After a pretty average week I started to see some signs of improvement in my health, but it could have been just temporary relief from the cold tablets and cough syrup.
I took the train as far north as it goes to Beitou, which isn't really that far actually, maybe half an hour. At Beitou I had to change onto another train that simply runs back and forth between Beitou and Xinbeitou - maybe Xinbeitou means "After Beitou" or "If you wanted Beitou you've gone too far".
It was another steaming hot day when I got off the train (no complaints from me) as I walked through Beitou Park and past the Beitou Hot Springs Museum in search of the Thermal Valley. I was pretty familiar with what hot springs are, but it was quite a spectacular sight (and smell) when I actually got up close. There was endless steam coming off the water, and it was much hotter than I anticipated, particularly if you walked over one of the drains along the footpath. The smell was intense too, a very strong sulfuric aroma.
On the way back down the hill I stopped in at the Beitou Hot Springs Museum, since it was free. You had to change in to slippers before entering, and mine didn't fit so well, making it next to impossible to walk up stairs ! I didn't learn a lot from the museum, you had free reign to walk around the whole house as you please, but at the end of the day we're just learning about hot water.
With that taken care off I ventured about half way back to the city and got off at the stop closest to Jiantan Mountain hiking trail. The directions to the bottom of the trail were good again, at which point a very steep trail began, before flattening off towards the top. The directions along the trail were sparse and very confusing, it was one of those hikes where you aren't sure if you are going in the right direction because of:
I found an observation point with a good view of the city, and discovered there was a large riverside area at the north of the city which I was not aware of. While I had stopped to take photos a woman passed me on the trail, but I soon caught up to her as she had suddenly stopped along the path. I wasn't sure why at first, then at the last moment spotted the massive spider hanging out in a web. I like spiders about as much as the next person, so I just kept on going and didn't look back - or have any intention of going back the way I came...
I took somewhere between one and several wrong turns trying to loop back to where I started, but it wasn't all bad as I ended up instead at The Grand Hotel which lived up to it's name. Quite by luck there were signs from the hotel pointing back to the train station as well, so it all worked out in the end.
The weather was a lot more calm today, so I made another effort to take a ride on the Maokong Gondola. In the south direction it was quite a long and rural train ride to reach the end of the line, it reminded me of the time I went to Belgrave. Taipei Zoo was also around, but I didn't really have time for that so I just got in line for the gondola. There was about ten times as many people lining up for the glass bottom cabins, which seemed pretty pointless to me - pay more and stand in line longer just so you can see out of the bottom of the cabin. The journey took ages as there was three stations in total to get to the finish, it took about twenty five minutes each way and there wasn't a lot to see other than the forest below. Since it took longer than I had planned I didn't spend much time after I got off at at the end, instead I just bought a ticket back the other way.
I finally went to see what was happening at Taipei 101, since it dominates the city skyline. The shopping seemed to be concentrated to the bottom few levels and while the food court was alright the rest was generally higher end fashion. Across the street were some basketball courts with "Adidas 101" promotional banners everywhere. From reading some websites I found out that New Zealand's Steven Adams (from the Oklahoma City Thunder) had been there the day before, but today it looked like it was just people having a shoot around. I think there may have been a tournament happening at some stage and that it was related to the larger NBA 3X (nba3x) three on three tournaments being held in Philippines and Singapore - I picked the wrong countries...
With my final day winding down I again went in search of dinner. I found a burrito and taco place in a small laneway, but decided to keep walking and see what else was around before making a decision. I'm glad I did, because although I didn't find an alternative dinner spot I did find a small stand on the corner of the street selling small red bean cakes !!! The best thing was they only cost about forty cents each - incredible.
I went back to the burrito place and put in my order before realising there was also nachos at the very far end of the menu board. Damn it. After dinner I went back to the red bean stand one more time, to try the custard cream variety as well, only there was two women at the front of the queue who had just ordered something in the order of eighty cakes. It took like five minutes to cook and bag them all.
On the way back to the hotel I started having the strange headaches again, which I've deduced must be some kind of ongoing nerve pain from the neck issues I had during my time in South Korea.
I took the train as far north as it goes to Beitou, which isn't really that far actually, maybe half an hour. At Beitou I had to change onto another train that simply runs back and forth between Beitou and Xinbeitou - maybe Xinbeitou means "After Beitou" or "If you wanted Beitou you've gone too far".
