Falling in love with waterfalls

15th July 2019 0 By livinguktaiwan

Since visiting the Peng Lai Waterfall last month in Taiwan, I think I’m falling in love with waterfalls. Last week I went to another one called Guan Yin Waterfall at Nantou in Taiwan.

自從上個月去過蓬萊瀑布，我想我開始愛上瀑布了。今天去了南投縣觀音瀑布。

OUTER DROP

There are two main drops at Guan Yin Waterfall. The outer drop is about five minutes away from the car park. That in itself is so impressive that some come here just for that and don’t bother walking further up the mountain to see the best part. I actually came here a couple of years ago. It was quite late in the afternoon and didn’t have enough time to see the inner drop. This time I was determined to do the whole hog. It helped that I got here at 7 o’clock in the morning.

觀音瀑布分山上的內瀑布，和路旁的外瀑布。外瀑布從停車場步行5分鐘就到。其實兩年前我已經到過觀音外瀑布，但當天已近黃昏，未有進入內瀑布。今次早上7時已抵達，有足夠的時間慢慢觀賞觀音內外瀑布。

HEADING UP THE MOUNTAIN

The inner drop was less than one kilometer away, and I started the uphill walk. The bordering wall is so beautiful, and the green moss looked especially sharp and vibriant after the massive rainfall we’ve had recently.

從外瀑布到內瀑布其實只有不足1公里的步道。同行的朋友對野外生物非常有研究，沿途除了講解植物生態，又教我如何分別鳥兒叫聲，真是讓我獲益良多。我們還見到野猴子喔！短短不足1公里的路結果走了1小時。

There are some other smaller drops on the way up. Although these were pretty small, the force of the water coming down was very loud. I took a video of this and when I get round to edit it, I will of course share it.

My favourite part of the waterfall is this little turn. The water flows down on the left hand side, and drops into a mini pool. There are a couple slabs of rocks that stops it from flowing further down from the base, so the water changes direction and flows side ways. I think its fascinating how nature can change the course of things.

Water is plentiful around this area at this time of the year. Some of it was trickling down against the cliff on the other side of the path. I could actually see it seeping through from the cracks of the cliff and it was as clear as crystal.

I HAVE COMPANY

Apart of water and plants, and the sound of birds chirping away, there was something else that was a bit of an eye opener. I had company, a family of four or five, I can’t remember. Only they weren’t human, though near enough. I heard some noise above my head, but it wasn’t the birds as it sounded a lot heavier. There was pipeline running across the waterfall to carry water down to the villages, and suddenly I saw a monkey running across it. I nearly missed it. And then there was another one, then another. I can’t remember if one or two more followed as I was busy trying to take of photo of them. The last one was this fella, he actually hanged around as if he knew I wanted to take some photos of him.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH WATERFLSS

After the little enounter, I continue my hike upwards. I hadn’t even arrived to the inner waterfall yet, and I had walked for an hour alredy because there was so much to see on the way. Anyway, why rush such a beautiful walk?

終於到觀音內瀑布了！瀑布前有一個觀賞台，距離剛好可以安全地欣賞銀河倒掛的水柱，但也能感受到水花四濺涼快的感覺。湖面隱隱約約出現一道微弱彩虹，就像一個害羞的小姑娘對著我微笑。

It turns out I wasn’t far away as I could hear the waterfall thundering away somewhere. In less than ten minutes time I finally arrived! The inner waterfall up the mountain was about the same height as the outer one further down, but wider and the water plummeting a lot more aggressively. By the time the waterfall had dropped further down, it had split into multiple silver threads before darting into the pool

And guess what was at the pool waiting to greet the waterfall? I think the rainbow was a bit shy, but luckily I still managed to catch her on camera. There’s a reason why I’m falling in love with waterfalls now.