Wulai 烏來, Taiwan's romantic getaway

A Taiwanese town famous for Aboriginal food and hot springs

Some impressions of Wulai

Wulai (sometimes Ulay) or in Chinese 烏來, is a small resort south from Taipei, famous for its hot springs, delicious food and aboriginal culture, which is seen and felt on every corner. It's a fairly small town (see map), with about 5000 inhabitants (source). But there are many tourists flooding its streets, mostly Taiwanese, but I've seen a lot of Westerners, too. What's so special about Wulai are its various hot springs, the delicious street food and the breathtaking nature. If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of Taipei, Wulai is the right getaway for you. It's also great for couples and groups of people, you can stay in a hotel and have a lovely weekend. Some food is so popular, that you have to wait in long queues to finally get your order, but it's definitely worth it. Wulai has many magical spots.

HOW TO COME TO WULAI/TRANSPORTATION: To reach Wulai, which is located in the mountains south from Taipei, you will need about 1 hour, if you start from Taipei Main station. So here's how you go: Take the Red Line train from Taipei Main Station south to CKS Memorial Hall Station (passing 2 stations). Then switch to the Green Line and take the train to Xindian MRT Station, which is the last station of this line, so it will take some time before you arrive (passing 9 stations). Then you go out of the MRT station and you'll see some bus stops and taxis on your right side. The bus number to Wulai is 1601 and it's much cheaper than the taxis, who try to lure you by saying stuff loudly in Taiwanese language. If you're a group of 3 or 4 people and money is not an issue, then I recommend you to take the taxi. The ride to Wulai is 40min by bus and buses are usually crowded, the road is winding, so you'll get tossed up a bit. It won't be easy to find a seat. But at least, the price is very cheap, you can even use the Taipei MRT card to pay.

I will show you what happened to Porky the pig and men in speedos.

This brief introduction of Wulai will also serve as an overview of all my posts about the lovely mountain resort. Check my following posts to see what we've seen and experienced in Wulai so far:

✰ Wulai's magical views, April 2010
✰ The beautiful Wulai falls, April 2010
✰ How to go to a Taiwanese onsen, April 2010
✰ Food in Wulai, April 2010
✰ Stray dogs in Wulai, April 2010

[Start the WULAI TOUR here][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Wulai's magical views

Let my photos show you our wonderful time in Wulai

This post will show you photos of Wulai from the Xindian MRT station south of Taipei City to the arrival in Wulai and walking around the river and through the main street and the day market. I really enjoyed walking around here, it's such a beautiful little town, so romantic, so fresh, so beautiful. Enjoy my photos:

Our journey started in Xindian City, a city south of Taipei City. We took a bus.

The bus needed 40min to bring us to Wulai. And this was our first sight on the right.

First sight on the left: A Chinese temple above the river bank.

This part of Wulai is built on the hill above the river. Marvelous.

The Nanshi river or 南勢溪 in Chinese. The color is beautiful.

Can you see the people at the outdoor onsen?

After taking few pics, we went to the town center on the right.

A small bridge over the Tonghou river or 桶後溪 in Chinese. The cute Taiwanese girl posed for me, while I took my photo. I should've asked for her number. Ain't she cute? :-P

Confluence of Nanshi and Tonghou rivers.

The famous part of Wulai. Isn't it romantic?

Wulai Commercial street: All kinds of foods and souvenirs can be found here.

It was an early Monday afternoon. It's usually more crowded at weekends.

You can try some yummy aboriginal food here. More about food in an upcoming post.

Famous Lansheng bridge or 攬勝大橋, that leads on the other side, to Wulai Falls.

Men like to swim here, because some hot springs are nearby.

On the other side of the bridge.

Here's a tourist Map of Wulai 烏來, I took a pic of it. Click on it and save it, if you want.

People at outdoor hot springs near the Nanshi river.

View on the other side.

The road leads up. We wanted to see the beautiful Wulai Falls.

My girlfriend took this wonderful photo of the Lansheng bridge and Wulai below.

And then we took a small train to the Wulai Falls. More about that next time.

And to solve one of the Wulai-mysteries: The photo of men in speedos wasn't taken by my girlfriend, it was taken by me :-P

Next: Wulai Falls>>

[My WULAI page][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

The beautiful Wulai falls

Let me show you the famous Wulai Falls

The Wulai Falls or 烏來瀑布 in Chinese are one of the nature's attractions of this lovely town. They're located at the far end of the town and there's a small train, that brings you there in about 5min. If you walk, it may take a longer while. They're over 100m tall and are known throughout Taiwan (source).

Like mentioned in my previous post, we took a train to the other side of Wulai.

It took us few min to arrive. Many couples like us liked to walk around here.

On the right side are hotels and restaurants, on the left is nature.

The view down: Nanshi river, but it looks like a creek here.

Tops of the mountains covered in mist.

The nature is just amazing here, don't you agree?

Above is a sky train, that takes you to a holiday resort named Yun Hsien. We didn't go up there, just stayed below and admired the Wulai Falls, which are seen on the photo below:

Wulai Falls.

I must've taken like 20 pics of the falls alone, but I won't post so many here. The one above is my best and it can show you the beauty of the falls very well. But in real, they look much much better.

Then we went uphill and walked around a little.

The Wulai Falls from a higher point.

A piece of aboriginal art on a hotel façade. The sausage in Wulai is really great, btw.

Beautiful nature captivated my eyes.

At this point we saw a lovely pavilion, where we spent some time and enjoyed the breathtaking nature. It was one of our most romantic moments here, moments I will cherish forever.

Next: Food in Wulai>>

[My WULAI page][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Food in Wulai

Let me show you some delicious food from Wulai

This is an aboriginal dish. No idea what it is. My girlfriend says there is 芋 on top.

Yummy noodles.

Restaurants like this are plenty in the Wulai Commercial street.

There's a big variety of sweets.

Eggs with all kinds of flavors.

For this sausage there's the longest queue. It's very popular and famous in Wulai.

We had to wait like 15min to get ours. Below is garlic, some like to eat it with the sausage.

I usually don't eat this kind of Chinese sausage, because they add vinegar and it tastes too sour for me. But the one in Wulai doesn't taste sour at all. I think Europeans would like its taste.

Meat and veggies on sticks. They grill it for you. It's a bit expensive per piece here.

Small fish and prawns. They fry them for you and you eat them like French fries. Yum!

Ok, I tell you what happened to Porky the pig: He was slowly eaten by hungry tourists, piece by piece. We came here around noon and he was still taking his nap. When we left around late afternoon, there was only his head left. But Porky didn't die in vain. My blog post shall be dedicated to his memory. I hope he made many stomachs full.

Next: Enjoying a Taiwanese onsen>>

[My WULAI page][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]