Hey, I tried posting this on the Travel section of the forum, not sure where this post really fits in, but for some reason I couldn’t find the “new topic” button on the travel section, so anyway, here we go…
edit…I’m stupid, I clicked on the “general” travel category and didn’t click on the specific one for Taiwan. I’ll let the mods decide if this is an appropriate location for this topic. Thanks.
I hope this description is not too vague.
There is a river swimming spot on the way to Manyueyuan Forest Recreation Area. It is only open in summer as far as I know, and it is an official swimming area, with lifeguards and etc. If you were going to Manyueyuan from Sanxia, it would be on the way. I went there last summer in a van with some people, but I was basically brand new to the country. A few months later in October of last year, I was on my way to Manyueyuan and noticed it. It was pretty much an accident discovering it again.
Does anyone know the exact spot I’m talking about? If so, please let me know and if you could give me some info on the place, if it has a name, or public transportation routes, that would be great. When I rediscovered it in October last year, I was walking. I had taken a cab most of the way to Manyueyuan from Sanxia, and decided to get out and walk the rest of the way. At that time, Manyueyuan was closed off due to a landslide destroying a section of road. The bus that goes to Manyueyuan was not running at that time, and I am assuming that this was the reason.
If anyone knows the bus route that goes out there, or the name of the place, or how I could direct a cab driver to this spot, that would be awesome. I want to take some friends there one of these summer weekends. Please post if you have any useful info. Thanks.
Alright, so call me lazy, impatient or whatever, but I found the bus route that goes up that way. It’s bus number 807 and leaves from Sanxia. Now it’s just a matter of knowing where to get off. It’s a rather infrequent bus. It seems to be running because I called the bus company and the guy, who spoke limited English, and with my virtually non-existent Chinese, it sounded like he said the next one was leaving at 5:30pm.
I’ll report back here after I make an attempt at going next weekend.
The spot I am talking about is safe. It’s not too deep. It would only be unsafe if you couldn’t swim. There are lifeguards at this spot as well, so it is very safe.
The spots that you mention you say are unsafe. What makes them unsafe for swimming?
The spots I mentions are unsafe because pothole geology tend to mean very strong sudden currents with a lot of rocks in it.
There’s a news today saying 13 spots, 醒心橋、金敏橋、金龍橋、東陽橋及樂園仙境、東眼橋、青山谷、鴛鴦谷、蟾蜍山谷、八仙橋、蜜蜂世界、熊空水壩、山中傳奇, are opened to the public every holiday, 9 are opened daily between July and Aug. They all have lifeguards on site.
I’m pretty sure it’s this bridge you’re thinking of. I haven’t been in a couple of years, but this river has quite a few swimming spots, and last time I went on a weekend in summer this particular one was full of red cross lifeguards.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]I’m pretty sure it’s this bridge you’re thinking of. I haven’t been in a couple of years, but this river has quite a few swimming spots, and last time I went on a weekend in summer this particular one was full of red cross lifeguards.
The road down to Manyueyuan is quite nice and the river is lovely, but on a weekend/holiday in summer? At every accessible spot there are loads of barbecuing locals and screaming kids. Not exactly my idea of a relaxed afternoon surrounded by nature. At least I would go as far upstream as possible or go for a hike to a more secluded spot. No point in going to a natural spot to inhale BBQ fumes.
I’ve done lifeguarding in Sanxia and Pinling before. The senior Red Cross lifeguards told some sad stories about Sanxia and Pinling. Whirlpools can form at different parts, and people who don’t know what to look out for get caught. On the worst day I heard about, three people got pulled in and turned up a couple of kilometers down the river, all drowned.
At the barbecue/lifeguarded spots, you also need to look out for all the barbecue equipment people throw into the river. As junior lifeguards, our duty was to clean out as much as we could in the safe area before the crowds arrive, and tell people not to throw their rubbish into the river at the end of the day.
[quote=“hannes”][quote=“Bu Lai En”]I’m pretty sure it’s this bridge you’re thinking of. I haven’t been in a couple of years, but this river has quite a few swimming spots, and last time I went on a weekend in summer this particular one was full of red cross lifeguards.
The road down to Manyueyuan is quite nice and the river is lovely, but on a weekend/holiday in summer? At every accessible spot there are loads of barbecuing locals and screaming kids. Not exactly my idea of a relaxed afternoon surrounded by nature. At least I would go as far upstream as possible or go for a hike to a more secluded spot. No point in going to a natural spot to inhale BBQ fumes.[/quote]
No you’re quite right. They’re pretty crowded on the weekends - I’d only really recommend it on weekdays, but the OP was looking for spots with lifeguards.
So I went up there and found this spot again today. I went to Sanxia and at first went to he U Bus station. I knew the bus number was 807. The guy there pointed me to a bus depot around the corner with a stop where the 807 picks people up. There are only a few of these a day up the mountain. I believe it runs at 5am, 7am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and 5:30pm. I got there around 12:30pm so I took a cab. Just told the driver to go to Manyueyuan and then when I spotted the place, just had him pull over since I didn’t know the name of the place. The cost was 350 NT for the ride.
I got there and found out the name of the place is Da Bao. The middle section has a lot of people there with their BBQs, lots of smoke, litter and heavily tattooed dudes that I assume are gangsters. But you can go a little further up or down stream to places with virtually no one BBQing and very few people in general, but still lifeguarded.
As for the way back, the bus seems to stop there around 4pm. My idiot friend was still changing into his regular clothes when it came by. There would not be another one for about two and a half hours or so. We hitchhiked back to Sanxia. Thank God Taiwanese people are so friendly and helpful to foreign idiots like us, and that it is a safe enough country to be able to hitchhike.