Yehliu Geopark, Taiwan

We had read many great things about Yehliu Geopark and so we decided we had to visit.  To get there we caught the bus from Taipei to Jinshan, a coastal town on the northern tip of Taiwan.  The bus ride took as out of Taipei city, through the mountains north of Taipei to the north coast.  It took us about an hour and a half to get to Jinshan and although it was a long bus ride, the scenery was beautiful.  Once we got to Jinshan, we caught another bus to the fishing town of Yehliu, home to Yehliu Geopark.

Yehliu Geopark

Yehliu Geopark is situated on the northeast tip of Taiwan and it is a geologist's paradise.  The amazing rock formations are found on the 1.8 km-long Yehliu Cape, which stretches far out into the East China Sea.  These rocks are sculpted by the wind and ocean, and they are spectacular.  The wind and sea erosion can be seen first-hand in the pot holes, as well as the hundreds of moulded and pitted rocks, some of which have been named after the things they resemble.   We spent over three hours walking along the cape and admiring nature's magnificent creations.  This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Taiwan.

Queen's Head

This resembles the silhouette of the famous Nefertiti bust (the 3300 year old sculpture of Nefertiti, the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and an icon of female beauty), but sadly, this rock is eroding quickly and many believe it won't be around much longer. 

Ice cream rock

Ginger rock 

Mushroom rock

Candle Rocks

Elephant rock

Fairy's Shoe

Fossils

Beitou and Yingge, Taiwan

Beitou

Taiwan is ranked among the world's top hot spring sites.  There are over 100 hot springs all over the island ranging from common sulphur springs to rare seawater springs.  While most of these hot springs are located far from major urban areas, Beitou is the exception.  Beitou is the closest hot springs to Taipei and it is about a 35 minute MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) ride from the city.  That said, Beitou is very popular with locals who live in the city and tourists alike, who travel here for a quick and convenient soak in the wenquan (hot springs), where the sulphurous waters are said to have healing qualities.  We spent an enjoyable afternoon in Beitou, where we visited Beitou Thermal Valley and the Outdoor Public Bath.

Beitou Thermal Valley

Beitou Thermal Valley covers an area of 3500 square feet.  The Beitou Thermal Valley Hot Spring is a green sulphur spring with a temperature of over 80 degrees Celsius.  Visitors are permitted around the perimeter of the basin, but it was hard to see the actual hot spring due to the constant rising steam.  Interesting enough, the sulphur smell was strong, but not too overwhelming.  

 Beitou Outdoor Public Bath
Beitou has a variety of bathing options, from free roadside creeks for soaking feet, to luxurious private baths in upscale resorts.  David was very keen to experience a hot spring in Taiwan, so he decided to visit the Outdoor Pubic Bath.  This co-ed public hot spring has three pools ranging in temperature from comfortably hot to scalding hot.  There is also a pool with frigid water to cool-off.  When we first got there it was empty, but later on in the afternoon, it got very busy with people coming after work for a soak. For privacy reasons, only people bathing are allowed inside and cameras are banned from the premises.  That said,  I (Sam) could only take photos from the area overlooking the baths.  David could only spend about 15 minutes soaking in the hot pool (the middle one of the three), as it got too hot after a while.   Despite the short visit, David was happy he got to experience a Taiwanese hot spring.

Yingge
Yingge is situated about forty minutes south by train from Taipei.  It is a pottery town with numerous pottery plants and shops selling an array of pottery and ceramic objects.  Pottery was first introduced to Yingge in 1804 and it started out as small cottage industry producing cheap earthenware.  With the Japanese occupation, Yingge's production of pottery was ramped up in the 1930's to include ceramic parts for mines and weapons.  After World War II, Ceramicists from all over Taiwan began to settle in Yingge and by the 1970's it was one of the largest production centres in the world.  However, like many other industries around the world, in the 1990's, Yingge saw most of its production moved to China.  Today, Yingge is no longer the large manufacturing base it once was, but is now more a cultural venue for lovers of traditional crafts and pottery.  We spent a lovely morning in Yingge visiting the numerous pottery and ceramics shops.  

Christmas in Singapore

On Christmas day we were invited out for lunch by some of our Singaporean friends.  They took us to a lovely restaurant called The Green Room, which is situated in a park.  In keeping with the name, the restaurant itself has lime green walls, while the windows of the restaurant face out to a garden, which magnifies the feeling of being surrounded by more greenery.  The setting is really lovely and relaxing.  

The Green Room serves ethno-bothanical living cuisine and our friends took us there because they thought we would enjoy the food (we did and it was right up our alley!).  David and I ordered from The Green Room's menu, while the others ordered food from The Green Room's sister restaurant called The Canopy (offering more main-stream food).  The food that David and I ordered included Pumpkin towers, vegetable rolls and a noodle dish with cashew dumplings.  The food was beautifully presented and tasted absolutely great.  After lunch at The Green Room, we went to another nearby restaurant for dessert and tea/coffee.  It was a wonderful Christmas afternoon spent with good friends!