Jiufen

The last day in Taiwan, yet this was the day I felt fully energized. Perhaps because I was slept in a mountain town with clean air and peaceful vibes? Everything seemed to go my way today. I left for an early check out and found that my bus was immediately there. Before I knew it, I was already at the foot of Jiufen. Shuqi Road leading up to the Shengping Theatre was laden with lanterns on both sides, I could see why this was one of the most photogenic paths of Jiufen. I didn't realize that I was also passing by A-Mei Teahouse by taking this path so I was able to take photos without any people yet. It was way too early so pretty much all the shops were still closed, this also meant there were no crowds and I much preferred it that way. I got lost in Jiufen's winding alleys, even taking a cave path that led me to some observatory decks and temples. Going up and down and up and down, I made my way to Jiufen Old Street where the main observatory platform was. My plan was to also either hike to the Golden Waterfall or hopefully take the bus. Most buses only took me halfway so I was thinking of dropping by Qitang but suddenly there was a bus that was going directly to the Golden Waterfalls. Jackpot! I waited only to find out that it wasn't coming, and then the screen said that the next one was around an hour later. "What happened? Did it get cancelled?" I thought to myself, trying to find an alternative as buses sped by. Once I decided on another bus, it turns out the original bus was just delayed as both the screen and Google maps reflected that it was coming soon. Relieved, I stepped inside to find that it was empty. A short 8 minute ride which would have otherwise been an hour hike took me to the Golden Waterfalls.

The Golden Waterfalls were some of the most unique falls I have ever seen, it was multilayered or rather multi-falls. Not a direct falling one too but rather smooth shallow falls that was somehow akin to streams or rivers but still gave the impression of a waterfall. Every angle was unique and with all the photos, you'd think they were different waterfalls but they were all just part of the same whole. The name also comes from the fact that the rocks they flow on were rust colored but with the sunlight hitting them, they did indeed look golden. I got to the bus stop again hoping to catch the bus but this time there really wasn't a screen telling me when it would arrive but lo and behold, the exact same bus that dropped me was back just in time I had finished admiring the falls.

I asked to be drop halfway to Jiufen to explore Qitang. The main draw here was the rainbow colored stairs and a temple with a giant Guan Yu statue on top of it. I met a cute dog here and as I hiked up and down to get to the bus station, I passed by an interesting art exhibit of old furniture and housing with golden wiring on them. Unfortunately, the explanations were in Chinese and I didn't have much time to dilly dally as I had to catch the bus back to Ruifang and I did just at the nick of time again.

From Ruifang station, I went to Houtong to check out the Cat Village. I took a wrong turn at first and ended up at some sort of mining museum and a bunch of food stalls so I went back up and exited on the other side to see the cat village and well, I got what I came for. Lots of cute cats around the place, there were around 3 layers but it was more or less a bunch of shops and cafes clustered around with a lot of cat themed decorations and plenty of cats to cuddle with. They were very friendly and approachable, probably used to all the humans coming here to take photos of them and pet them.

I still hadn't had breakfast nor lunch so I was looking for a place to eat and settled for at the cat cafe at the top. Ordered some tuna cheese sandwich along with a mango smoothie. The restaurant had the fattest cat I had ever laid my eyes on, the lady told me his name was Fat Tiger, aptly named I suppose though I worried for its health. I went back down towards the station and back to the food stalls since I still had some time and noticed one of the stands were selling ice cream from Niseko. I saw that they also had scallion pancakes so I ordered one of those and ate them while waiting for the train going to Taipei. From there, I took the airport express going Taoyuan Airport with plenty of time to spare and reflect on the journey so far and the journey ahead.Read more