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Thursday, February 6, 2020

Taiwan Trip Day 13 - Taipei (台北) | Day Trip to Wulai (乌来半日游)

13 December 2018

Wulai (烏來) is located at the southern suburbs of Taipei where the settlement of the Atayal Aboriginal people (泰雅族) resides. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, the area is scenic and it is a lovely place to spend a day or half day trip.

According to legend, warriors of the Atayal tribe came to Wulai two to three hundreds years ago to hunt. They found white smoke rising from the river and shouted "Wulai" which means 'smoky hot water' in Atayal and this is how the place got its name.

Hence, one of the main attraction is to experience the hot spring!




How To Get There?

Take MRT to G01 Xindian Station. Upon exit from the station, turn right towards Bus Stop B located along Beiyi Road (北宜路一段). Take Bus 849 to Wulai Terminal Station. The whole journey takes about 40 minutes and be prepared to stand throughout your journey as there are locals and tourists who also like to make the trip.

Bus Stop along Beixin Road

9am: Already a line queuing for the bus. We waited for about 20 minutes before the bus arrives.

9:50am - The driver drove very fast and our bus journey only took half an hour! 

View of bus terminal station on the left, river stream and wulai town straight ahead.


WULAI SUSPENSION BRIDGE

Before taking our walk down towards Wulai Old Street, we went to Wulai Suspension Bridge first to admire the view of the river and its surroundings.





Wulai Hot Spring Area is located at the front. After getting off from Xindian Bus Terminal, you will find hot spring hostels by the road through the first bridge which has distinctive Atayal patterns.


WULAI OLD STREET



I guess we arrived a little too early and there aren't many stalls opened. Hence we did not really get to experience the street food. 

WULAI ATAYAL MUSEUM

Entry to the three-storey museum is free and you can learn more about the local customs of the Atayal Tribe. Take note that many buildings and landmarks are decorated with Atayal symbols and colours. .

After walking past the old street, we come across the second bridge above Nanshi River. This was the hot spot for free public hot springs but the stairways that lead down to the river has been sealed off. There are a couple of Hot Spring resorts in Wulai but online reviews share that the better ones are minutes away from Wulai Bus Stop, away from the town. If you have a bigger budget, Volando Urai is a popular resort with private hot springs room overlooking the emerald green river and the mountains.


Beautiful turquoise water of the Nanshi River. This used to be a popular spot for locals to swim and soak their feet by the river banks. I guess due to safety reasons, it is no longer open to public.

WULAI LOG CART

Wulai Log Cart, once manually operated, travel between Wulai Street and the Waterfall Shopping Street. They were used to carry timbers and sometimes transport tourists. With the booming tourism, the log carts officially begun to carry passengers in 1963


Take the stairs up if you like to take the log cart ride.

Wulai Log Cart Station

Ticket price is NT50 per pax (1 way between Wulai Old Street to Wulai Waterfall).


Here we go!

Wulai Waterfall Station

It is about 1.5km between the two stations and the log cart ride is about 6 minutes.

WULAI WATERFALL

At the height of 80 meters, it is the tallest and also probably the next best known waterfall apart from Shifen Waterfall in Taipei. There is also a gondola ride that takes public to the top of the waterfall where Yun-hsein Park (云仙乐园) is located. From the cable car, you will get a panoramic view of the stunning waterfall. We did not take the cable car ride as we figured our teens will not be interested and decided to save the money.


Cable Car Ride to the top of the waterfall!

The best time to visit would be spring with the cherry blossom in sight!




 There are a few stall selling Atayal local delicacies and we had more sausages and food! Yummy! 








After visiting the waterfall and Yun-Hsien Park, if you still have time to spare, you may wish to take a walk back to Wulai Station. Alternative, you can also take the log cart ride back.

WULAI INFORMATION CENTRE & HOT SPRING FOOT SOAK

12:20PM - We made our way back to Wulai Information Centre located near the entrance of Wulai Old Street as we wanted to soak our aching feet in the hot spring pond for free.

This is the first time our children experienced the hot spring and you can tell from their expression! After some time, their feet are in the waters.



I enjoyed the tranquility of Wulai and being away from the bustling Taipei for awhile. There are so many to see and do at plus it is only an hour ride away from Taipei making it an ideal place for a day trip.


WULAI
Wulai District, New Taipei City

Check out our 2 Weeks Taiwan Itinerary Family Trip here

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