Wulai (
烏來) is home to one of the many aboriginal tribes in
Taiwan - the
Atayal, who were known for their traditional facial tattoos depicting their coming of age and skills (e.g. weaving skills for the women and hunting skills for the men). Nowadays, due to the changing norms of society and modernization, many younger
Atayal have moved to the cities and don’t maintain the custom of facial tattoos.
Besides being a popular hotspot for soaking in the hot springs, there are other attractions that are interesting as well: you can take a leisurely hike amidst the green foliage of the mountains and beautiful scenery that surrounds, take a tram, visit the
Atayal Museum, and take a cable car up the mountain to see the gushing waterfalls.
And so that is what we did – visit the waterfalls – when we first arrived in
Wulai early in the morning (it was too early to check-in). We had wanted to take the tram up and take a leisurely walk up the stairs to the cable car that would bring us to the waterfalls, but unfortunately we took a wrong turn as we were distracted by the 7-11 outlet on the left hand side of
Volando Urai Spring Spa & Resort.
Due to momentary loss in orientation, we decided to take a taxi to the cable car (gondola) station to the waterfalls. The short taxi ride took about 15 minutes or so and cost
NT$200. All rides within
Wulai are a flat rate of
NT$200 (about
S$8), for shorter distances it is
NT$150 (about
S$6) Taking a taxi is a good alternative if you want to spare your aching feet from all that walking/hiking or if you simply feel lazy. Of course if you want to save (that bit of) money, taking the bus or walking would be better options. If we were to have walked, instead of taking a taxi, it would have taken us about 45 minutes to an hour to make our way to the cable car station!
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| The carpark and prelude to the waterfalls |
It was a slow morning when we arrived at the cable car station. There were not too many visitors yet as the station had just opened for operation.
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| The ticketing area |
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| An old-school looking wash area with steps that lead to somewhere |
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| Try making your own origami bat before boarding the cable car! |
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Cable car operation hours are from 830am to 10pm. The price of a ticket is NT$220 (about S$9) per adult and it
includes admission into the park (where the waterfalls are located) and access to the hotel. Children, the elderly
and those with special needs get discounts. |
With tickets in hand, we boarded the cable car (which could accommodate about 10-13 people or so seated down) and begin our journey up. There was a guide that was explaining the history of the place as well as some information. The total length of the cable car is 320 meters with a 165 meters difference between the highest and the lowest point. There are only two stations, the station at the bottom and the one at the top, and only two cable cars to ferry visitors up and down with an interval of every 15 minutes or so.
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| The 2 cable cars and the interior |
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| The view going up and coming down in the cable car |
As mentioned previously, it was a quiet morning with most of the attractions, such as the village not yet active with activities. Due to the long walk up (the steep slope of steps) and the fact that we were not prepared for the long walk (as we had just touched down), we gave up making it to the top. But it was worth the trip to explore the place. Check out my video below on some of the sights and the sounds!
On our way back down (to the cable car station), we made a stop at (another) souvenir shop and exchanged the tickets for souvenirs. In exchange for the tickets, we were given one bead of pearl each. They were having a promotion and with every two beads you could get 50% off any of their selected earring which prices ranged from
NT$600-1,200. As soon as DramaQueen heard that, her eyes sparkled as she targeted a pair of earrings and paid
NT$300 (original price
NT$600) for a pair. When the cashier realized we were tourists, she let
us DramaQueen keep the pearls as souvenirs. It was a nice gesture from the souvenir shop.
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| Souvenirs and a discount off earrings! |
Before exiting out to the station, there is a mini exhibition hall and souvenir shop selling handicrafts and toys etc...
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| Mini exhibition |
Verdict: It might be located in the heart of nature and exudes off a rustic retro vibe, but it could certainly do with a ‘facelift’ and some maintenance works. While the waterfalls were interesting and the walk up (halfway) a good hike, most of the attractions look worn and some looked a little dismal. For instance, the ghoulish rollercoaster ride (decorated with monsters of old) that greets you as you make your way up looks unsafe (not that I would ride it even if it was safe, it's just not my thing lol). That said, past the exterior (which could be much better maintained), it was an experience worth the trip. Half a day for this place should be sufficient, maybe slightly more if you intend to thoroughly explore the place with its Adventure Park and animal zoo etc…
Recommended: Those who are adventurous, love hiking and nature, and or/ want to get up close with the waterfalls and nature. It is a good experience with its rustic retro vibe.
Not recommended: For those expecting pristine conditions and/or those who aren’t keen on creepy crawlies (which are a part of nature), you might want to avoid this place as you might bump into the occasional spider web, caterpillar etc...
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