Nik


you can put anything here

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 @ 3:02 PM PERMALINK

We got up pretty late on Wednesday and headed to Taipei Main Station to get the 206 to Yangmingshan. We got a little lost finding the bus stop and had to ask a student for directions. The past is on the opposite side of where the main terminal is located and the bus stops are single straight poles on the curb.

The bus takes you all the way to Yangmingshan and from there you can take the internal mini-bus 108 to the various sights.


The route map of Bus 108

We weren’t sure of where we wanted to go and it was pretty late when we got there. However we met another middle aged gentleman named Mr Tsung who was just about to go hiking that started to give us some recommendations based on what he thought young people would like and based on how much time we had left.

He suggested that we head to Erziping station first. Located near Erziping station is Datun Nature Park. The path to the base of Erziping trail is about 1.7km from the bus stop and its a very cool walk as the entire stretch is shaded from the sun by the numerous trees along the path.


The path to the Erziping trail 


Mr Tsung telling us more about the surrounding mountains



Once you get to the start of the Erziping trail, this is the view you are rewarded with.



There are alot of people gathered here to chit-chat and rest. Tour buses also seem to bring tourists to this particular spot.

Mr Tsung later very kindly decided on the way to accompany us throughout our day at Yangmingshan. I imagine we would have been super lost to him.

After Erziping, we hopped on the bus again and headed to Qiangtiangang where grass pastures are.
On the way there, a light mist set in and the temperatures took a welcome dip.



The mist did obscure some of the sights but Mr Tsung informed us that this was considered a very lucky event as in all his years of walking here, he has never experienced such nice weather in the Summer.

We passed the volcanic crater on the way to the Qiangtiangang grass pastures.


The volcanic crater (not very clear cause we were on a moving bus) 

The grass pastures grow on a lava terrace and were used for cattle cultivation during the Japanese occupation, there are still cows around but many less than in the past.







Mr Tsung then let us in on a little secret, he had brought us to the Erziping area first because at 12pm, the sun would have been out at full force and the tree shaded trail at Erziping provided us cover from the sun,  If we had ended up at the grass pastures, we would have burnt to a crisp. You really can't beat local knowledge can you? :)

It wasn’t flower season when we went so we skipped the Flower Clock and didn’t have time to make it down to the waterfall either.

After enjoying the view and weather at Qiangtianggang, we caught another bus back to the city to see the Shilin Chiang Kai Shiek Residence.


Mr Tsung had gone on a whim that we’d like to actually see some flowers and he knew that the best place to see them would be the gardens.

The residence houses the National Horticulture department as well as museums dedicated to Chiang Kai Shiek (which were closed by the time we got there) Needless to say, the entire park is amazingly maintained.










After a quick walk around the garden, (we didnt get to see everything as it was about to close) Mr Tsung brought us to the nearby resident committee meeting house. He got his email address for us to add him on Facebook, checked with the rest of the staff at the meeting house for directions to Shida Night Market for us and we parted ways.

We found out from the rest of the people there that he is actually the area’s resident chairman. Can you believe our luck?

Shida Night Market is located near to Taipower Building Metro station. It’s a bit of a walk away from the station but just keep walking straight down and you won’t miss it.

Shida is home to many quaint cafes and restaurants and is where the university crowd normally hangs out.

We decided to try a Korean restaurant for dinner. The food was not too bad and the appetizers that came with the dishes were good as well.



The clothes at Shida fall into two categories:
1. The usual mass produced merchandise (exact pieces go for cheaper than at Shilin) I bought a dress and vest for 150NT which usually went for 200-250NT at Shilin.


2. More exclusive/limited pieces/local labels/vintage merchandise that are not as cheap but definitely not as common as the usual pieces seen at other night markets.

We didn’t stay long in Shida because the prices were too steep for our pockets and headed back to see if Haley still wanted to go out to celebrate our last night in Taipei.

After googling what was happening that night, we decided to just go to Brass Monkey (which Hayley had been before). We recruited Matt who just got back from Yilan and Heidi who was sitting in the living room who were both up for a night out.


And a solid night of partying took place: 













When we finally left Brass Monkey, we annoyed a taxi driver into dropping us at a breakfast place before Matt got sidetracked by 7-11 because he wanted to draw $$ to pay Hayley back. But not before Haley tried to climb into a Taiwanese fire truck. We then proceeded to made a mess at 7-11 by spilling noodles on the cashier (who was super nice about it) and playing with Kinder-egg toys before Haley and Matt engaged in a construction light kicking competition while we walked back to The Meeting Place.

We eventually ended up back home, drinking water in the kitchen while Haley microwaved instant noodles and set them on fire. Kah and I finally retired into our room for the night leaving Haley sleeping in the common room and Matt sleeping on the computer bench.

Perfect way to leave Taiwan.

Travel tips:
Have an idea of what you want to see, Yangmingshan is by no means small and the internal buses not only come only about once every 15-20 minutes but not all of them stop at all the stops along the way.

There is a unlimited pass for 60NT but after 12pm, it is not recommended that you purchase it and even though we enquired, everyone said we are better off using our Easycards.

The internal mini buses also use the usual Easycards so make sure you have enough credit in them.

Shida night market is known for its crepes, but we couldn’t find the famous crepe stall so we had to give it a miss.

There are a ton of cute cafes and resteraunts to eat at in Shida, if you are looking for a place for a nice meal splurge; this area could be it.

Brass Monkey is a pretty cool bar which caters for mainly Westerners. The music played are Top 40s songs but everyone there is up for a laugh and a dance ; so its a great place to go just for fun. Bear in mind though that it is more like bar not a club, so no unlimited drinks per cover charge. Although girls do get in free on ladies night.

Labels: Taipei, Taiwan, travel

Post a Comment