and safe way. I just hope that what we wrote or wished on the sky lantern would come true for this year.
For more details about this day trip see: Yehliu Geopark Shuttle Bus
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