While not a weekend trip, it was a Friday; it was a holiday. We had a nice four-day weekend for Tomb Sweeping Day and Children’s Day. Therefore, I decided that I would do one of my favourite day trips. I took a trip to Wutai in Pingtung to eat lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in Taiwan.
After taking the train to Pingtung Station, I rented a scooter from a shop across from the train station. The drive from Kaohsiung to Pingtung isn’t very nice, so I always just rent in Pingtung. Although it costs a bit extra, it spares me from the most boring part of the journey.
The trip isn’t particularly amazing for the first twenty minutes or so, but after that, you can see the mountains clearly, and the scenery starts to get more rural and very beautiful.
My first stop was Shuimen (水門村). I always like to stop off and visit the irrigation tunnel (水門碰坑口). A good chance for a walk and a little break from riding. This tunnel was built to help get water from the mountains to the irrigation system in Pingtung.
A quick video showing the water tunnel.
The next stop was Sandimen (三地門), or Timur, in the indigenous Paiwan language. Timur is a small but nice village at the start of the mountain road to Wutai. It’s a village of mostly Paiwan people. It’s a nice tourist rest stop, too. So there are a few shops to check out.
On the way to Wutai, there’s an old police station you might want to check out.
About halfway up the mountain, there is a police checkpoint. When I first came to Taiwan, I wasn’t allowed to go to Wutai because it is above 3,000 metres. The local government felt that this impacted their economic growth, especially in tourism areas. So finally, people were allowed to travel here. However, you have to show your ID and sign in at the police station.
Once you get past the police checkpoint, the views start to get even more amazing.
You reach the village of Wutai after passing through Shenshan. I usually get here by 11:30 or so…. So it’s time for lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in Taiwan, 霧頭山光華的店. I always eat here for the food and especially the view.
Wutai is an area of Pingtung inhabited by Rukai/Drekay people. 魯凱族. Like the Paiwan of Sandimen, they are one of Taiwan’s 16 recognised Indigenous groups. And like many Indigenous groups, there are plenty of Christians.
Another must-see in Wutai/Vedai is the Wutai Presbyterian Church.
After lunch and a brief walk around the town, I decided to drive to the end of the road. It’s about fifteen minutes or so past the town. It offers some of the most beautiful views of the whole trip.
The end of the road is 台24線臨時終點. Typhoon Morakot devastated a lot of this area in 2009, and it has never really recovered. Most people cannot go past this point. The government decided that fixing the road was pointless. It’s only used for emergency rescue in the mountain areas. It makes a lovely end spot to the trip.
Let’s head back.
A view of Wutai Guchuan Bridge (霧台谷川大橋). The previous bridge was destroyed in the Morakot typhoon. This bridge was completed in October 2013. It’s 654 meters long and 99 meters high. Hopefully, it can survive any Morakot-sized typhoons in the future.
Under the bridge is the village of (谷川部落) Kudrengere.
A beautiful teahouse just outside Sandimen Timur.
I also finally decided to check out the Shanchaun Glass Bridge (山川玻璃吊橋), or Qinata a kakiunangan a Tjekeza in Paiwan. It’s a hammock-style suspension bridge. It’s 262 meters long and 45 meters above the river. It was pretty cool. It was free.
Back on the plains.
This is a drive that I try to do twice a year. So getting it done early was so nice. So if you are looking for somewhere to eat and want a nice drive too, you could do worse. If you go to Wutai, remember to go to the restaurant and say hi!
Formosa>Ex 