Aside from when I need to be at the airport or when I decide to get up ridiculously early to go and watch sunrise, I usually spend a good six or seven hours of my day out exploring whichever city I am in although that sometimes changes depending on whether or not I am somewhere with a lot (or a little to do).
In recent weeks I've tended to stay out throughout the whole day and have dinner somewhere before coming back to my room, although when I was on the first part of my trip I often needed a bit of a rest (and a shower) so I'd come back and then go back out for dinner again.
I've found that this has been the most successful method for getting as much out of the day as possible. I usually leave my hotel sometime between 11am and 1pm depending on what I'm doing, and this usually provides me with enough time to get everything done.
Getting up at 9am and heading out of the door with the early-risers isn't really realistic considering how late I go to bed each night, and if I was to do that I'd probably have to either come back for a siesta in the middle of the day or find myself at a loss about 3-4pm when I'd completed my day's activities.
Obviously if I was able to get out and about much earlier then I'd probably beat the traditional afternoon 'tourist rush', but so far I haven't found that something which has affected me too much. I have a feeling that certain places which I've been would be busy no matter what, and the fact that I decide to descend upon them in the afternoon probably makes no difference.
Naturally I have a much quieter time through the week when 'normal' people are at work, but there still seems to be a significant amount of tourists everywhere I go so although it's probably been less busy than on a Saturday, it's not like I've had the places to myself.
Crowds of people don't really bother me so much, although sometimes it does get a little tedious trying to fight your way through to get somewhere or take a picture, but it's all part of the experience. I'm from a city which is often descended on by hoards of tourists in the summer months and I spent three years living in London and another two living just outside of it so it isn't like I'm not used to busyness around about me.
For me, each and every day is about my experiences as well as doing and seeing new things. Whether it's busy or quiet, doesn't dictate what I think and feel about them, and when I look back at the places I have been, I'm not sure the first memory it will conjour up will be how many people were there.
I'm usually in my own little world each and every day, although I do like to take time when I arrive somewhere on the metro or on the street to just take in a sense of what is going on.
I feel comfortable with how things are going so far and now that I am in the final month of my journey I don't see the need to change anything unless things start to drastically fall apart and I find myself missing out on things.
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Unfortunately it seemed as though I had put something of a curse on myself and the weather as the thunderstorm that had been promised all week looked a little bit more threatening when I left my room this morning and as I crossed the road to go to the shop there were a few spots of rain and plenty of people hoisting umbrellas above their head to protect against what seemed like a mighty rain shower heading in our direction. I'd checked the weather forecast before I'd left, and the percentage chance of rain had gone up from 20% when I checked yesterday to 90% so I was pretty sure that today might be the day for a downpour. I always find it amazing how people on the streets in parts of Asia always seem to know when it's going to rain - there are several street vendors who sell random goodies here, there and everywhere along the paths and for the first time today I saw some actually selling umbrellas. It was the same in Busan on the day it poured down! They must have known something!
I walked along to the Taipei Arena metro stop instead of the one which is closest to my room as I figured that at least I'd be under cover, and the ten minute walk there would give me a better chance to assess the weather. It really did look like it could come down at any time, but once I got to the metro it seemed like the threat of rain had disappeared. Back onto the metro I headed, and towards Taipei Zoo. The line which goes there looked significantly busier than it did when I rode it there on Tuesday, and for the first time I don't think I actually got a seat.
By the time I got to the zoo it was looking more like Shanghai then Taipei as people poured off the metro and equally split in the direction of the cable car and the zoo. When I got to the lines of the gondola, there was a massive queue and only one ticket machine which was working. I discussed yesterday how I wasn't a massive fan of going up in a ferris wheel pod which was swinging backwards and forwards so I wasn't quite sure how I was going to cope with the cable car potentially being affected by the weather, but I got myself a ticket and then lined up. It was $50 for a ticket which is about the same price as it cost to get from my room to the zoo so not badly priced at all. The queue got longer just after I joined it with a tour party lining up and extending it out beyond the zig zag barriers of the queuing line. Every now and then the queue would move forward, but it seemed to be fairly random when this happened and it would be the case that twenty or so passengers would get off, and then maybe ten or so people would be allowed through the gate.
