When we first planned out our trip to Taiwan, we planned
Jilong to be our hub for day trips all along the north east coast of the
island. Today, our day trip was to a city called Sandiaoling, a hike with three
waterfalls by that city, and then to the neighboring town that has been
converted into a cat village. We caught the train early in the morning. Jilong
is at the end of one line, so whenever we go anywhere we have to catch one train
for two stops and then switch trains to get to the places we would like to go.
The train stop for Sandiaoling was just a tiny little station. You have to get
off on one side and then the station manager walks everyone across the tracks
once the train has left the station.
The hike was beautiful. It started off
with a stroll right next to the tracks by the village. It was a really small
village with maybe just 20 houses or so. Then, after turning down one of the
village streets, the trail started with a bunch of stairs. They were pretty
cool jungle stairs with some falling down and some moss covered and the
children said it reminded them of the temple run game that they got to play on
the plane ride and the long train rides. About 1 mile in we came to the first
waterfall. It was pretty, but we could only see it from a distance.
Then
another ½ a mile and we got to the second one. By this point the trail had
become a little more crowded. Well, crowded for the things we have done in
Taiwan – maybe about 15 or so other people at the falls. On the way to this
second one we got to cross a few small rope brides and see a snake and lots of
butterflies. The second one had a spot about halfway up where you could climb
up and walk behind the waterfall. It involved a little bit of a climb and some
steep drop-offs, so I took the kids in smaller groups to check it out.
It was
about another half a mile to the third waterfall. This was definitely the
scariest part of the trail. I wanted to get a few pictures of it, but all of my
hands were full making sure no small ones fell off the cliff. There was a steep
set of metal stairs that were built so people could climb up and then a section
where there were notches carved in the rock with a knotted rope to hold on to
and pull yourself up. These rocks were a little wet and slippery and had a very
steep drop on one side. I don’t think it would be too bad for an adult or even
someone over 8, but trying to help Agnes and Elliott navigate it was pretty
intense. We made it though and the third waterfall was worth the effort. It was
similar to the second, but we got to go in the water a little closer to the
base of it. We ate some snacks there and by the time we were ready to go we
were all soaked with the spray from the falls. We probably would have stayed at
this waterfall a little longer, but there was a group of about 30 foreign
college students who showed up and it got kind of crowded.
The hike back went
pretty quick. By the time we got back to the train station Rebecca and I were
surprised at how tired we both were. The hike was only about 2 miles long each
way and we do hikes longer than that all the time back in Idaho. I think it
must have just been the combination of the incline with the extra humidity that
we experienced in the jungle.
Our next stop was the cat village. So the real
name for the cat village is actually Houtong (translated Monkey Cave). It used
to be an old mining town and there was a cave nearby that was inhabited by lots
of monkeys at that time. Early on, it was a pretty rich town, but as the mines
started to close in the 90s, the town started to go into disrepair. Then, about
10 years ago, some of the remaining people in the town (only a couple hundred
still live there) started to take in abandoned cats. Word got out and many
people started bringing stray cats there. They took advantage of this and
really built up the city around the cat theme. There were hundreds of cat
statues all throughout the town. I think they have a couple hundred cats that
live there now, and that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is probably more cats
than people and they all just roam around town sleeping and eating wherever
they would like. When we got there we first went to one of the old mines. We
did a little train ride that went part way into a mine and we got to do
different mining activities. It was a little artificial and expensive, but the
children really loved doing this. Half way through this ride it started to pour
down rain. Luckily we brought our rain coats with us. After that we probably
spent an hour walking around the streets of this little town looking at and
petting the cats. There were lots of other people there doing the same, but it
was still fun. We were all wet and tired for the train ride back to our
apartment.
On the train starting out the day - Julia particularly liked the idea of going to a cat village.
At the small train station.
Starting off the path - first along the railroad tracks for a little bit.
Now up the jungle stairs.
The first waterfall.
The second waterfall.
Behind it. I wish I knew how to do the lighting right for this kind of picture.
The third waterfall.
At the train station for the cat village.
Our first cat encounter.
You can see it is a pretty small town. Just 20 or so house on the hillside.
Getting ready to go into the mine.
Christian trying out a jack hammer.
