We began our walk to Shifen waterfull thru the residential areas of Shifen and we still saw the Ah ma with her maid whom we saw during our 2011 visit sitting here for her morning sun.Hehe
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| Place where the ah ma came out for her morning sun |
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| Construction of wat it seems to be a highway? |
We realised this town is getting more popular with tourists as compared
to our last visit. The good thing is, the authorities made it more
accessible by having bus routes plying between here and Taipei city.
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| Bus that comes here from Taipei |
Also, more signs are in place to guide us to the waterfall, its
definitely more tourist friendly but we found the route longer than the
previous 1 we took. Furthermore, its uphill...Agggrrr..We also saw the
route we took the other time closed for constructions. Hopefully, it
would be reopened the next time we are here and I need not take the
uphill road. Hehe
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| More signs on the way now |
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| Still a long way in |
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| Pretty flowers we saw on the way..I love spring |
We came to a new building on the way- Shifen vistor's centre which is located at mid hill. Here, you can take a rest from the long walk in or prepare for the longer walk up. There are restrooms, some water coolers for you to refill your bottles, a small shop and of cuz a visitor's information counter.
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| Shifen vistor's centre |
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| Guide to the water fall |
1 thing I keep complaining about the information Taiwanese authorities gave is the estimated time to destination. Dunno is it our problem or they simply have a faster walking pace, I usually took twice as much time to reach as compared to their guide. Haha Here states, 10mins, I tink we took 20 if not more...Its is torturing to walk up hill under the scorching sun..
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| Purple flower |
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| Lagging behind Mr Love |
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| Finally at top of the hill |
We finally reached top of the hill, only to find a long flights of stairs leading down to the water fall..Make us go up and down!!!
We also saw many scooters park there, you can rent 1 from the stall near the train station to ride up the hill, only if you have a valid license and since Mr Love doesnt have a bike license, we can only depends on our leg...
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| Many of the locals rented and rode this up..Envy |
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| And you need walk down these stairs |
We have to go thru a cafe located at the bottom of the stairs, cross the railway before reaching the entrance of the waterfall. Told Mr Love I wanna rest here later for an ice cream before we start our descending.
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| Cafe in the midst of greeneries |
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| Entrance of the cafe |
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| Down down down |
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| The track |
Tickets remains the same at NTD58 for each and to my disappointment, the big dog we saw last time is still here guarding the door. *bleah*
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| Tickets to the park |
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| Map of the park |
Mr Love was more interested to feed the fishes than to see the waterfall. And so, we went to the co-op to buy the fishes food. The auntie at the co-op told us there is also goats that we can feed now and we end up buying goat's food too...
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| With the many packets of food we brought |
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| Goats |
Though I did go back to my grandma's place in Msia when I was young where she have a farm, but I wasnt never keen in going near the animals as I am afriad of them biting me. Thus when I saw how aggressive the goats were when we took the food near them, I told Mr Love he can have all the fun feeding them while I be the photograhper..Haha Just like when we are at the farm in Lou Dong.
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| All waiting for food |
It wasnt after long that Mr Love got spooked by their enthusiasm in the food and he did not dare to feed them from hand too!!!Haha..Gotta improvised on the spot as we brought 2 packets of food leh, cannot waste..
Luckily, I was carry maps I collected while travelling around and I took out 1 and poured the food onto it. Mr Love held the map for the goat to feed on the food.
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| Feeding the goats using map..hehe |
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| 2 goats fighting for the food |
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| Smile till beri forced |
We took quite a long time to finish the goats as was pretty freaked out by them. At 1 point, 1 of them forcefully snatched the map away leaving us with nothing to hold the food with!!! Then Mr Love started looking for bigger leaves to hold the food.
There was a little Taiwanese boy beside us, looking amused at our clumsiness to feed them. Haha He was looking longingly at the food and I offered him some to feed the goats. His dad was told him not to disturb us but I ensured him it is okie as we couldnt finished feeding them..So the little kid struck close to us for a while, leaving only whent he food ran out. Haha
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| Up up |
The park was more well developed this time. With more animals, a small play ground and some bbq pits added to it. More families came here for a day tour with their kids too.
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| And away! |
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| Japanese chickens |
We then moved to the fish pond to feed the fishes, brought 3packs of food for them. While feeding, we waited for the mandarin ducks to come out for the food too. But they didnt come to where we are standing.
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| See Mr Love so happie to see the fishes |
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| 鱼儿，鱼儿， 水中游。。。 |
We decided to search for the mandarin ducks instead of waiting for it to come to us after we finished the 1st pack of food.
Turns out, it had park itself at a shade, haha..Threw some food near it to lure it out for me to take photos. There was a pair here when we came here in 2011, but now the other 1 is no where to be found. Not sure whether is becuz it had passed away. So sad. This duckie look abit lonely here...
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| Hello, old fwen |
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| silhouette |
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| View of main building from pond |
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| Pretty flowers everywhere! |
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| And they have calla lilies here too |
Finally after nearly an hour of feeding the animals, we are done. Haha..Then proceed to the waterfall..I suspect Mr Love was not too interested in the waterfall after all. His interest are on the fishes, and this time with some bonus, goats..Hah
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| Walking towards the waterfall |
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| Always happie to see rainbow here:) |
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| An obligatory photo here |
The area near the waterfall is extra cooling as compared to the other areas. Stood there awhile to cool down before we decided to end the visit here.
Brought an ice cream from the cafe on our way out to cool down from the heat.
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| Ice cream time |
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| Train passing as we made our way up |
We were surprised to see a street vendor when we came up to the top of the hill. Hehe while having our ice cream, we stood there to decide wat to buy from her.
In the end, brought 1 sausage and then we alternate eating it with our ice cream. Luckily did not lao sai..
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| Street vendor at top of hill |
We went to the visitor's centre again to clean our hands and I saw a poster on the 台湾好行 bus services. This could be an alternative to get here as the train is seriously over crowded.
But if you are visiting for the 1st time, it is always good to try taking the train, seeing the scenery along the way.
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| 台湾好行 bus from Muzha |
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| Pink flowers |
This marks the end of our 2nd visit to Shifen falls. I am sure if time permits, we will be back the next time we are in Taiwan :)
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