Location: Wanli District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
My second day Taiwan trip was consist of four different locations namely: Yeuliu Geopark, Jiufen Old Town, Shifen Water Falls and Shifen Lantern Flying. This second day trip is package booked through Klook and the whole day tour is only P1,060 with the provision of a bus. My first destination in my second day Taiwan Trip was the Yeuliu Geological Park or Yeuliu Geopark in short. Yehliu is a cape on the north coast of Taiwan. It’s known for Yehliu Geopark, a landscape of honeycomb and mushroom rocks eroded by the sea. Well-known formations named for their shapes include the Queen’s Head and Dragon’s Head. The park is also home to birds such as ospreys and little egrets. In the village of Yehliu, the elaborate, 19th-century Baoan Temple was built using materials from an abandoned boat. (Wikipedia)
This day tour has started with our meeting place just three blocks away from our accommodation in Ximending. Our tour guide is Tina, a Taiwanese who speaks well in English. We left at 8:00 A.M. in the morning. It took us only 50 minutes from the point of origin to our destination at Yeuliu Geopark. I am impressed of their traffic, because it is just moderate. New Taipei City is another city of Taiwan. I noticed that the tourists inside the bus were mostly Filipinos.
Upon arrival to the park, I can see huge number of tourists with around 100 tourist buses parked at the carpark. Our tour guide was so firm in telling us the exact time to be back to our bus for they will not wait if somebody does not arrived on time in the bus. First, we were instructed to urinate because there is no available comfort room inside the park, and mind you, the park is too big where it is within a cape 1.7km long.
Due to the crowding tourists, I was not able to capture a better picture of the park's signage. Tourists were just endless. They came in groups and each group has its own tour guide. Our tour guide just stayed outside the park. However, she collected in the bus on our way to the park the entrance of NT$80 or P163.27. Not bad.
Our group of five had difficulty to enter the park because we were asked to show the QR Code of our online payment of the tour package either from our mobile phone or a printed copy but we cannot produce. Good that Tina, our guide, assisted and so we were finally allowed to enter but it took us 15 minutes to wait and the time allotted for the trip is only 70 minutes.
I was quite impressed when I entered the park. Everything was clean and orderly. Although roads were passable with vehicle, none of it were allowed inside. No vendors. The vendors and coffee shops were outside the park. What were inside are purely attractions. Pavements and pathways were developed and concrete. One cannot see any litter or trash.
On January 20, 2010, a part of this rock split off from its head and formed a shape like a princess. The newly made landscape is known as Cute Princess. After an internet poll, "Cute Princess" officially become the successor of the "Queen's Head."
Indeed, the park was an impressive landscaping development. Although tourists were crowding, there is still fresh air to breathe. Wooden benches were just so inviting for those who wanted to take a rest.
The viewdeck offers a 360 degrees view of what is below the rock formations. On it are labels and names of rock formations you will see in the park. Other aged tourists just don't climb to the viewdeck though its stairs are footstep-friendly.
Going to the tip of the park's cape is such a long walk and I only have 55 minutes to finish all other attractions and so I just watched it through the viewdeck. Besides, the thousands of crowd makes it annoying, since you cannot capture the raw scenery.
Since Candle rocks was the nearest, we stayed here. The rock formations actually look like mushrooms. It is so difficult to capture a part of it without photo bombers at the background.
At long last! I happened to have a chance to have solo picture with much effort. But this is just in a split of second because other groups arrived on this spot.
VEvery move I made was very quick to beat the time. My companions had already left going to the bus. I just had then 20 minutes to walk back to the bus parking lot.
I really would like to have a picture like what you see above. Fortunately, a certain Filipino tourist approached me and take a shot like what I wanted. So, I told him, to take me also a shot like what I took him.
I really wanted to have a shot in this signage, but people were rushing alternating to take shots. The problem was, my companions were not around. This time, another Filipino stranger tourist took this photo after I took her solo picture.
I thought then, I was the last to arrive the bus but my two companions were not yet there. We left already but Tina suggested to the driver that he should have just one round of the huge parking lot. So, I went down the bus and shouted for my two companions. Fortunately, they were on those market shops nearby and so they responded. At exactly 10:10 A.M. our bus left and drove to our Jiufen destination.
My expenses for this specific destination are as follows:
| SN | Particulars | Amount |
| 1. | Share in the P1,060 Klook day-tour package good for five persons with four destinations | |
| 2. | Entrance fee | |
| 3. | Bread | |