This is our 2nd day with the taxi. (You can see our first day tour with taxi here) We booked the taxi for the one-day tour through Dingtaxi.com. The taxi company we engaged is David Fleet. The driver of the day is with surname Lee.
After the first day tour with taxi, I was kind of weary, will we meet another cold manner driver.
I was standing infront of the hotel entrance looking out for the car plate number sent to me, and it was 2 minutes before 9am, the car arrived. It was another young man in his red t-shirt, very casually dressed. He walked out of the car, we greeted each other. The first impression is much better than the Lin, at least this one looks cuter and wear a cute smile on his face.
I passed him the itinerary of the day, and asked him if it is too rush. The answer he gave was, let see how it goes, he will control the timing as far as possible.
The planned route was: 野柳地質公園 > 十三層遺址 > 黃金瀑布 > 陰陽海 > 九份老街 > 十分放天燈 > 十分瀑布
The actual: 野柳地質公園 > 十三層遺址 (view from the car while on the move)> 黃金瀑布 > 陰陽海 (view from car and from the黃金瀑布) > 九份老街 > 平溪 > 猴桐
It was approximate one hour plus drive from the Sweetme Hotspring Resort to 野柳地質公園. Lee does not speak much, but surprising we felt more comfortable with him. He told us to take a nap while he drove us to Yeliu, telling us the estimated driving time.
What to see at Yeliu?
When gonig to Yeliu, the most iconic element to see is the Queen's Head:
It was much smaller than what I expected. There was a long que to take photo with this natural formed "Queen's Head". We did not join the que, instead, we took the photo from the pathway directly opposite.
Taiwanese named these natural formed stone very interesting, other names include 俏皮公主, 烛台石， 仙女鞋。
If you are unable to have a closer look at the Queen's Head, you may wish to see the Queen's Head II, which is a imitation, situated on the other side.
At the park, there is guard situated at different location to control the human movement. It is quite dangerous if one get near to the edge of those rock, as it is at the sea side.
Next, we headed to the 十三層遺址 > 黃金瀑布 > 陰陽海. These three places are very near to each other. We did not get down the car for the 十三層遺址, as there is really not need to, we can see it through the car window. It is actually a place left over during the war time.
As the car passed by the 陰陽海, Lee asked if we wants to get down the car, and I told him I want to look from the top. He mentioned it can be viewed from the黃金瀑布, but ultimately, we only have limited view.
Lee gave me a doubt smile through the back view mirror, with a hidden message (Did I recommend the wrong place to view the sea? Should I bring them to another location to view the sea). Nevertheless, I did not insist to go somewhere else to view the sea.
Next, we headed to 九份. This is our second time to this place, and I love this place!
Along the way, Lee asked if we would like to go to 平溪 thereafter, since we have been to 十分 before. And I told him ok. He also took this time to ask if we don't mind overtime, and I said fine. I told him if the sky gets darker, we will not go to 十分瀑布.
I like the way he communicate with us, it feels like we are at the same frequency.
We idled at 九份 for two hours, sitting at one of the cafe for tea break and view the scenery through the window. Very relaxing.
Next, we headed to 猴桐, which is also known as cat village. From my search through the internet, those cats are been abandoned and happens to have all gathered around this area, thus, cat village formed.
As we walked around the village, we saw some cats are injured or disabled. There are some Taiwanese staying in the area taking care of these cats.
The last stop was 平溪, before we head back to our hotel.
As compare to 十分, 平溪 is much more quieter, with lesser shops. Personally I prefer 十分.
We forgo 十分瀑布 and add in the 猴桐, as we believe it would be nicer to see cats than the waterfall.. And also the sky gets dark.
Ultimately, we reached our hotel at 7.05pm. I was wondering at first if Lee going to charge us till 8pm. To my relieve, he only charge till 7pm.
See my post on our stay at the Star Villa here.
See my post on our visit to the Small Swiss Garden here.
See my post on our visit to Green Green Land here.
See my post on our one-day taxi tour to Yang Ming Shan, Beitou, Tamsui here.
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