You had to get an elevator up to the actual level where the cable car took off from so it was quite hard to see what was going on.
Announcements kept being made over the tannoy in Chinese, and naturally I couldn't understand them so I kept looking for the responses of other people in the queue or to see if any other foreigners in the queue would be brave enough to ask somebody. I got to being on the final row of the queue before going into the building and although it felt like we were standing still for about three hours, I'm pretty sure the queue didn't move for a good fifteen minutes before an announcement came over the tannoy which had the natives conversing and a few people leave the line. I decided to stay where I was as nobody in front of me moved so perhaps figured it was saying that there was a long delay for people closer to the back of the queue, but then there was another announcement which basically cleared out the entire line. I heard some other foreigners talking to a Taiwanese lady who was explaining that because of the weather they were going to close the cable car for safety purposes and that it could take up to three hours.
I guess its a bit like in Disney World when they close the rides for a while until an electrical storm has passed overhead.
I looked up and the clouds loomed very dark and mean, and just as I decided to leave the line it started spitting a little bit before eventually breaking into a full downpour as I quickly headed back to the metro station. I was gutted I couldn't ride the cable car as I was looking forward to the spectacular views and the experience more than anything else, but I guess at least that gives me an excuse to return some day, right?! Back on the metro I decided that I wasn't going to let the weather ruin my day and stopping off quickly at my room to get my umbrella I was going to press on and head into the city. The rain was coming down pretty heavily, but at a certain point I looked out of the window and the streets of Taipei seemed almost entirely dry. I wasn't sure if that meant that the rainstorm had already hit and totally evaporated or whether it was still to come. I grabbed my umbrella to find that annoyingly it had become collateral damage in the way that I imagine my bag gets thrown around at the airport and the handle was looking very likely to snap, but as I hoped I wouldn't need it I grabbed it just in case.
I started walking towards the city which actually isn't that far from me.... and by city, I mean CBD where Taipei 101 is as dicussed the other day. Considering how close I've been staying to Taipei 101 and how I saw it poking over the buildings on a couple of nights and for 75% of each and every journey I took on the metro, I was still amazed by how it looked once I started to get a little close. There was a large diagonal road just past the metro station nearest to my room which goes straight into the heart of the CBD and walking down there I could see these dark and depressing clouds heading towards me.
When I see a great sight like Taipei 101 I always want to take pictures, but then find myself getting closer and closer, only to find that each picture I take usurps the one I took previous to it. There were quite a few buildings blocking me from seeing the skyscraper itself though so I resisted photography until I found a bridge to stand on where I could see the whole of the CBD area:
I got to what is known as Taipei 101 square which is where you get the first clear view of the famous building, and it's right next to the City Hall bus and Metro Stop which is actually one that I haven't been through as yet:
Before going to see the building (I had special plans for that) I first wanted to check out Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall which another famous thing to see in Taipei.
It's just to the right of the the main road and was filled with quite a few people who were now shielding themselves from the rain:
I decided to use my umbrella for a little while as it was now starting to get a little bit drizzly, but within about thirty seconds of me opening it out, the handle snapped off so I was left using the stump end of it to protect myself. It was better than nothing, but wasn't long before I decided to ditch in in a nearby bin - what a waste of £1!
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is signified by it's golden coloured swoppingly designed roof which can be seen from the distance.
As the name suggests, it is a memorial to Dr Sun Yat Sen who is known as 'The Father of the Nation', and was created in his memory in 1972. In the entrance way to the hall there is a huge statue of Sun Yat Sen and like the one I witnessed on Wednesday it has a changing of the guard ceremony which I caught the end of that is a very popular thing for people to come and watch:
As well as being a memorial it is a large space which is now used as a social, educational and cultural centre open to the public. It allows visitors to learn about Sun's life and the revolution he led. It really is an impressive building both inside and out, and although I didn't have time to walk around all the exhibits before departing, it looked to be fairly comprehensive from the bits that I have looked up online.
