Cloud Forest Waterfall (雲森瀑布)

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Yun-Sen Waterfall (雲森瀑布) which translates as “Cloud Forest” waterfall is kind of an unknown (and overshadowed) waterfall in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽區.)

Its a beautiful waterfall, its just not that well known - especially among the foreign hiking groups that I frequent. If you take the hike to the waterfall, even on a busy day, you’re not likely to meet many other people other than bird watchers on the trail. 

I’m assuming this is because not that many people know about it and because it is not actually that easy to get to without your own means of transportation (car or scooter.) 

There are buses from Sanxia that will take you near the trailhead and the major marker for the trailhead is actually the Taipei bus company’s “Xiong-Kong” bus stop (熊空站) but it seems to me that they are extremely infrequent and not very dependable. 

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- A close up long exposure of the waterfall

I’ve travelled that road numerous times over the past few weeks while on my way to other hiking trails and I’ve not once seen a single bus. So, if you’re reading this blog post and suddenly get the urge to visit the waterfall, you’d have to be a lot more patient than I am to use the public transportation option to get there. It’s not impossible by any means, I’m just not patient enough to wait hours for a bus to arrive, especially when you’re completely unsure if it is going to come at all.

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- Taiwanese hikers at the stream below the waterfall

The road you take to arrive at the trailhead is more or less a dead-end road that takes you past the Da Ban Gen Hot Spring Resort Village (板藍根) to the Man Yue Yuan National Forest Recreation Area (滿月圓國家森林遊樂區) which are both popular destinations and somewhat overshadow the waterfall. 

When you arrive at the Xiong-Kong bus stop the trailhead is to the right, but it isn’t clearly marked in Chinese or in English so you have to be careful that you take the right route.

Before going, I checked with a Taiwanese hiking blogger and made use of google maps to make sure that I was on the right path when I arrived. (Tip: Type 雲森瀑布 into google maps and it will lead you to the trailhead) I was driving my scooter, so I cheated a bit and drove my scooter up the paved path all the way from the bus stop to the trailhead. 

- The trail to the waterfall

The hike itself is very leisurely and takes about 30-40 minutes for the average hiker. I was in a bit of a hurry when I got there because it looked like it was about to rain, so from the trailhead to the waterfall, it took me only about 20 minutes.

The trail is nice and depending on the season you might randomly notice an orchard of tangerines in the river valley on your way to the falls. 

You eventually arrive at a clearing in the forest and pass a small stream that will take you to a rocky area. This area has painted arrows on massive rocks showing you the direction to take to the waterfall.

Before taking the next path to the waterfall, make sure to stop at the stream below to check out the waterfall from afar. 

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- Carefully walking over the river

The path to the waterfall is kind of cool. You make your way through a series of ropes, then a couple of logs lashed together over a river and then up a ladder which takes you to the base of the falls.

From this point you can continue to climb on another path, which I unfortunately didn’t have time for (but will be checking out in the future as I saw some hardcore hikers coming down from it) 

The waterfall isn’t as big as some other waterfalls in Taiwan, but you can easily get close to the base and in the summer, you can safely take a dip in the pool at the base (which I will be sure to do this summer) 

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- 雲森瀑布

The Cloud-Forest waterfall isn’t the easiest to get to transportation-wise but as far as hiking goes, its one of the easiest trails to take to see a waterfall. You can easily take children or your dog for a walk. If you have a car or a scooter handy, I recommend checking out this waterfall, and if its summer time, make sure to bring a towel and some swimming trunks to enjoy the pool. 

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Google Map Directions to the Waterfall

 

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Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots) 

Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)

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For most North Americans who come to Taiwan it can be a bit of a strange feeling seeing how excited Taiwanese people get when they talk about how large and beautiful their 7.93 km² Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is even when the smallest of our Great Lakes, Lake Ontario is 18,960 km² in comparison. 

That being said, everything is relative. The Great Lakes are polluted and are frozen nine months of the year, and as all arguments like this go: Size isn't Everything. 

Sun Moon Lake is majestic and even though its not actually that big, its easy to see why it is the pride of Taiwanese people from every part of the country.

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Oddly enough, Sun Moon Lake is so popular that it also appears on one of the pages of the most recent version of the passport of the People's Republic of China (not to be confused with the Republic of China) despite it not even being within the territory that it actually governs.

