Five Reservoir Trip: From Miaoli To Hsinchu Via Mingde Reservoir (明德水庫), Yongheshan Reservoir (永和山水庫), Dapu Reservoir (大埔水庫) & Baoshan Reservoirs 1 & 2 (寶山水庫 & 寶山二水庫)

Despite stopping out late last night for a couple of drinks, I got up early this morning and took the first train up to Miaoli. I wanted to shift the motorbike up to Hsinchu for the sake of forthcoming return trips to Shihmen reservoir and elsewhere in the area later this summer.

I gave myself the best part of the morning and early afternoon to get this done and find somewhere decent to park in Hsinchu; the drive from Miaoli to Hsinchu is a short one, but I wanted to take a few more pictures of the five reservoirs between Miaoli and Hsinchu cities as per the title of this post. In particular I was hoping to get some new shots not previously taken, but I wasn't sure I'd manage this due to my time constraint. In the end, I got a few new shots at the south-west end of Yongheshan reservoir, which I'd never previously seen...

At the Mingde reservoir spillway.

Tourists lining up to get on one of the little cruise boats that goes up and down Mingde reservoir.

Looking downstream at Mingde's widest point.

Hidden ruin behind a peninsula at the south-west end of Yongheshan reservoir.

Telephoto shot of same ruin. The story is that there used to be a village here before the dam was built and the basin flooded to form the reservoir.

Yongheshan reservoir's spillway chute downstream from the dam.

A short drive up from Yongheshan reservoir is Dapu reservoir which is also referred to as "Emei Lake" or, as I prefer to think of it, the Buddha's puddle (there is a 100 foot tall bronze around the corner).

This is the first reservoir in Taiwan built by the Taiwanese without American supervision or previous Japanese planning. 

Overlooking the south end of Baoshan second reservoir.

Same shot with a filter attachment to give the clouds better definition.

Final shot of the day just after 2pm on the crest of the dam for Baoshan first reservoir; I stopped at the office to ask questions but the boss and regular staff weren't there, so I left my Line ID with the caretaking staff to pass on. Probably I won't hear anything back. After taking this shot quickly, there wasn't time to do anything else and I made it back to Hsinchu just in time to find a decent parking spot and catch my 3.10pm train back to Tainan.