pilgrimage — ˈpɪlɡrɪmɪdʒ. noun. a journey to a place of particular interest or significance. #sandiaoling #sandiaolingwaterfalls #waterfall #taiwan #三貂嶺瀑布群 #三貂嶺 #瀑布 #台灣 (at 三貂嶺瀑布群 Sandiaoling Waterfalls Hike) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byy5VYogr1v/?igshid=ppfc05sifkna
affinity — əˈfɪnɪti. noun. a natural liking for and understanding of someone or something. #affinity #sandiaoling #taiwan #三貂嶺 #三貂嶺車站 #台灣 (at 三貂嶺車站) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByxZ_leggwO/?igshid=1hk1k1zqczmnk
At the beginning of March we hosted two German students, one of whom was already studying in Kaohsiung and the other who arrived in Taiwan to meet up with her friend. Like we do with most of our Couchsurfing guests, we wanted to give them a taste of the Taiwanese countryside and the amazing hiking this country offers (still the most under-promoted and neglected aspect of Taiwan’s international advertising as a tourist location). Our plan was to take the train to Sandiaoling and hike a loop from there back to Houtong Station ...
Taking the train from Nanggang, we alighted at the very minimal and mosquito ridden Sandiaoling Station (originally built as part of the Japanese east coast line that both served as a delivery line for coal from the local mines and a vital connecting route to the East Coast) and walked some ten minutes along the track to the village of Sandiaoling that sites next to the Keelung River.
You can see from the image below that the railway line splits off to run through the village and on to the former mining, and now tourist-subsistent, villages along the valley to Pingxi. On Maps.Me it is clear that a circular route from Sandiaoling to Houtong exists, as can be seen in the app screenshot below where the white line is an established paved path and the black line more of a rough but well trodden trail. We took the white paved trail north west up towards 合谷瀑布 He Gu Waterfall.
As an introduction to Taiwanese hiking, the trail was perfect: not too steep, not too many steps, a nice level earthen path section with great views of the valley and the other waterfalls in the area, and a ropeway bridge to boot. All in all a delightful trek ...
Along the path we came to a t-junction and this sign below with a hand written note that the trail up the mountain was for advanced hikers only ...
... noting the warning, we continued on the main path to a viewing platform for the 合谷瀑布 He Gu Waterfall - a rare and tall 2-step waterfall, one of the largest in Taiwan ...
... and further on we arrived at the 摩天瀑布 Motian Waterfall ...
Having rested up here for a little while we followed the path up by the side of the fall ...
... and took some steps up to get to the top (from where I shot the image at the top of this post). Here, EVA negotiates the steps ...
At the top of the fall were signs, and signs of other trekking groups who marked the route for their members ...
We continued on the path past the 福興宮 small buddhist temple, enjoying the great views, relative scarcity of other hikers, and the nice variety of pace and style of trail (a lot of Taiwanese hikes are are endless steps up to the top then endless steps back down which crushes your knees and legs - the descent much worse than the ascent) ...
It was shortly after that we appeared to go off the path without realising it, going onto the black dotted trail back towards our starting point instead of staying on the white line. After walking for an hour around the edge of the valley on an increasingly precarious path we finally came to a fork in the trail. Knowing that we were definitely not on track and with time ebbing away, we sent a scout up one path to see if it looked promising. She came back with two elderly Taiwanese hikers she’d found walking towards our position, who complained extensively about also being lost and there being no clear directions to or from Houtong. With this confirmation we decided that the path going down the valley was most likely the quickest route out of the jungle and back down to Sandiaoling before dark. Our instincts were right when the path of rotten wood chips soon gave way to a splendid bamboo forest complete with solid wooden steps. Imagine our surprise then when we came to the bottom of that path to ... a t-junction ... the very same one we had encountered on our way to the He Gu Waterfall. We had inadvertently completed the advanced hike section without realising it! Another (mis?)adventure I’m chalking down to mad dogs, german girls, a slightly concerned Taiwanese girlfriend, and Englishmen in the mid-day sun. Oh and an over-reliance on the accuracy of the signs placed along the trail, which like a lot of road signs in Taiwan, are more suggestions than dependable navigational aids.
Perhaps another day we’ll return to complete the circuit to Houtong, this time giving us enough time to complete it (I would estimate now that it’s a good 4~5 hour hike). It is certainly one of the prettiest and most interesting hikes I’ve done in Taiwan and one that I’d be happy to introduce to other guests even if they only want to go as far as the Motian Waterfall and just explore around Sandiaoling village.
