The Old Paiwan Village is located upstream of Ailiao South River, almost at its origin in North Dawu Mt. From any place in the village a silver falling strand can be clearly seen on the slopes of the opposite mountain, and the natural tunes made by the waterfall can almost be heard. There is an industrial road that leaves the village downwards with a small parking area at its end; however it is not suited for passenger cars as they tend to slide when backtracking. After parking, the waterfall and its splendor can be reached by foot in 10 minutes and it is tremendously enjoyable to visit in summer. If you carry on along the road then Shelu Suspension Bridge can be reached, which allows access to the water if you descend down the left after crossing the bridge. To lie on the stones, listen to trickling water, stare at clear blue skies and listen to occasional eagle calls - this must surely be found only in heaven!

Recorded by: Hsiao-ning, Hsiao-rong, Hsiao-rou

◎Record of Waterfall Visit:
The Largest Waterfall (02/12/2006)
Recorded by: Hsiao-rou

　It has been almost 3 months since joining this project.　Going up mountain on Wednesdays and some Saturdays has become regular, and data compilation in the computer room every Thursday and Friday afternoon, and handing in reports and sketches every Thursday have kept us really busy, but morale is still high and we have given it all.　Our teachers were moved by us.

　We have entered December, which means the project should look half-complete, so we used Saturday to go up the mountain for another visit.　We gathered in the village and travelled up in the teachers’ two cars.　The thought of having to cross that construction site again make me want to pray, but along the trip we happily told the legends we collected and after countless turns we reached Old Paiwan.　Today is a weekend so the mountain was livelier and cars were parked across the clearing.　The teacher led us to the Cliffside to watch the waterfall hanging on the opposite slope.　The waterfall is Majia Township’s largest Sala Waterfall.　The origin of South Ailiao River, upstream of Gaoping River, runs very close to here, and the waterfall hangs on the slope of the sacred mountain of Paiwan Tribe – North Dawu Mt.　In the past a road did go from Calisi across to North Dawu Mt., but nowadays North Dawu Mt. can be entered from Taiwu Township’s mountain post.　It will take close to 4 hours to reach Taiwu Township from here so it is less used.　The teacher explained to us the surrounding geography while we walked, and taught us the village’s situation and the past and current transport routes.　Then we drove downwards on the industrial road to the left of the village, which was bumpy and in many places only one car could pass.　As we went further down more and more stones covered the road and with concerns that the cars will slide on their way up we parked on the roadside at a wider part of the road and walked down with our backpacks.　The trip down was trouble-free and after 20 minutes we heard the waterfall, it was truly exciting!　We walked to a slope and could see the waterfall right beneath us.　The water was green with a small stream, but the teacher said that it was already very good since it is winter.　The teacher did not allow us to go down due to safety concerns.　After crossing the slope we saw Shelu Suspension Bridge.　We crossed the bridge and played in the stream below before ending our visit today.　It’s hard to describe how difficult it was to climb up afterwards.　Hopefully the teachers will use a 4-wheel drive car the next time.

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