That is almost tantamount to Canada having Mount Rushmore in our passport. Nevertheless, that whole predicament is an argument for another day. 

The lake is situated in Taiwan's Nantou County (南投縣) and is surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Nantou happens to be one of my favourite places in Taiwan as its one of the most scenic areas for hiking with the Alishan scenic area (阿里山國家風景區) and the Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園.)

The county is directly in the middle of the country and gives easy access to some of the highest points of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range (中央山脈) with 41 of Taiwan's 100 mountains which have peaks over 3000 meters high.   

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The lake is considered holy land and the area surrounding it is home to the “Thao” (邵族), one of Taiwan's Indigenous tribes which has unfortunately become one of Taiwan's smallest remaining (recognized) indigenous groups. 

Like many other indigenous groups in Taiwan who are still unrecognized by the central government, it took far too long for the Thao people to actually get the recognition they deserved when it came to their home and their claim that Sun Moon Lake is part of their holy land. 

Over the past century, they have had to endure the Japanese occupation which considered all indigenous groups “savages” and then the latter half of the century with the Chinese Nationalists who did their best to “sinicize” all of Taiwan’s indigenous people by forcing them to learn Mandarin and changing their way of life. 

They fortunately received recognition in 2001 as one of Taiwan’s ten different ethnic indigenous groups and the population has slowly started to rise due to efforts to preserve the culture.  

Lalu island (拉魯島), a small island in the middle of the lake is especially important to the Thao people, but has been used in the past as a popular place for weddings by other ethnic groups who came to the island.

Even more unfortunate is that the island has suffered over the past century due to the construction of a dam that raised the water levels in the lake and the effects of the devastating earthquake on September 21st 1999 (九二一大地震) which rocked central Taiwan and wreaked massive destruction. 

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Since the cooling of hostilities between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (China) tourism has become a major source of income for the area and what was once a very relaxing and peaceful area to visit has now become laden with development and littered with tourists who take boat rides across the lake ultimately causing a lot of pollution. 

When I first visited the lake years ago I thought it was a perfect escape from the bustling cities in the north. You could sit on the board walk and watch the sun rise or the sun set in perfect quiet.

When I visited this time however every five meters that I walked I was asked by somebody if I wanted a boat ride, which made me feel like I was touring somewhere in South East Asia.

The lake itself, despite all of this however is still beautiful. I visited on Christmas, and while most Canadians oddly wish for a white Christmas, I was perfectly happy with my colourful Christmas with the emerald green waters of the lake, the blue sky and the green mountains that surround it. It was also a nice escape from the weather in the north of Taiwan which at the time was pretty dreary. 

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I didn’t have much time during this visit to Sun Moon Lake as I was just stopping by for a few hours before making my way up into to the mountains. I did have a nice walk around half of the lake and had an excellent view of the lake from the Starbucks by the boardwalk. 

I sincerely hope that the Taiwanese central government and the Nantou county government has the foresight to curb some of the development around the lake and do more to preserve the pristine beauty of the area so that future generations can enjoy it as much as we do now. 

If you have a chance to visit Taiwan, make sure Sun Moon Lake and Nantou is on your list of places to visit. 

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

Jilong Mountain (雞籠山)

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View of the north coast of Taiwan from the top of Jilong Mountain (雞籠山)

I've always been a much bigger fan of the outdoors than I am of small crowded places. I was involved with the Boy Scouts of Canada when I was young and spent a lot of time learning a lot about life, camping and appreciating the natural environment. Now that I'm all grown up, you're still more likely to run into me while hiking on a mountain than in a nightclub or a mall.

When it comes to the major differences between Canada and Taiwan, population density is always the one aspect that stands out to me above all else. It's something that caused a bit of culture shock when I first arrived in Asia. 

Taiwan is a lot like Canada when it comes to having a beautiful natural environment - but in Canada you tend to enjoy a lot of the environment in small groups as you'd have to drive pretty far to find someone who you didn't recognize and its the opposite in Taiwan. 

When you're standing on the peak of a mountain with a panoramic view of the earth around you, you tend to realize how insignificant you are in the scheme of things and can be a great feeling. I feel the exact opposite insignificance though when I'm in a place where I'm completely surrounded by thousands of people going about their business. 

