#jygoessolo - Ruisui Township, Hualien (Day 15, 16)
(Cont'd from Day 15)
Ruisui (瑞穗鄉) is probably just a little quaint town in Hualien County but it's a stop-over for me because I wanted to go for the whitewater rafting activity along the river that flows from Ruisui. It's possible to go for the river rafting if you stay nearer to Hualien's city. It was already 8pm when I reached Ruisui after catching an evening train from Luye.
花蓮瑞穗正市區特色便利小屋(禾頁屋)
www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/2141209
Rates for 2 nights: S$111 (+$13 Airbnb service fee)
1 King-size bed
- Probably one of my more expensive stays but it's highly recommended by yours truly! The room is really clean and the bed is super comfortable.
- Well furnished room with all the necessities provided
- Just 7 minutes walk from the train station
- The host, Naiying, doesn't stay there so I had the whole house to myself (though I didn't leave my room once I'm inside) and I think since it was the non-peak, there weren't other guests.
- Most importantly, I realised it was beside the recommended Milk-pot (which had good reviews online)
綠精靈餐廳瑞穗鮮奶火鍋
The shop was just nice door literally, I had their famous milk pot, which had really good soup base, though at the end I got really full and couldn't take another mouth of the milky taste. Dessert was their milk pudding, which was smooth. The whole set was about S$10. Do take note that their last order's at 9pm. Thankfully I was there at 8.40pm. It was full house even at that kind of timing!
The shop was just nice door literally, I had their famous milk pot, which had really good soup base, though at the end I got really full and couldn't take another mouth of the milky taste. Dessert was their milk pudding, which was smooth. The whole set was about S$10. Do take note that their last order's at 9pm. Thankfully I was there at 8.40pm. It was full house even at that kind of timing!
Coincidentally, Naiying sat at the table beside mine! (Before that, she remotely opened the door for me when I called her) I got to know she actually works for the tourism of Hualien-Taitung county so if you guys need any recommendations on places to play, Naiying will be a great person to turn to!
The night ended early after dinner and I KO-ed really soon because the bed was THAT comfortable!
Day 16
As mentioned earlier, the main reason for stopping over at Ruisui was to go for my first whitewater rafting experience along a part of Xiuguluan River (秀姑巒溪). This part of the river flows through Ruisui Township and the course of rafting is approximately 24km, which will usually take about 3-4hours (with a stopover halfway). It's said that April - October would be a good time to go.
There's a list of rafting service providers on this website. Since the course of rafting starts near Ruisui Township, I thought it would be more logical to spend the night there. You may contact the tour providers listed on the website if you are staying in Hualien. They'll drive you down to Ruisui Township, which one of my team mates during the rafting did.
I contacted Pacific Rafting (太平洋泛舟公司) before the trip and dropped them an email on the date I would be going for the rafting experience. I actually took up a package for Whitewater Rafting, Whale Watching and Night-fishing for NT2500 (S$110). Unfortunately, the weather was forecasted to be bad with an incoming typhoon on the sea, hence whale watching and night-fishing was cancelled. Dampening! So I paid NT750-800 for the Whitewater rafting only.
The people from Pacific Rafting picked me up from Ruisui Station at 8.30am and dropped me at a main rafting company's office beside the Xiuguluan Tourist Centre. Waited for the rest of the customers/ team mates who travelled down from Hualien city/ other townships around. Soon, 20 of us were ready to set off after getting our life vests and wet shoes, oh, and an introduction video.
Valuables were placed in a bag individually, sealed up and brought to the end point; while the rest of us were driven to the starting point, approximately a 20-minute (?) journey. Got our paddles and we were ready to go!
I was really excited before the trip because it was my first whitewater rafting experience and I've seen so many people enjoying this 'sport'. It was breezy that morning, partly because it rained in the early mornings, and secondly, it meant that the rain might be coming in towards the later morning. So it was really cold as we rowed down the river.
