June 23

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.