Hong Kong: Day Trip to Macau

Apparently churches weren’t always white-washed, simple affairs and, before the bible was translated, they were adorned with skeletons, demons, angels and other scenes to remind the illiterate population what they were tithing for. I got to see my first example of this at the ruins of St. Paul’s Basilica in Macau. The only thing left of the 17th century church is the front facade, but that’s all that’s needed to see that this once one of the most prominent churches in Asia.

Macau is a famous day trip from Hong Kong for many reasons and the basilica ruin is just one of them. Today, the country is the gambling capital of Asia, but historically, its town squares and architecture are the oldest surviving examples of an assimilation of Western and Asian ideas. Macau was founded as a Portuguese colony in the sixteenth century and recognized itself as such all the way until 1999, making it both the first and last Western colony on Chinese soil.

The historical place was added to UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2005 and its architecture is a stark contrast to the towering skyscrapers and shiny modern feel of Hong Kong’s cityscape. We mostly stuck to the old towns and stuffed our faces with delicious Portuguese food, which was probably the highlight of the trip. We were bad tourists and skipped the casinos, despite telling ourselves that we would visit at least one.

In fact, from the arrival terminal, we taxied straight to the basilica and old town surrounding it. As mentioned, the basilica ruin was interesting, but the town had basically been turned into a giant outdoor shopping mall, featuring many international brands. The fort next to the basilica was a let-down as well. We were hot, bored and started acting like obnoxious tourists, climbing on canons and jumping off walls. I don’t blame the fort; it’s not its fault that it looks like every other fort we’ve ever seen.

From the Basilica we caught another taxi to the old streets of Tai-pa, which were very cute and delicious! Get lunch here. (This is important!) The street is lined with several nice traditional Portuguese restaurants, including Fernando’s and Antonio’s. The first option was closed, so we went with Antonio’s and loved it. We sat around for two hours eating and drinking the house wine, making it the high point of the day.

Getting Around

Ferries from Hong Kong to Macau depart every fifteen to thirty minutes and we probably didn’t need to purchase our tickets in advance, but did anyway. When booking, remember you can’t exchange tickets for a later time, but you can exchange them for earlier one. The whole trip only takes about an hour, so you can even sleep in a little before getting started. There’s also no need to worry about exchanging money as HKD currency is accepted everywhere.

Wuliaojian: Mountaineering in Taipei

The two main attractions of this hike are a narrow knife ridge and the almost vertical 100 ft. rappel down it. I was terrified and said so… “That’s why we do this,” promptly replied the random hiker next to me. He’s right. This is one of Taipei’s most difficult, thrilling and popular day hikes. Emphasis on difficult as it was a strenuous five hour, full body workout, but it was fun!

The hike starts off with a quick, challenging ascent. It’s a proper climb using ropes, rocks and the occasional tree root. We loved it. It was a proper challenge that used every muscle we had without the monotonous feel of stairs. After about an hour of this, you reach the top of the ridge. On your way up, there’s a good view of Sanxia and possibly a little green snake or two.



Keep climbing. After reaching the top, the path goes up, down and then up again with lots of rope and little 30 ft. rappels. Eventually you’ll reach the first section of the knife ridge, which offers an awesome 360 degree view of Sanxia on one side and a beautiful valley on the other. Don’t stop. You’re almost to the big rappel.

Soon, you’ll reach the #5 trail marker. Here you can head up and over another ridge leading to the big rappel or cut around and go the easy way down. Do the rappel! It’s a terrifying highlight of the hike and more than likely you’ll surprise yourself. Plus, I don’t actually know where that other little side trail goes. I’m just assuming it’s an easy way down because other blogs/books mentioned there was a way to cut around the rappel.

Going into this, I thought the rappel was only 60 ft… not 100, and we’d already been doing smaller rappels, so it felt like the hike had been building up to this “do or die” moment. Luckily, there are two different rappelling options for getting off the ridge. One of which is supposed to be a bit easier than the other. The “easier” one is ever so slightly shorter and broken into three sections, whereas, the difficult one is a little longer with no breaks.  

Our group split up, with two taking the “easy” route and two going down the hard way. Everyone had fun and made it down, but it’s worth mentioning that the “difficult” route ruined the arms on one of our members. He had trouble gripping and couldn’t completely close his hand for the rest of the hike, almost falling. Not something you want to deal with in the middle of the most ropy hike you’ve ever seen.



At the bottom of the rappel, there’s an optional crag hikers can climb. It’s the most difficult rock to scale on this hike, but it’s short and offers a good view at the top. Only one of our members monkeyed his way up it and was very proud of himself. If feeling tired, it’s a good idea to skip it as you need to save energy for getting off the mountain.

After climbing or “not climbing” the crag, get back on the trail and keep descending down the mountain. There are a few more “small” (not 100 ft, but substantial) rappels and climbs, but eventually you’ll make it to the #6 trail marker. Here, hikers can choose to keep monkeying around in the woods with ropes by continuing on to Wuliaojian peak or they can choose to make a break for it and head for the exit.



