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Photos by MJ Klein

On our little trip to Wulai, we’ve seen that there is a lot more to the place than simply the waterfall for which it is famous. Wulai has hot springs, a river that is used for bathing, a downtown shopping area and an historical passenger railroad, in addition to the waterfall. Also many people don’t realize that you can see several other waterfalls within a few kilometers of Wulai. There are some excellent trails in the area for hiking.

We’re going to take a look at a few things on the way down to the waterfall. One of them is another shot of what’s been called “the cutest little train” the Log Cart.

I snapped the above photo as the train was approaching the Waterfall Station.

This perspective shot shows just how tiny the cars are. Cutest train, indeed!

The road from the center of town to the waterfall area runs essentially North to South. This is the view looking South as one enters the waterfall area from the train station. It shortly becomes a tourist madhouse.

Unfortunately, to vendors, the waterfall is nothing more than a place to make money, so why would they care about things like “ambiance” and “tranquility?” They don’t. This coffee truck was blaring out some bullshit “jazz” music that was so loud, it drowned out the natural sound of the waterfall! People haven’t gotten there yet. Unfortunately the local thinking is that any situation + “music” = “high class.” That is completely false. How much better it would have been to sit and listen to nature’s own music? We couldn’t stand it here so we moved further down the road.

Another aspect that adds to the carnival atmosphere is the cable car that runs directly over the waterfall. I’ve never taken it because the top is some kind of amusement park for kids. Was that really necessary? Someone thought so.

If you persevere and make it past the Chinese sausage vendors, coffee truck “jazz” station, and the

usual street vendors yelling at you in poor English, eventually you will reach a place where you can enjoy the waterfall in peace.

I want to apologize for the poor quality of my waterfall photos. I do not have neutral density filters and I couldn’t appropriately stop down the exposure in order to “soften” the water flow well enough.

If you really want to see some cool waterfall photos, check out Todd’s work.

Hopefully, my photos will make you want to go and see the Wulai waterfall for yourself. Here are a few more shots:

This shot shows the dual streams at the very top.

There are multiple streams even at the bottom, making this waterfall even more interesting.

Wulai looks almost like 2 waterfalls combined.

These 2 shots above were taken near the extreme Southern end of the observation area. I think the waterfall looks great from any angle. I encourage you to check it out from both directions.

Of course, every tourist must have an obligatory photo in front of the waterfall!

After spending considerable time down at the South end near the waterfall, we decided to walk back up North. We learned that the road is also known as the Lover’s Pathway but nothing else other than that.

As you walk back towards the downtown area, there are still some interesting sights to see, including the fantastically rugged mountains that characterize much of Taiwan’s varied topography.

We saw lots of cute birds, although they are difficult to photograph!

As we walked back North, this was the view of the waterfall behind us to the South.

If you keep your eyes open you’ll see things like this wasp’s nest. There were several of them in this tree, and hardly anyone noticed.

This is a power generation plant on the river.

Here we are approaching the bridge that goes back into the downtown area.

While crossing the bridge, I noticed this cut through the side of the river gorge. It looks like it’s fallen down and is in disrepair. There are many places like this in Taiwan and I fear that whatever historical value they possess will soon be lost forever. I have no idea what the story is, but it’s old.

On the way back through town, we ate at an aboriginal restaurant. There are several aboriginal offerings you can check out such as this fermented pork. I didn’t try it but I heard it can give stinky tofu a run for the money! The food in the restaurant was excellent.

This is “shao mi” or millet. We bought a couple of bottles of millet liquor, which is a local concoction. In Wulai, the competition is fierce, and all street vendors offer samples. Most of them are pretty much the same but if you persevere you will find the ones with the best liquor. It’s worth walking around and tasting samples until you find just what you’re looking for.

I leave you this this last photo, and perhaps one of the most unusual reasons to visit Wulai. This place features a type of fish that can survive in the high temperatures of the hot spring water. These fish are in the hot springs bath and they exfoliate the skin while you relax. People with skin problems swear by this therapy. Sounds like something I’d like to try sometime.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our series on Wulai and that you’ll let us know if you decide to visit. We’d love to hear your Wulai experiences too!

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Photos by MJ Klein In Part I, we took a look at the beautiful waters of Wulai, and the downtown tourist and shopping area. History buffs will know that Wulai has it’s own narrow-gauge rail system, known at the Log Cart. Please click on the above photo to open a larger size for reading. Hui-chen and I rode the Log Cart up to the waterfall area. Wulai is known for hot springs and the famous waterfall, but before we actually show you the waterfall itself, we want to show you the ride on the Log Cart. We walked over to the station to catch the little train. In the distance you can see the cars on the track waiting for departure. One pulled up as we were walking to the ticket window. The fare is $NT50 per adult. Hui-chen stepped into the car and waited for me to take a few shots. Our friend Jeff is behind Hui-chen. As you can see, there is room for 2 adults in each seat, and there are 2 seats per car. And, we’re off! It’s a small train and it goes slow, but it’s all relative! It seems fast when you’re riding it, especially because you breeze past buildings and other structures very closely. This shot of the track shows a bend. At this scale it’s almost scary. Do not stick your head (or anything else) out of the car! Through this last little tunnel (and it goes very dark!) we come to a stop at the waterfall area. In our next article we will show you the famous waterfall. But for now, this is what it looks like when you approach from the train.