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A hiker on his way to the peak of Jilong Mountain (雞籠山) with Jiufen in the background

One of the most popular tourist destinations for visitors coming to Taiwan is Jiufen (九份), a quiet village nestled in the mountains on the north east coast of the country.

This village is a prime example of a place where you'd see me at my highest level of discomfort.

The village is especially popular with tourists hailing from Japan as it was apparently the inspiration for the popular Japanese anime "Spirited Away" (千と千尋の神隠し) and more recently with Korean tourists as the village was featured on a popular television show there. 

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The well maintained hiking path to the peak of Jilong Mountain (雞籠山)

On any given day, if you are to arrive at Jiufen, you will encounter throngs of tourists exploring the old gold mining village and its popular "old street" which is popular for it's traditional setting, the mountains surrounding it and the many delicacies that can only be sampled there.

I've been to Jiufen several times with friends who have come to visit. It really is a nice place to visit and I highly recommend anyone coming to Taiwan to visit at least once, however due to the amount of people visiting, it is not one of my choice destinations. 

Each and every time I've visited Jiufen, I've noticed and stared off into the distance at the towering Jilong mountain (雞籠山) which literally translates as "Chicken Cage Mountain" that is just a little bit up the road from the village. You can see the mountain for the entire bus ride up the highway to Jiufen and it almost seemed as if each time I was going that it was calling for me. 

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Jiufen from the hiking path on Jilong Mountain (雞籠山)

I've said to myself each time I've been to Jiufen that I have to climb it. 

The problem though is that it constantly rains in the area.

Hiking in the rain is something you always have to be prepared for in Taiwan, especially in the north. So it wouldn't be that bad to do the hike in the rain - but I always want to get as many pictures as possible and don't want my camera to get drenched. 

So, for a successful hiking trip, you essentially have to ask some locals which is the best temple to visit so you can pray to one of the gods to give you good weather for your hike. 

I doubt it would work, but anything is worth a try right? 

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A hiker walking up the trail

I put this mountain high up on my bucket list of activities to do over the summer months, so I paid close attention to the weather forecasts for a few weeks and finally found a free day where it seemed like the weather was going to be great, so I made a plan to climb the mountain.

When I left home the forecast looked quite promising and there were bright sunny skies on the train ride to Rueifang (瑞芳) and then on the bus on my way to the mountain.

It wasn't surprising however that just as I got off the bus in Jiufen, the skies turned dark grey and the sun quickly disappeared only to be replaced by a downpour.

It seemed however that it was just a normal afternoon shower that wouldn't last too long, so I decided to walk into the old street and grab a quick snack and wait out the rain.

Fortunately it didn't last long and the sun came out even brighter than before.

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The mountain road that takes you from Jiufen to the North East coast. 

The trailhead for the mountain is a short walk up hill from the old street and can be easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for. 

Jilong mountain (雞籠山) isn't considered a high mountain at a modest 588 meters above sea level, but it is a great hike for people that prefer day-hikes to tackling some of Taiwan's 100 mountains that are over 3000 meters above sea level. 

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The hiking path on Jilong Mountain (雞籠山)

The mountain trail is well maintained and is more of a brisk walk uphill than an actual hike. On a hot day, there isn't much to separate you from the sun, so you need to be sure to take a lot of water with you. It's not very difficult though and takes about an hour depending on your pace and includes time for taking several breaks to get to the top.  

While walking up the path there are several rest stops with pavilions where you can take a break and enjoy the scenery. On my hike I saw various species of butterflies, very cool neon blue looking iguanas and a couple of wild chickens who took off running really quickly when they saw me. 

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Back down to Jiufen for a cup of tea and then back home. 

Some of the best views you'll have while hiking this mountain are when you stop for a break and look behind you. The view of Jiufen and the mountains surrounding the village are spectacular.  

At the peak, there is a weather station and a clearing with benches and some shelter incase of rain. Here you will have excellent views of not old Jiufen, but the North East coast and if it is a clear day, all the way to Keelung city. 

If you are planning a trip to Jiufen anytime soon, I highly recommend upon arrival that you take an hour or two to climb this mountain, enjoy the scenery and when you're done head back down to Jiufen for a relaxing sunset in one of the many teahouses overlooking the harbour below. 

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Map / Location

 

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Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)