I was going to have a quiet day today, but the lure of the mountains was too much, so after breakfast I headed to Wulai.  I had to catch the train to Xindian, which is at the end of the line.  Too easy or so I thought :oS When the train terminated I suddenly realised the train line had forked and I was actually miles away from where I wanted to be – doh!!! I had to return back to Guting (aptly named) before I finally ended up being on the correct line.  The rest of my journey to Wulai went smoothly.

In Wulai with a lovely lady I met on the bus – another bad hair day :oS

Wulai is a small town in the mountains, surrounded by lushest jungle – my sort of place :o)  It is famous for it’s hot springs.  Being a lovely 33c today, I wasn’t planning on visiting any since I was hot enough and I imagined it was a Winter past time.  However, I met a lovely lady on the bus, that was taking her sick sister to bathe her feet and she invited me to join them.

Local Hot Springs – The Steam Room

Well if you could see the state of my feet after 4 months living in sandals, I decided it was worth seeing if the healing springs can perform a miracle on those ugly things at the end of my legs and so I accepted the offer. There are many luxury day spas to chose from, but they take me to the local free one just on the side of the river. Bargain :o)

Local Hot Springs – all the pipes above my head are pumping the hot water to the luxury spas

I say good bye to my new friends and decide to test out my new feet with a small walk up to a waterfall.  This is a beautiful area to do some hiking, if I had more time in Taiwan I certainly would have loved to do some tramping here.

She decided to skip the walk.

I make another new friend, Zhenen :o)  I find when you travel alone a lot more people will talk to, especially if they want to practice their English! :o)  We caught a cable car to the top of the mountain to enjoy the stunning views and an iced tangerine tea.

Viewing Wulai from the top of the mountain

Pretty exhausted I headed back to the bus stop.  On route I discover the greatest night market stall – a crazy chef cooking to Taiwan techno.  Every time the kebabs needed seasoning he’d start jumping around like a looney and then throw the shaker up in the air as if he was making a cocktail.  After such a spectacle I just had to queue up for his wild boar skewers, which tasted gorgeous and surprisingly nothing like pork. The crazy chef and his kebabs alone are worth visiting Wulai for. :o)

Warrior Dancer Cooking Wild Boar

Info: I recommend buying an Easy Card if you are planning on being in Taipei for a week or so. It makes travelling on the buses and the MRT so much easier; a simple swipe instead of fishing out the correct money from your pockets every time you want to go somewhere. They can be purchased from MRT stations and costs $500 (TWD).

To get to Wulai catch the MRT to Xindian (Binta) Station (make sure you are on the Xindian line!!!!) and then take bus number 849 (note the LP is incorrect) to Wulai, which is the last stop.