A collection of memories: Taiwan: Day 2 Yangmingshan National Park 阳明山国家公园

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Taiwan: Day 2 Yangmingshan National Park 阳明山国家公园

Day 2 of our Taiwan Trip was pretty hectic. So many areas to explore and it was raining, quite heavily in the morning. T.T But well, we had lots of fun out of it.

FIRST STOP -- Yangmingshan (YMS) National Park 阳明山国家公园

We took a bus from JianTan MRT station to YMS stop. Met a kind uncle on the bus, who told us where to get down and advised us to get a raincoat as the rain was getting heavier. He leaded us to 7-eleven near the YMS bus stop and showed us where's the raincoat. So kind of him. We are really lucky to meet him as the raincoat we bought was really useful. Why? Continue reading... Photos will show you how useful is the raincoat.

After our shopping in 7-eleven, we started to walk towards our first stop ==> Zhuzihu (竹子湖) for Calla Lily Expo. The expo is about to end in few days time when we visit. So, many people told us not to expect plenty of flowers.

I was the leader! And see how lonely I am to lead. Photographer took pic behind me. XD

~Walking alone. Where is my next destination? When instinct fails, where can I go?~

2 camerawomen of the trip.

We are so strong, carrying our babies around. XD Don't you think JieMin and I look very sweet in this pic?

After a while (about 10 minutes walk), I don't trust my instinct anymore. I decided to follow the signage which leads us to YMS Visitor Centre instead of the sign that leads us to Zhuzihu.

Very long walkway to Visitor Centre. My OOTD with purple ESPRIT umbrella.

We even met a pair of tourists that seem very lost like us too. But they are better, they are using google map, we don't.

Lesson Learnt: Use a map if your sixth sense always fail you.

Spotted some red leaves along the way.
I have no idea why I was excited at that moment. It is just a leaf after all. LOL

Go north or south?

Not helpful for people like me with no sense of direction. XD

Some flowers along the long walkway up to the visitor centre.

After about another 10-15 minutes walk, we are finally here! Visitor Centre! We were quite lost upon reaching and asked another uncle for direction. Uncle said, few more steps, which make us sound like a tourist who did not do research again. Haha!

Yes! We reached! Phewwww.... Felt so relieved that we are not lost after 15 minutes walk.

The entrance of the visitor centre.

The staff inside are really nice too. They asked us where we planned to go and gave us suggestion on which bus to take and which stop to skip (as we have limited time). After a bit of discussion, we decided to go Zhuzihu and Xiaoyoukeng ONLY.

While waiting for bus, we walked around the visitor centre as there are exhibition for us to understand YMS National Park more.

A view from the visitor center. See the mist?! It was drizzling outside. =( Nice view though.

Typical tourist photos. Take photo at each corner of the exhibition hall, without reading much.

After 20 minutes wandering around the visitor center, we went out to wait for bus by the roadside. The bus was really punctual, even 5 minutes earlier than estimated time.

Another tourist photo while waiting for the bus. Must leave my smile here. =D

And finally we reach Zhuzihu!! Too bad that the rain got really heavy and we had to put on raincoat. So be prepared to see ugly face of mine in following photos. XD

Found some Calla Lily (海芋) but DSLR was under protection by my raincoat. iPhone is helpful now! Snap snap snap. Can't zoom in to take the flowers. Sad =(

Ah well, I still want to take a photo with Calla Lily at the back with my raincoat. Spot my baby camera? =D

We tried to explore the area under heavy rain. Found this farm stairs (梯田). It is really beautiful but affected by the rain. T.T Why you rain at this time?!!!

Still, must take photo. Haha... I think I look like Doraemon here. XD

It was so tired to walk under the rain. All of us were really wet, especially our shoes. When we were back to the bus stop, I spotted a stall which is selling steamed bun/man tou (馒头). I suddenly recalled that Su ann wrote down that a blogger recommends to eat man tou in YMS. So I wanted to try one. It was a stall near the Zhuzihu bus stop.

And note for tourist, the man tou in this shop is really disappointing. It tastes a bit weird to all of us. But we were forced to finish it as it was raining outside. Colourful but ewwww.....

The colourful Man Tou.

While eating Man Tou in the shop, the owner suggested us to take his cab to Xiaoyoukeng. He said the weather is pretty bad and it will save us some time if we take his car. After some discussion among us, we decided to take the cab. NTD 480 to go from Zhuzihu to Xiaoyoukeng. Nevermind nevermind, we saved some waiting and walking time.

Here we are at Xiaoyoukeng!!!

"Xiaoyoukeng is a post-volcanic geological landscape area and is located on Mt Qixing's northwestern foot. It is approximately 805 meters above sea level and is famed for the fumaroles, sulfur crystals, hot springs and spectacular 'landslide terrain' formed by post volcanic activity." ~~ Description from YMS National Park official website.