Wulai

I went camping in Wulai just south of Taipei this past weekend. The scenery was simply gorgeous but I must conclude after my second experience sleeping outdoors, I am not the camping type.

To get there, you can take the MRT to Xindian Station at the end of the green line, walk up the street to the 7-11, then take the Wulai bus up the mountain, about a 40 minute ride.

Malcolm and I met Todd and Marlene at Xindian Station around noon. We arrived in the small but touristy town a little before 1:00. There weren't too many people in town perhaps due to the dragon boat festival going on down the river so it was a pleasant stroll towards the camp area we were headed to. Usually you can take a tiny train to the aboriginal village where the waterfall is located which is the main attraction in Wulai (it's really not very impressive) but the track was under construction so we walked. Twenty to 30 minutes later, we arrived at the quaint village composed mostly of small restaurants and aboriginal clothing stores. By the way, if you ever choose to spend a day in Wulai, you should try the sticky rice stuffed in bamboo; it's a good snack. We picked up lunch in the village but decided to wait until we got to the river to eat it. There's a road out of the village that goes through a small tunnel and then curves around to a foot bridge where we crossed about 20 minutes later. We followed the trail for about 15 minutes to the steps that lead down to the river below. The rocks in the river are extremely slippery as Marlene found out. She slipped on a rock right onto her back but amazingly managed to save our lunch boxes from getting wet. After devouring our food, the moment that we were all waiting for had come; it was time to take a dip in that pristine, cool, mountain water. After walking all that way, covered in sweat and grime it felt so good to strip our clothes and jump in. There are actually many beautiful blue swimming holes along the river, where it's deep enough to dive off boulders, though only Malcolm and Todd were brave enough to do it. We swam for a little while, got out, ate snacks, stood under an umbrella, strangely, while it rained, trekked up stream in search of another swimming pool, swam for some time there, then headed back towards camp. By that time, it was 5:30. Todd and Marlene were not going to spend the night so they packed their things and got ready to go back to where we started. Wanting more snacks from the convenience store in town, I decided to accompany them, despite Malcolm's disapproval because it would get dark in an hour's time. It was a long 40 minutes back to Wulai; I had never been so happy to see a 7-11. I got dinner, the next day's breakfast, as well as those midnight snacks that prompted the gruelling hike back to town; Malcolm bought a torch for NT50 (1.50) at 7-11, which would later prove to be a necessity back at camp. Then we sent Todd and Marlene off but by then dusk had fallen. If we were to walk back it would be pitch black by the time we got to camp so we opted for taxi ride back to the foot bridge. We walked for another 20 minutes before we realized that we had missed the steps leading down to the river. It was silly not to bring our flashlights with us for the stairs down are old and corroded but we finally made it back to camp. I felt gross and exhausted. It started to drizzle. It was dark, very dark. We put the torch next to the rocky sheltered area where we set up camp and it illuminated enough space for us to eat dinner. Afterwards I lay in the tent and just rested for some time before I washed up in the river. Sleeping was amazingly easy considering that I had been suffering from insomnia for the past month. I woke up around 5:30 or 6:00 to the voices of two male hikers near the river. Stepping out of the tent, I was hit with such beauty, it cannot be described with words but I'll try anyway. The river was running, mist weaved around the mountains and those verdant lush trees, the ground was damp and cool to touch, the air was so clean, it seemed sweet. I ate breakfast, went for another morning dip, and got out things ready to be packed up. It was a morning of more hiking up the smaller trail were we found another small village and then back to the town of Wulai for the bus ride back to Taipei. We caught the bus down the mountain just in time before it stated pouring outside. It felt so nice once I got back home and was able to take a nice warm shower. I lay on my bed and took a good long nap.

Next time I go to Wulai, I will probably try to take my bike up in a taxi. I saw quite a few cyclists up there. I think I'd probably be able to see more of the scenery. And if I do go camping again, I will go when the weather is not as hot or humid.