First in series Previous in series

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Photos by MJ Klein

Hui-chen and I took a little sight-seeing trip to Wulai after our return from China recently.  If you haven’t been there in awhile, you should take a visit and see for yourself, what a lovely place Wulai really is.

Besides the famous waterfall, Wulai is known for these emerald green waters (and wires!).  These photos are un-processed and the colors are just how the Nikon D80 photographed them.

We’ve been to Wulai a couple of times, but the sun wasn’t out on any of those occasions.  Fortunately the colors are so vivid that even when overcast, Wulai sports some great photo opportunities.

Ideally, one would park their car in the main lot and walk up into and through the downtown area.  Like many recently renovated downtown areas in Taiwan small towns, Wulai is dedicated to tourists.  Although I normally do not like this kind of area, for some reason Wulai is able to pull it off with some grace.  If you are a “foreigner” however, you can expect the usual pandering from the vendors, so just take it in stride.  There are plenty to choose from!

Along the route to the downtown you will find various hot springs resorts.  We’ve never stayed in one of these places in the downtown area (nearby though) but from the street they looked pretty good and the prices are competitive.   You just have to deal with the stupid way people hard sell in Asia.

Wulai is known for quaint scenery like this.  You can get a room with a view on the river and relax in a hot spring tub.

Check out the varieties of food available from street vendors:

There are varieties of “mountain pig” pretty much everywhere.  Even mountain goat.  The smells wafting about are great.

Hui-chen went shopping for shoes.  She got a couple pair of really cute ones.   The Indian boss spoke Chinese very well.

This guy is pulling taffy.  He had to move very quickly to keep it off the street.  Once it went into the bucket, they were all over me to try pounding it.  I don’t blend in very well.

Hui-chen is enjoying some kind of taro snack.  The crowds were thick on Sunday.  Next time we’re going back on a weekday.

I snapped this shot of all the fresh meat you can get grilled to order.

As you walk across the bridge you can see people out on the banks.  Sometimes they party out there.  Sounds like a great time to me!

Walking through the throngs of visitors and vendors is well worth the scenic beauty of Wulai.  But there is a lot more to this lovely place and we’ll cover that in Part II!

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Blogging has been light in recent months for a very good reason. After the last outing in Sanmin I came down with a tick-borne disease called scrub typhus.

Scrub typhus is an acute, febrile, infectious illness that was first described by the Chinese about 2000 years ago. This illness is caused by Orientia (formerly Rickettsia) tsutsugamushi. Humans are accidental hosts in this zoonotic disease.

The term scrub is used because of the type of vegetation (terrain between woods and clearings) that harbors the vector. Scrub typhus is endemic in regions of eastern Asia and the southwestern Pacific (Korea to Australia) and from Japan to India and Pakistan.

Patients most commonly present with high fever, severe headache, generalized myalgia, and malaise. The incubation period from the mite bite is 5-20 days following inoculation.
Toward the end of the first week, approximately 35% of patients develop a centrifugal macular rash on the trunk, which may become papular.

In other words, a red rash all over the torso and face. I looked like a spotted leopard as seen through infrared.

There were about 60 cases of tsustugamuchi in the last year in Taiwan, with one death just a week ago. You can get bitten anywhere on the island so cover up when you head out into the bush. If you find yourself with a high fever, swollen glands at the back of the head and neck, rash, and one telltale ulcerated wound (like a cigarette burn) get to a hospital.

Normal treatment is a week of antibiotics but it took two weeks for me to get on them as originally my doctor thought I had Dengue Fever, for which there is no treatment but rest. So overall, it was like 3 weeks with a sever flu. However, recovery is quick and I’m 100 percent again.

Which leads me to a recent hike on the ancient Hapen Trail:

Running from Wulai to Fushan is the 20-kilometer Hapen Trail, which was once known to the local Aborigines as the "wedding trail." Atayal of Wulai and their compatriots in the Ilan township of Tatung would often do business with each other, and intermarry, and the Hapen Trail was vital for this.

The scenery of the Hapen Trail is outstanding, and it is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. At dawn, kingfishers, grey-cheeked fulvettas, black-browed barbets, and brown dippers come out for breakfast, and sharp-eyed visitors may catch a glimpse of the Formosan macaque, Reeve's muntjac, or red-bellied tree squirrel. Also swimming around in the Hapen River is the Taiwan shovel jaw carp. At night, glowworms dot parts of the landscape. The whole area is like Taiwan's own Amazon.

The weather cooperated somewhat for this hike. It didn’t rain on us though cloud cover obscured all the nice views.


Hapen is part of the National Trail System and so has been gussied up a bit in recent years with maps and km markings along the way. The trail is wide and clear, feeling a bit more like a route through a national park back in Canada than most of the paths we go on.

But there are still a few rough parts that you sure wouldn’t find open to the public back home.


We only made it as far as the first stream crossing, before turning back at the threat of rain. No tsutsugamuchi but a lot of leeches. They seemed to be particular fond of Chris.


The drive to the trailhead from Wulai is a lush, wet, rugged one, high up the Nanshih River valley. Numerous high thin waterfalls tumble down from both sides of the valley and washouts of the road are common. Fushan Village, the last real settlement in the area, is cut off by landslides almost every summer after a major typhoon.


Every hike leads to more plans for hikes or other trips. This one was no different. At the very least I want to bike out here in summer and maybe ride and carry along the trail to the campsite at the end.