From the steps of the memorial hall you could get a pretty magnificent picture of the CBD and finally there was also a clear view of Taipei 101 which lots of people seemed to be taking advantage of. I decided it was probably time for me to start walking in that direction, and then I remembered that I'd read something about a place called 'Elephant Hill' which was a great location for taking fantastic pictures of the city from, and around this time at night was usually best as it was clear enough to see a great deal of the capital:
Despite the weather I decided that I could fill some time before going up the heights of Taipei 101. A little rain wasn't going to kill me, and I'm sure I would be very grateful of the fantastic views once I eventually managed to find where they were - that was perhaps the most difficult part. The last stop on the red metro line, Xianshan, is where the trail to Elephant Hill is supposed to begin, but walking in that direction I had absolutely no idea where to find it. Eventually I went down into the subway and saw a well-placed sign for it which pointed me in the direction of some small looking streets which eventually guided you to a Buddhist Temple which was at the bottom of the hill.
It was pretty steep going to begin with, especially as the rain was now starting to disappear and the humidity was re-appearing. I realised that I probably wasn't going to see any sunset as the sky had been grey and cloudy all day, but as I continued up the stairs, I figured there was a pretty good chance that there'd be a spectacular view to take in:
Occasionally there would be gaps in the trees which would tease you as to what was coming, but I could never quite get a good view out over everything....
The path split off in two directions and I decided to go for the shortest one considering that it was probably about 5.30pm by this point. Eventually I came to a viewing platform which provided a superb point at which you could see lots of Taipei:
A sign pointed out that there was another viewing area further ahead so I continued climbing up the stairs and then there was a proper clearing where you got a 270 degree view of everything that was all around:
It was a pretty amazing view, despite the weather.
You could see the clouds moving and things starting to brighten up a bit. More than anything you could actually see how far Taipei spreads out, and how varied it's skyline was. Obviously Taipei 101 sticks out like a sore thumb, but there aren't just concrete buildings all over the place. There are hills and trees in the surrounding area which make up what is a a very beautiful city.
After admiring the view for a while I made my descent with the intention of heading towards Taipei 101. Pretty much all of the tall buildings I've been fortunate enough to go up since coming to Asia, I've viewed in the daytime so I figured it might be nice to get a night view instead, especially as Taiwan has looked so great at night when I have just been walking around the city itself
It took 30 minutes or so to get to Taipei 101, and then from there I had to go up to the fifth floor on the world's slowest escalators in order to be able to buy a ticket. It cost $500 which is definitely the most expensive thing I've done since I've been here, but in order to scale up a building of such size I'm willing to pay the equivalent of £15 to do it:
Taipei 101 is a notable skyscraper; not just in Asia, but across the world. It was the tallest building until construction on the Burj Khalifa was completed in Dubai. It remains inside the world's top ten, and is currently 7th behind such structures as The Shanghai Tower and One World Trade Centre in New York. It is about 50m taller than either of the Petronas Towers so would essentially be the highest I've been off the ground on this continent - well when an aeroplane hasn't been involved anyway.
Despite being usurped by construction of one extremely tall tower in the desert, it still holds the record for the fastest lift in the world which goes to the top at an incredible 1010m/s. My ears would definitely be popping that was for sure.
There wasn't much of a queue for tickets, but I wouldn't be able to go to the top until 6.30pm as there was a numbered system which was currently about 500 or so behind where mine was. It changed every five minutes or so and eventually I just joined the queue, figuring that by the time I got close to the front then it's probably be within range of my number.
The queue was moving quite quickly despite its size, and very soon we were zooming up to the top of the tower. Unfortunately because of the weather, the sky deck was closed so the observation tower was as high as you could go, but from there I was still expecting pretty spectacular things. Once we piled out of the lift I took a steady walk around to get a view from all angles and was pretty impressed by what I saw:
In some ways, it's a shame to go up something so high in the dark, as you don't get to see very clearly what is below, but then again all the lights switched on looked amazing, and as far as I'm concerned, I'd seen pretty much everything I needed to throughout my stay!