The first leg of the trip was a slow one as the waters weren't particularly fast-flowing, as the river was rather flat/ not too steep. In fact, the instructor assigned to us were towing us along with his boat and trying to maneuver us so that we could enjoy the certain thrilling rapids. This was kind of disappointing because I thought we could self-navigate/ auto-pilot along the river. In addition, majority of the team mates in my boat were Taiwanese teens and they (boys and girls) weren't particularly keen on rowing the boat themselves. I guess this reduces my enthusiasm somehow! Not to mention, the Singaporean boy sitting behind me was sighing and complaining that he was so disappointed and that the experience and Yellowstone National Park was much better. This was probably a beginner-level experience.
After an hour or two, we managed to get to the faster rapids, which I think was rather thrilling! The introduction video did cover capsizing drills/protocol and halfway through the course I thought we wouldn't actually need it. Unfortunately, as we got through one of the fast rapids, we lost the boat's CG and every one on board capsized. I guess every one panicked 'cos we were underneath the boat and had to find our way out. Was made worse by a girl who panicked because she can't swim well, frantically holding onto my life vest and pulling me down, until I told her to relax.
There was supposed to be a stopover half way but we skipped it because it wasn't operating (due to bad weather for that few days). At the end of the course, we got off to have the provided packed lunch and wash up before we got sent back to our accommodations, a 40-minute or so ride back as we had to go through the mountains/hills.
Since the whale watching and night-fishing activity got cancelled, I slacked around in the room till I decided to head out. It was drizzling plus the places to visit were a good 20-minute walk so I decided to get a cab from the station. The lady driver dropped me at the Ruisui farm and picked me up after I gave her a call and for the rest of the day, she brought me to a couple of places. I can't remember how and how much I paid for the cab fares! But you could rent a bicycle somewhere and I'm sure it'll be nice to cycle around Ruisui.
1. Ruisui Pasture (瑞穗牧場)
This is byfar the only/main attraction at Ruisui which I googled. It's a simple farm where the owner reared a lot of cows and had a couple of ostriches running around. With a restaurant that sells all kinds of milk products, (I tried the milk buns and milk pudding which were delicious), this is probably the highlight of the farm. Nothing much to do there actually.
2. Saoba Stone Pillars (扫叭石柱)
The lady driver drove me here - didn't know of this.
"Saoba" means "wood plank" in aboriginal Amis tribe's language. The taller pillar is 5.75m in height and the shorter one is 3.99m tall. It is estimated that they are both 1.7m into the ground. The mysterious part of these pillars were the lack of advancement in technology in the past, which led to questions of how the pillars were delivered and erected in the first place, and their origin.
4. Tea tasting
Ruisui Township is situated on an altitude and hence is good for harvesting tea leaves. As such, one of the specialty is red tea. The driver brought me to this nice little tea house, where I got to taste their red tea.
新鹤茶园
花莲县瑞穗乡舞鹤村中正南路二段76之5号
The tea was fragrant with a tinge of sweetness.
5. Ruisui Hotsprings
Ruisui is also known for its hotsprings. The driver drove me to one of the hotsprings along this stretch of road where there are a few of the shops. Got myself a big private room at only NT300 for an hour! Even though its June and its crazy to be soaking in a hot spring during summer, thank god (for once) it had been raining so the weather was chilly, and a perfect time to chill in the hot spring. Truly enjoyed me time in the private pool with a great open top view of the sky and trees.
You should try this too, which I didn't have a chance to (both along the main street, 中正北路)
I enjoyed chilling here in Ruisui, where things go slow. It's actually not too bad that the whale watching and night-fishing got cancelled. At least I got to do my things at my time. I even bought a bottle of Somersby and cup noodles for dinner. I like it simple sometimes. After all the travelling around, it's nice to finally have a simple dinner in the comfort of my room while watching tv. Really puts my mind at ease.
