Always Take the Road Less Traveled (Except When Raining)

According to the multiple weather forecasting websites I visited while checking the weather for Thursday, all were pretty much saying the same thing be it in words “partly cloudy,” in picture with a picture of a little sun peeking out from behind a cloud, or in numbers a 20% chance of precipitation was forecasted. The rest of the week was showing signs of rain with deteriorating weather making those days not prime for adventuring, so I decided to take my chances with the decently forecasted weather, make a break from the city, and head to Yehliu Geopark.

In order to get to Yehliu Geopark, head to Taipei Main Station, exit M5 (toward the Taipei West Bus Station/Terminal), find the Kuo Kuang bus counter and tell the ticket vendor that you want to go to Yehliu (Bus #1815), and then go line up in the corresponding line. When the bus arrives, double check with the bus driver that he is indeed going to Yehliu so that 1) you don’t end up in the middle of no where by mistake and 2) so he will announce the Yehliu stop and not drive right past it because you didn’t push the bell alerting him to stop. This particular bus leaves Taipei Main Station roughly every 15 mins during standard running hours.

Since Taipei Main Station is a terminal station, you are guaranteed a seat when boarding there, this is good news since the journey from Taipei to Yehliu is a little over an hour.

I spent the next hour listening to music, looking out the window, and hoping the driver wouldn’t forget to announce the Yehliu bus stop. Thankfully though, I wasn’t the only person who wanted to go to Yehliu and half the people on the bus disembarked at the stop with me. Finding the Geopark was pretty easy as there were several signs pointing in the direction of the park and a pretty touristic blue painted walkway with crabs and rock formations from the Geopark marking the way.

Upon arriving at the entrance of Yehliu Geopark, I realized that quite a few other people had the same idea as I had and all of them chose the one decent day of the week to go visit. Tour buses lined the parking lot and tour groups faithfully followed their flag waving tour guides hither and thither.

Surveying the migration pattern of the masses, I decided to start with the lesser popular but just as impressive rock formations closer to the entrance and save the more popular Queen’s Head and other rock formations near it until later.

With so many people visiting the Geopark, taking pictures without strangers posing in the background or milling through proved to be quite difficult. I had to get quite creative with my angles and practiced exercising a lot of patience. In hindsight, going to Yehliu while people were still having days off from work due to Chinese New Year probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

Everything was going fine, I was pushing myself outside of my comfort zone as I tried different settings and angles for my shots, I hadn’t stepped in a puddle, and the weather while it wasn’t sunny was still holding up nicely for a coastal adventure. That was until I had reached the far end of the park and the sky opened up and started pouring. People were pulling out their ponchos, opening their umbrellas, and even trying to shelter themselves under large leaves. However, wind and umbrellas don’t really mix well, so umbrellas were blowing inside out all around.

I didn’t want to head back to Taipei without getting a picture of the famous Queen’s Head, so like any sane person, I stood in line in the pouring rain to take a picture of the Queen’s Head and to have my picture taken with it. Once I got my token picture, I called it quits and decided that weather forecasts can only be so accurate. I hiked in the rain all the way back to the bus stop, caught the bus back to Taipei Main Station, and decided that Yehliu Geopark is best enjoyed on non-rainy days.

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