Running out of water and arm strength, we bolted and followed signs for the trail entrance. We were finally free of the ropes, but ironically this is when everyone started slipping, sliding and falling on the FLAT rocks. I have no idea how we did this nor do I understand why we want to go back, but this is definitely our new favorite day hike in the Taipei area.

Getting Around

The trail head is only an half hour taxi from our apartment door 😃, making this the easiest hiking commute we’ve ever had. For the less fortunate, head to Dingpu MRT Station and from there grab a $300 NTD taxi to the trail head. Be sure to get the taxi’s number and arrange for him or her to pick you up after the hike. Supposedly, there is a bus that goes out that way, but I read that it’s unreliable and inconsistent.

Next to the trail entrance, there’s a little store where you can stock up on water (if doing the whole hike: two liters per person) and gloves (MUST HAVE THESE) if you didn’t remember to bring any. You will also have to contend with mosquitoes, so if you forgot to bring repellent maybe grab a beer as well and chug it real quick to make yourself less appetizing. This should be common sense, but if it’s raining or windy save this hike for a different day. The ridge and big rappels are completely exposed, so too much sun can also be a huge problem.

Waterfall Hunting: Wufenqi and Yuemeikeng

We have a new favorite waterfall hike. This day trip from Taipei consists of two, two-hour hikes and a total of four waterfalls. The first few at Wufenqi are meh, but the last one, Yuemeikeng, is what makes this one of Taipei’s must do day hikes. Overall Wufenqi is quite touristy with nice, neat stairs and crowds at the first two falls. Yuemeikeng is a bit different. Instead of stairs, you have zigzags, trail jumps and cascade climbing. We loved it 😍 The last bit of the trail is a piece of magical fairy land that we’ve been dreaming about since and we had it completely to ourselves.

Start your day with the Wufenqi waterfalls and get those pesky stairs out of the way. Also, the third fall will still look impressive before being dwarfed by Yuemeikeng. The first falls is a bit of a joke. The second is at least a real waterfall, but still just ok. The third is actually quite nice with a massive freefall. We were impressed. They’ve got the trail for it gated with warning signs, but both of those things are easily ignored. If anything, the experience is actually nicer because you’ll have it to yourself. When the sun is out, walk to the edge of the waterfall to see rainbow effects in the mist.

The path for Wufenqi falls is clearly marked, with signs everywhere. However, Yuemeikeng isn’t so easy. We had a hard time finding trail head and asked around only to learn that local vendors had never heard of it. The book we were using (Yes, I said BOOK.) was dated. The only thing the book and blogs agreed on was that we needed to cross a makeshift bridge at the bottom of some stairs and to all of them I say this: A barrel bridge covered in gravel and large enough to support vehicles is NOT a makeshift bridge.

This bridge marks the beginning of the trail; you’ll see it on your way to the Wufenqi Falls. It’s at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the food stalls, after the little dams. Just after crossing the bridge, go right and follow the little footpath along the river for about twenty minutes until you come to a little shrine and fork in the path: go right again. Soon, you’ll cross two bridges. After the second bridge, the trail zigzags up and away from the river.

At the top of the zigzags, there’s another fork: go left, back down toward the river. Soon, you’ll cross the stream for the first time where it’s a good idea to put on river tracing shoes. (Yes, the stream is easy to navigate, but things are about to get slippery.) You’re almost there and soon the path will spit you out into a river gorge where you’ll be able to glimpse the waterfall for the first time.

It’s a slippery, muddy, wet adventure and many of the assistance ropes are so loose that they’re more of a safety hazard than a help. The trail has also given away in a few places, requiring hikers to take really big steps or jump across. At the waterfall, you’ll need to scale a small cascade, but it’s manageable and fun. Although, getting back down is a bit of a brain game. Long legs help.

Again, we were the only ones on the trail, so we ditched our bags and tucked them safely away before wading into the gorge. That said, it’s not necessary to ditch and you don’t need any special waterproof equipment. The deepest water is about thigh height and my shorts never got wet. The biggest danger is falling, but river tracing shoes will fix that. Reading other people’s stories, I completely overreacted and packed a towel, change of clothes and triple zip-locked everything... All of which was completely UNECCESARY. That said, if I’d fallen or slipped on the cascade with my bag, I’d have a different story to tell.

Getting Around:

From Taipei City Hall Bus Station (located right next to the MRT), catch the bus to Jiaoxi. The ride takes about an hour or two in bad traffic. From Jiaoxi Transfer Station, line up for the little tourist shuttle that’ll take you to the Wufenqi bus stop. If confused or worried, just keep repeating “Wufenqi” at the attendants and they’ll literally walk you to the queue. Both buses run consistently throughout the day, at 15 to 20 minute intervals. You’ll have no problem getting around and can pay for everything using an EASYCARD. About $300 NTD will cover it. If you want to skip the shuttle bus and taxi from Jiaoxi Transfer Station to Wufenqi, you can. It’s only about ten minutes away.