I'm sure it would have been fun exploring the other towns around Ruisui. If I can, I'll not hesitate to visit this area of Hualien again.
Anyway. the lady driver was nice and I got to know that she's an aboriginal. She told me she only started driving the cab for a couple of months and things are going slow for her. That's when I know it isn't cheap either in Taiwan to operate your own cab. She bought the cab at around NT1.5mil, partly loaning from the bank. I'm sure she'll be working for the rest of her life just to pay off the loan and support herself/ her partner at the same time.
I enjoy these little talks with the locals because that's when I get to learn the lives of others in their countries.
--
If you were wondering, I didn't head up to Tarako Gorge nor Qixing Lake as I've been to the former many years back and partly because I didn't have much time allocated for the East Coast of Taiwan. If I've a chance to be back in Taiwan, I would love to spend all my time on this side of the Formosa, and of course re-visiting the Tarako Gorge again! ;)
As mentioned earlier, the main reason for stopping over at Ruisui was to go for my first whitewater rafting experience along a part of Xiuguluan River (秀姑巒溪). This part of the river flows through Ruisui Township and the course of rafting is approximately 24km, which will usually take about 3-4hours (with a stopover halfway). It's said that April - October would be a good time to go.
There's a list of rafting service providers on this website. Since the course of rafting starts near Ruisui Township, I thought it would be more logical to spend the night there. You may contact the tour providers listed on the website if you are staying in Hualien. They'll drive you down to Ruisui Township, which one of my team mates during the rafting did.
I contacted Pacific Rafting (太平洋泛舟公司) before the trip and dropped them an email on the date I would be going for the rafting experience. I actually took up a package for Whitewater Rafting, Whale Watching and Night-fishing for NT2500 (S$110). Unfortunately, the weather was forecasted to be bad with an incoming typhoon on the sea, hence whale watching and night-fishing was cancelled. Dampening! So I paid NT750-800 for the Whitewater rafting only.
The people from Pacific Rafting picked me up from Ruisui Station at 8.30am and dropped me at a main rafting company's office beside the Xiuguluan Tourist Centre. Waited for the rest of the customers/ team mates who travelled down from Hualien city/ other townships around. Soon, 20 of us were ready to set off after getting our life vests and wet shoes, oh, and an introduction video.
The only picture I have before the whitewater rafting!
I was really excited before the trip because it was my first whitewater rafting experience and I've seen so many people enjoying this 'sport'. It was breezy that morning, partly because it rained in the early mornings, and secondly, it meant that the rain might be coming in towards the later morning. So it was really cold as we rowed down the river.
The first leg of the trip was a slow one as the waters weren't particularly fast-flowing, as the river was rather flat/ not too steep. In fact, the instructor assigned to us were towing us along with his boat and trying to maneuver us so that we could enjoy the certain thrilling rapids. This was kind of disappointing because I thought we could self-navigate/ auto-pilot along the river. In addition, majority of the team mates in my boat were Taiwanese teens and they (boys and girls) weren't particularly keen on rowing the boat themselves. I guess this reduces my enthusiasm somehow! Not to mention, the Singaporean boy sitting behind me was sighing and complaining that he was so disappointed and that the experience and Yellowstone National Park was much better. This was probably a beginner-level experience.
After an hour or two, we managed to get to the faster rapids, which I think was rather thrilling! The introduction video did cover capsizing drills/protocol and halfway through the course I thought we wouldn't actually need it. Unfortunately, as we got through one of the fast rapids, we lost the boat's CG and every one on board capsized. I guess every one panicked 'cos we were underneath the boat and had to find our way out. Was made worse by a girl who panicked because she can't swim well, frantically holding onto my life vest and pulling me down, until I told her to relax.
There was supposed to be a stopover half way but we skipped it because it wasn't operating (due to bad weather for that few days). At the end of the course, we got off to have the provided packed lunch and wash up before we got sent back to our accommodations, a 40-minute or so ride back as we had to go through the mountains/hills.
