Day trip to 东北角, 九份, 十分 @Taiwan

We felt it was economical enough to engage a driver for a day trip since there were 3 of us. It was an excellent decision!

Our driver 赖师傅 Mr Lai came to pick us up from City Inn at Taipei Main Station around 9am. It was a great experience as our driver was very knowledgeable about the places he brought us to, and was able to give us a brief introduction of each place and what to look out for. He was also very caring towards us, hahaha, especially after he heard us complaining about our knees after the climb the previous day. At each stop, he would whip out his umbrella for us to use against the hot sun or as a walking sticks.

We had a rough itinerary and things changed according to our needs on the actual day. Today was a super sunny day so it was really hot, but that also meant that the skys were clear and a great day for taking pictures outdoor.

正濱漁港 Zhengbin Port

Our first stop was 正濱漁港 Zhengbin Port with its colourful houses and a quick tour of the nearby area. We were blessed with very blue skies, and together with the bright colourful houses made for very beautiful pictures and our mood!

正濱漁港 Zhengbin Port Location: No. 72號, Zhengbin Rd, Zhongzheng District, Keelung City, Taiwan 202 [Google Maps] Hours: 24 hours

象鼻岩 Elephant Trunk Rock & 陰陽海 Yinyang Sea

Next stop was 象鼻岩 Elephant Trunk Rock, right at the edge of the ocean.

We needed to do a short hike up to the cliff to see it against the blue ocean (one could also go on a boat tour to see the rock from the ocean). 赖师傅 was a bit concerned if we were able to make the hike to see 象鼻岩 but we made it alright.

It was a bit challenging at certain points but not as bad as the steep steps at 象山. We were treated to somewhat of a mini Yeliu 野柳 with the many small rocks leading up to the Elephant Trunk Rock.

(UPDATE: The Elephant Trunk Rock collapsed into the sea on 15 Dec 2023 due to erosion by seawater and wind).

As we were chatting in the car and telling 赖师傅 of our disappointment during the last trip where we were unable to see the distinct colours of the 陰陽海 Yinyang Sea due to poor weather, he immediately brought us there!

象鼻岩 Elephant Trunk Rock Location: 224, Taiwan, New Taipei City, Ruifang District [Google Maps] Hours: 24 hours

陰陽海 Yinyang Sea Location: 224, Taiwan, New Taipei City, Ruifang District, 濓新里 [Google Maps] Hours: 24 hours

雨傘達人

K and I wanted to buy umbrellas and 赖师傅 proceeded to bring us to this shop 雨傘達人 at 九份 where they produce their own umbrellas in their factory. I bought the most expensive umbrella in my life, and I hope it would really as good as advertised (good for 2 pax, lowering temperature by 8 degree Celsius, good water resistant, dirt-proof and colour will not fade) and would last my remaining lifetime, since I practically have to buy new cheapo umbrellas almost every year. K bought the version where water literally just drip off the umbrella when the owner did the demo. The umbrella was dry when he closed it. Super impressed!

雨傘達人 Location: No. 53, Qitang Rd, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224 [Google Maps] Website: https://www.umk8989.com.tw/ Hours: 9am – 5pm (Tue-Fri), 9am – 6pm (Sat-Sun)

九份老街 Jiufen Old Street

赖师傅 then dropped us at the usual spot to make our way to the 九份老街 Jiufen Old Street (see more about 九份老街 Jiufen Old Street in our 2017 trip).

We did the usual 魚丸伯仔 Fishball Bozai and 阿柑姨芋圓 A-Gan-Yi Taro Ball. We also tried a taro puff at 米詩堤甜點王 Misty Dessert Kingdom Jiufen that was recommended by 赖师傅. It was yummy!

And we found a shop that accepted EasyCard and bought quite a few snacks here. we noticed many other shops selling similar items, but we weren’t sure if they accept EasyCard, or if it tasted as good. We were happy with what we sampled. K went wild with her souvenir-shopping here and also bought from a couple of other shops, haha!

九份老街 Jiufen Old Street Location: Jishan St, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224 [Google Maps] Website: https://newtaipei.travel/zh-tw/attractions/detail/109990 Hours: 10am – 8pm

魚丸伯仔 Fishball Bozai Location: No. 17, Jishan St, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224 [Google Maps] Hours: 10am – 7pm (Tue-Fri), 10am – 9pm (Sat-Sun)

阿柑姨芋圓 Ah Gan Taro Balls Location: 224 台灣新北市瑞芳區豎崎路5號 No. 5, Shuqi Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224 (Google Maps) Website: Facebook Hrs: 9am – 8:30pm (Mon-Fri), 9am – 10pm (Sat), 9am – 9pm (Sun)

米詩堤甜點王 Misty Dessert Kingdom Jiufen Location: No. 29, Jishan St, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224 [Google Maps] Website: Facebook Hours: 9:30am – 6pm

十分瀑布 Shifen Waterfall

Next up was 十分瀑布 Shifen Waterfall and this area has changed so much since our last visit!

We no longer have to pay a fee to enter the premises and the place has been spruced up with more observatory points and food joints.

Again, there were some steep steps (our knees and feet have yet to recover) but it was mostly alright. The waterfall was still as majestic as we remembered and we loved the atmosphere of being around the river and lots of water.

There were a number of food stalls and we shared a Chayote 佛手瓜 before setting off to our last destination for the day.

十分瀑布 Shifen Waterfall Location: 226, Taiwan, New Taipei City, Pingxi District, 乾坑10號 [Google Maps] Website: https://newtaipei.travel/en/attractions/detail/111592 Hours: 9am – 4:30pm

十分老街 Shifen Old Street

Our last stop was 十分老街 Shifen Old Street for the sky lantern experience.

My heart felt very full as I watched the sky lantern fly up. I hope our wishes would all come true! The lady who helped us with the photos and videos was very good.

It appears that the sky lanterns prices were all fixed-rate for all the shops, so their selling point was really size (to accommodate tour groups), whether you get to do your writing under the hot sun or inside the air-conditioned shop, skills in photo-taking/video (some shops offered polaroids, others offered the usual printed photo size). 赖师傅 also mentioned that the Jiufen taxi group also charges fixed rate for the various destinations and they have to follow certain rules or face disciplinary actions. We thought they were generally very well-organised. We did not face fierce touting during our visit and it was very pleasant.

十分老街 Shifen Old Street Location: No. 81, Shifen St, Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 226 [Google Maps] Website: https://newtaipei.travel/en/attractions/detail/111989 Hours: 24 hours

Final Thoughts

Compared to the hotel-listed prices of NT3200 for 8-hour and subsequent NT400 per additional hour, we thought the NT4000 was quite well-spent for the 9-hours with 赖师傅 as he was very knowledgeable and caring.