Being raised in Warwickshire, I grew up around a very flat and grassy scenery. While this may sound quite dull, it makes seeing some more distinctive surroundings during a holiday all the more interesting.
One of the most fascinating landscapes I have seen recently was during a short trip to the Yehliu Geopark in Taiwan.
Found on the north coast of Taiwan, around a 40-minute drive from the capital of Taipei, the Yehliu Geopark is perhaps one of the most distinctive and unique attractions the country has to offer.
A UNESCO-designated site, the geopark features a significant range of incredibly unique rock formations that were sculpted by the rough sea and strong winds thousands of years ago.
During the short walk from the car park to the geopark itself, it is easy to see that there are quieter places to visit during a trip to Taiwan. In all, around three million tourists flock to the site each year.
Yehliu Geopark’s most distinctive feature is one particular rock that is referred to as the Queen’s Head, which manages to resemble the head and neck of a lady.
Taking more than 4,000 years to form, many tourists like to get their photo taken with the eight-metre-tall formation and some even buy a scaled-down model of it during the inevitable visit to the gift shop.
However, the harsh sea that formed it will ultimately kill the Queen’s Head, with the neck decreasing in width by up to half a centimetre each year. As a result, the most iconic part of the geopark could collapse in as little as five years.
Nevertheless, the geopark does offer a range of other fascinating rocks, which were evident more or less everywhere I went.
These include the Ice Cream Rock, which looks similar to a sundae, the large Elephant Rock and the Fairy’s Shoe, although I have never seen a fairy with metre-long feet.
The sea had even eroded patterns into some of the surrounding rock surfaces, leaving dragon-like scales and rounded holes, much like a scaled-down version of the rockpools you might find on a UK beach.
In all, Yehilu Geopark is a fantastically different alternative to the hustle and bustle of Taipei, a very modern-looking city best known for science and technology.
Spending a holiday looking at 4,000-year-old rocks may not sound too appealing. However, ones that may well vanish in a matter of years, as it turns out, are fascinating.
Yehilu Geopark is open from 8am to 5pm all year round, and costs a very reasonable NT$80 (£2) per person to enter, making it an incredibly affordable way to spend a few hours in Taiwan.
Source: express.co.uk