Day 15: Maokong Gondola...

~ 28th March 2014 ~

After running errands in around Taipei city, we decided to proceed with our old plan of taking the Maokong Gondola ride. We were not that keen to do anything actually because we were really lacking in energy. When we arrived at the station, the queue was really long and the temperature at 29-degree Celsius was of no help at all. We were soaked in our sweat while waiting in the queue.

Maokong Gondola was using the Hello Kitty theme which none of us like. We dislike Hello Kitty completely, it's just a cat without a mouth. We chose the crystal cabin so we could view what was underneath us while we were hanging in a cage. Oh, Maokong Gondola service team, please do something with this terrible crystal platform of yours. It must be really old and stepped upon by thousands of dirty shoes, can't see anything at all. 

Upon our arrival we didn't know what to do. We studied the site map and there were just too many temples along different trails. So, we followed the food smell and Taiwan is really known for it's beef noodles but we never tried any of it. We ate something to line our stomach wall. We have planned something big for dinner. We were so tired that we could not think of which trail to follow and we refused to walk around.

 

We saw this cute little pink bus and asked the driver whether we can hop onto it. I don't remember whether we have to pay or not. I think it's not free though. Just can't remember. The bus took us around. Most of the trails you won't be able to see from the roadside as you need to walk for at least 30 minutes before you see something, which is mainly a temple so we asked to be dropped off to walk the camphor trail. It's quite beautiful and along the trail you will get to see the lupin blossoms, the small yellow flowers. The buffalo depicting the life of the locals up here where they have to slog through to earn a decent living? I'm not sure about that but the people there do work really hard.

Before we walk the Camphor Trail, we went to the cat trail of Shishijiao. There's a row of exquisite cafes which we couldn't afford to go to that's why we went to the food court before boarding the little tour bus. We didn't see any tea plantation because we were ignorant tourists. Even if we were standing next to the tea leaves, we couldn't even recognize them. 

... the view of Taipei City...

The long walk to the station...

We crawled ourselves to the station to take us back to the city. We need food to keep ourselves energized. Well, if you plan to have a good view of the city, this is not the right place to get the best view. The best view would still be from Xiangshan *Elephant Mountain*. Trust me on this because that's where we hiked up to on the first day itself. I seemed to do a lot of hiking when on holidays but I do not enjoy hiking as I lack the stamina of a hiker.

... and it started to drizzle...