It was another steaming hot day when I got off the train (no complaints from me) as I walked through Beitou Park and past the Beitou Hot Springs Museum in search of the Thermal Valley. I was pretty familiar with what hot springs are, but it was quite a spectacular sight (and smell) when I actually got up close. There was endless steam coming off the water, and it was much hotter than I anticipated, particularly if you walked over one of the drains along the footpath. The smell was intense too, a very strong sulfuric aroma.
 |
| Onsen. |
 |
| Onsen again. |
On the way back down the hill I stopped in at the Beitou Hot Springs Museum, since it was free. You had to change in to slippers before entering, and mine didn't fit so well, making it next to impossible to walk up stairs ! I didn't learn a lot from the museum, you had free reign to walk around the whole house as you please, but at the end of the day we're just learning about hot water.
 |
| Always wondered what a hot springs museum would look like. |
With that taken care off I ventured about half way back to the city and got off at the stop closest to Jiantan Mountain hiking trail. The directions to the bottom of the trail were good again, at which point a very steep trail began, before flattening off towards the top. The directions along the trail were sparse and very confusing, it was one of those hikes where you aren't sure if you are going in the right direction because of:
- Skill
- Luck
- Doing the most obvious thing
- All of the above
 |
| The beginning stages of. |
I found an observation point with a good view of the city, and discovered there was a large riverside area at the north of the city which I was not aware of. While I had stopped to take photos a woman passed me on the trail, but I soon caught up to her as she had suddenly stopped along the path. I wasn't sure why at first, then at the last moment spotted the massive spider hanging out in a web. I like spiders about as much as the next person, so I just kept on going and didn't look back - or have any intention of going back the way I came...
 |
| Downtown Taipei. |
I took somewhere between one and several wrong turns trying to loop back to where I started, but it wasn't all bad as I ended up instead at The Grand Hotel which lived up to it's name. Quite by luck there were signs from the hotel pointing back to the train station as well, so it all worked out in the end.
 |
| The Grand Hotel. |
 |
| Do they still have a team ? |
The weather was a lot more calm today, so I made another effort to take a ride on the Maokong Gondola. In the south direction it was quite a long and rural train ride to reach the end of the line, it reminded me of the time I went to Belgrave. Taipei Zoo was also around, but I didn't really have time for that so I just got in line for the gondola. There was about ten times as many people lining up for the glass bottom cabins, which seemed pretty pointless to me - pay more and stand in line longer just so you can see out of the bottom of the cabin. The journey took ages as there was three stations in total to get to the finish, it took about twenty five minutes each way and there wasn't a lot to see other than the forest below. Since it took longer than I had planned I didn't spend much time after I got off at at the end, instead I just bought a ticket back the other way.
 |
| Gondola ride, just like in Italy. |
I finally went to see what was happening at Taipei 101, since it dominates the city skyline. The shopping seemed to be concentrated to the bottom few levels and while the food court was alright the rest was generally higher end fashion. Across the street were some basketball courts with "Adidas 101" promotional banners everywhere. From reading some websites I found out that New Zealand's Steven Adams (from the Oklahoma City Thunder) had been there the day before, but today it looked like it was just people having a shoot around. I think there may have been a tournament happening at some stage and that it was related to the larger NBA 3X (nba3x) three on three tournaments being held in Philippines and Singapore - I picked the wrong countries...
With my final day winding down I again went in search of dinner. I found a burrito and taco place in a small laneway, but decided to keep walking and see what else was around before making a decision. I'm glad I did, because although I didn't find an alternative dinner spot I did find a small stand on the corner of the street selling small red bean cakes !!! The best thing was they only cost about forty cents each - incredible.
 |
| Red Bean !!! |
I went back to the burrito place and put in my order before realising there was also nachos at the very far end of the menu board. Damn it. After dinner I went back to the red bean stand one more time, to try the custard cream variety as well, only there was two women at the front of the queue who had just ordered something in the order of eighty cakes. It took like five minutes to cook and bag them all.
On the way back to the hotel I started having the strange headaches again, which I've deduced must be some kind of ongoing nerve pain from the neck issues I had during my time in South Korea.
- Taiwan Summary
- 8 out of 10
- Good
- A lot more relaxed by comparison
- Lots of English signs
- More tropical climate
- Quick to get from place to place
- Red Bean cakes !
- Bad
- In most places soft drink was limited to Apple Sidra, Coke, Diet Coke, Sars and Sprite
- Not as many major tourist attractions
- Missed Out
- 228 peace park
- Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall
- Daan forest park
- Didn't really get to go to any shopping centres
- Xianjiyan hiking trail
- Yangmingshan national park
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