Since the whale watching and night-fishing activity got cancelled, I slacked around in the room till I decided to head out. It was drizzling plus the places to visit were a good 20-minute walk so I decided to get a cab from the station. The lady driver dropped me at the Ruisui farm and picked me up after I gave her a call and for the rest of the day, she brought me to a couple of places. I can't remember how and how much I paid for the cab fares! But you could rent a bicycle somewhere and I'm sure it'll be nice to cycle around Ruisui.
1. Ruisui Pasture (瑞穗牧場)
This is byfar the only/main attraction at Ruisui which I googled. It's a simple farm where the owner reared a lot of cows and had a couple of ostriches running around. With a restaurant that sells all kinds of milk products, (I tried the milk buns and milk pudding which were delicious), this is probably the highlight of the farm. Nothing much to do there actually.
2. Saoba Stone Pillars (扫叭石柱)
The lady driver drove me here - didn't know of this.
"Saoba" means "wood plank" in aboriginal Amis tribe's language. The taller pillar is 5.75m in height and the shorter one is 3.99m tall. It is estimated that they are both 1.7m into the ground. The mysterious part of these pillars were the lack of advancement in technology in the past, which led to questions of how the pillars were delivered and erected in the first place, and their origin.
3. Tropic of Cancer Marker Park
This is also the second attraction of Ruisui and is interesting. Apparently, Tropic of Cancer crosses the Northern Hemisphere, across 16 nations! And Taiwan is one of them. This is one of the three markings in Taiwan! And what makes it more interesting is that at noon of June 22 every year, when the sun shines down vertically on the Tropic of Cancer, a vertical pole will show no shadow at all.
4. Tea tasting
Ruisui Township is situated on an altitude and hence is good for harvesting tea leaves. As such, one of the specialty is red tea. The driver brought me to this nice little tea house, where I got to taste their red tea.
新鹤茶园
花莲县瑞穗乡舞鹤村中正南路二段76之5号
The tea was fragrant with a tinge of sweetness.
5. Ruisui Hotsprings
Ruisui is also known for its hotsprings. The driver drove me to one of the hotsprings along this stretch of road where there are a few of the shops. Got myself a big private room at only NT300 for an hour! Even though its June and its crazy to be soaking in a hot spring during summer, thank god (for once) it had been raining so the weather was chilly, and a perfect time to chill in the hot spring. Truly enjoyed me time in the private pool with a great open top view of the sky and trees.
You should try this too, which I didn't have a chance to (both along the main street, 中正北路)
1) 涂媽媽肉粽 (Rice/meat dumplings)
2) 綠茶肉圓 (Green tea meatballs)
I enjoyed chilling here in Ruisui, where things go slow. It's actually not too bad that the whale watching and night-fishing got cancelled. At least I got to do my things at my time. I even bought a bottle of Somersby and cup noodles for dinner. I like it simple sometimes. After all the travelling around, it's nice to finally have a simple dinner in the comfort of my room while watching tv. Really puts my mind at ease.
I'm sure it would have been fun exploring the other towns around Ruisui. If I can, I'll not hesitate to visit this area of Hualien again.
Anyway. the lady driver was nice and I got to know that she's an aboriginal. She told me she only started driving the cab for a couple of months and things are going slow for her. That's when I know it isn't cheap either in Taiwan to operate your own cab. She bought the cab at around NT1.5mil, partly loaning from the bank. I'm sure she'll be working for the rest of her life just to pay off the loan and support herself/ her partner at the same time.
I enjoy these little talks with the locals because that's when I get to learn the lives of others in their countries.
--
If you were wondering, I didn't head up to Tarako Gorge nor Qixing Lake as I've been to the former many years back and partly because I didn't have much time allocated for the East Coast of Taiwan. If I've a chance to be back in Taiwan, I would love to spend all my time on this side of the Formosa, and of course re-visiting the Tarako Gorge again! ;)
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