Day 7: Shifen Waterfall and Yehliu Geopark

This is the seventh post out of seven posts I have made about my recent 7-days trip to Taiwan. You can read the previous posts about the other six days I spent in Taiwan here:

On the sixth day, I explore the beauty of Taiwan’s Northeast Coast. On the last day in Taiwan, I explored Shifen Waterfall, Yehliu Geopark and a bit of Taipei.

After I went along the northeast coast of Taiwan, I stayed the night at Airbnb in Ruifeng City. Ruifeng is such a small and beautiful city. Its night market lively and worth exploring. Early in the morning the next day, I boarded an early train to Shifen.

When planning the trip, I had two options: Exploring Sandiaoling Waterfall or Shifen Waterfall. Sandiaoling Waterfall trail is a trail where we can see three waterfalls. They are Hegu Waterfall (合谷瀑布), MoTian Waterfall (模天瀑布) and Pipa Dong Waterfall (枇杷洞瀑布), whereas Shifen waterfall is a single waterfall show with easier route and established platform. My time was limited since I had to go to Taipei and get a taste of Taipei before departing to Hong Kong the next day. So, I chose Shifen Waterfall since Sandiaoling Waterfall Trail requires more hours with more difficult trail and hikes. If you’re interested to go to Sandiaoling waterfall, you can read more on this blog.

​To go to shifen Waterfall, I needed to go to Shifen train Station. So, I went to Shifen Train Station from Ruifang Train Station. The ticket cannot be bought in advance, so I bought it in the morning for 8 am train. Please be noted that the best viewing platform for Shifen waterfall is open at 9 am-5:30 pm and the train ride is about 30 minutes. The train was local train, and old historic rail. It was such a fun ride from Ruifang to Shifen.

​From Shifen Station, we need to walk to the Shifen Waterfall. It’s about 20-30 minutes leisure walk. If you are from Ruifang, you need to walk across the rail to the opposite side and take the right side. You will face the station building after you cross over. Turn right to the Shifen old street, passing Shifen elementary School, onto Shifen main asphalted street. From there, you can follow the direction to the Shifen waterfall.

After entering the Shifen waterfall complex, you will be greeted by the main building. Just take the road behind the building and follow the trail passing the bridge to the waterfall. There will be small waterfall before the Shifen Waterfall.
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When I arrived, it was around 8:50 am and I waited for about 10 minutes for the gates to open. The waterfall was very pretty and it was the main attraction. There were plenty viewing platform, just keep going until you find the right spot at the front of the waterfall. Around the area were many food and souvenir counter, you can take a rest and have a snack out there. There was also a small temple inside the complex.

After Shifen Waterfall, I went back to the Shifen Train Station to catch a train back to Ruifang. After I arrived at Ruifang, I went back to the Airbnb to get my luggage and went back again to the train Station to catch a train to Taipei at 10:18 am. I arrived at Taipei at around 11:30 in the afternoon. It was such a hectic morning.

Once I arrived at Taipei Train Station, I went to the hostel to store my luggage. And since it wasn’t the check-in time yet, I only dropped the luggage and looked for a lunch Thankfully I stayed in hostel that was pretty close to the train station where malls and foods were abundance. After had a big lunch, I continued my journey to Yehliu Geopark. My initial plan was to go to Yehliu Geopark and Fugui Cape Lighthouse. But the bus schedule was tight and I only made it to Yehliu Geopark. But I was very happy nevertheless.

To go to Yehliu Geopark, I was initially wanted to go by Taiwantrip Bus (website: https://www.taiwantrip.com.tw/line/41?x=1&y=4) but at that time, I just went to the tourist center at the station, and the lady told me to go to bus station next to the train station. Once I was there, I was told to go gate number 3 and waited for bus number 1815 to Yehliu. I paid the bus using iPass that I bought initially when I arrived at Kaohsiung on day-1.

When I arrived at Yehliu Geopark, it was already around 3 pm in the afternoon. I was then proceed to the ticketing counter and bought the ticket for NT 80. I didn’t expect the park was that vast. There were just so many tourists out there.

Yehliu Geopark is one the most visited tourists spot in Taiwan. It’s famous for its unique geological formations from limestone rocks that have been gradually eroded overtime by wind, waves, and the sea to form a unique landscape. I think Yehliu Geopark is best spent in two to three hours if crowded and one to two hours if it’s not so crowded.

​After getting back to Taipei, I went to Huashan 1914 Creative Park. This park reminded me of Pier-2 Art District in Kaohsiung. There were not much to enjoy, it was just a killing time before I went back to Hostel.

​A week in Taiwan has been so wonderful and inspiring. Taiwan not only offers beautiful nature and landscape, but it also have amazing architecture and traditional market. And what makes them even more amazing is that the people of Taiwan is very friendly and helpful, and the transportation makes it easy for any tourist to explore the country independently.