烏來 Wulai

Wulai is a quaint little place just over an hour from Taipei. We had to catch the MRT to Xindian, and then a bus which took about 45 minutes. There were no seats, and the road was really winding and horrific. When we arrived at Wulai, we got on a little train tour thingy. I think it was used during the Japanese occupation for transporting some kind of goods, but now it's a tourist thing.

As you can see in these pictures, the weather today was AMAZING. The sky was actually blue, and I had a chance to wear a hat!

The national park area was very scenic, with multiple waterfalls.

Claire, myself, Reina and Sarah

Myself, Claire, Sarah and Reina

We went for quite a long bush walk/hike. 很累啊！The ground was very slippery, and I feared for my life quite a bit.

After all of that, we had some snacks and visited a museum dedicated to the Atayal people (one of the largest tribes of indigenous people in Taiwan).

I found it really quite interesting that the Taiwanese people have made such an effort to respect and honour the culture of these people. The museum was huge considering the fact that Wulai itself was only a small place, and I found myself questioning how little recognition the indigenous people of Australia are given. Claire also knew quite a lot about Taiwan's original inhabitants because she had learnt it at school. I feel like my Mueller education has definitely failed me in that regard. I now know more about the Atayal people than Indigenous Australias.

After the museum, me and Sarah dipped our feet in the public hot springs with a few of the locals while Claire and Reina decided that it wasn't for them. We ate some more food, then headed home.

Anyway, I am incredibly tired. This week has been super busy! On Monday I'm back to class, and I even have an exam to make things worse. So I'll probably be spending the rest of the weekend studying (read: sleeping).