There were wall to ceeling windows all around the building and to say that it was quite late in the evening there were quite a lot of people milling about. I didn't pay too much attention to any of the monitors which could show you what you were looking at, and was more interested in the spectacular view. I looked towards where I'd been earlier at the viewing point on Elephant Hill, and also saw the Living Mall which is back in the direction where I was staying:
At the top of the tower there were some souvenir shops and also places for you to sit and look out at the view. One of the most interesting things to see was a dampener which was kept on the floor below the observation desk, and you could go down and see how it stops the building from shaking and keeps its stability in a strong wind:
I stayed at the top of there for about an hour just walking around and marvelling at the view before joining an inevitably long queue which headed back down to the ground floor. Rather conveniently we came out in the food court which meant that I could get some dinner for the journey home. I went to a stall that was selling chicken bites and chips and seemed to be rather popular so I figured it must be reasonable good.
I made the decision to walk back to my room rather than getting the subway, partly because I wanted to eat my dinner, but also so that I could reflect on what an enjoyable day I'd had.
It might have started off badly thanks to the weather, but by the end of it I knew that I'd put an extra special bow on my time in Taiwan.
It was pretty steep going to begin with, especially as the rain was now starting to disappear and the humidity was re-appearing. I realised that I probably wasn't going to see any sunset as the sky had been grey and cloudy all day, but as I continued up the stairs, I figured there was a pretty good chance that there'd be a spectacular view to take in:
Occasionally there would be gaps in the trees which would tease you as to what was coming, but I could never quite get a good view out over everything....
The path split off in two directions and I decided to go for the shortest one considering that it was probably about 5.30pm by this point. Eventually I came to a viewing platform which provided a superb point at which you could see lots of Taipei:
A sign pointed out that there was another viewing area further ahead so I continued climbing up the stairs and then there was a proper clearing where you got a 270 degree view of everything that was all around:
It was a pretty amazing view, despite the weather.
You could see the clouds moving and things starting to brighten up a bit. More than anything you could actually see how far Taipei spreads out, and how varied it's skyline was. Obviously Taipei 101 sticks out like a sore thumb, but there aren't just concrete buildings all over the place. There are hills and trees in the surrounding area which make up what is a a very beautiful city.
After admiring the view for a while I made my descent with the intention of heading towards Taipei 101. Pretty much all of the tall buildings I've been fortunate enough to go up since coming to Asia, I've viewed in the daytime so I figured it might be nice to get a night view instead, especially as Taiwan has looked so great at night when I have just been walking around the city itself
It took 30 minutes or so to get to Taipei 101, and then from there I had to go up to the fifth floor on the world's slowest escalators in order to be able to buy a ticket. It cost $500 which is definitely the most expensive thing I've done since I've been here, but in order to scale up a building of such size I'm willing to pay the equivalent of £15 to do it:
Taipei 101 is a notable skyscraper; not just in Asia, but across the world. It was the tallest building until construction on the Burj Khalifa was completed in Dubai. It remains inside the world's top ten, and is currently 7th behind such structures as The Shanghai Tower and One World Trade Centre in New York. It is about 50m taller than either of the Petronas Towers so would essentially be the highest I've been off the ground on this continent - well when an aeroplane hasn't been involved anyway.
Despite being usurped by construction of one extremely tall tower in the desert, it still holds the record for the fastest lift in the world which goes to the top at an incredible 1010m/s. My ears would definitely be popping that was for sure.
There wasn't much of a queue for tickets, but I wouldn't be able to go to the top until 6.30pm as there was a numbered system which was currently about 500 or so behind where mine was. It changed every five minutes or so and eventually I just joined the queue, figuring that by the time I got close to the front then it's probably be within range of my number.
The queue was moving quite quickly despite its size, and very soon we were zooming up to the top of the tower. Unfortunately because of the weather, the sky deck was closed so the observation tower was as high as you could go, but from there I was still expecting pretty spectacular things. Once we piled out of the lift I took a steady walk around to get a view from all angles and was pretty impressed by what I saw:
In some ways, it's a shame to go up something so high in the dark, as you don't get to see very clearly what is below, but then again all the lights switched on looked amazing, and as far as I'm concerned, I'd seen pretty much everything I needed to throughout my stay!
There were wall to ceeling windows all around the building and to say that it was quite late in the evening there were quite a lot of people milling about. I didn't pay too much attention to any of the monitors which could show you what you were looking at, and was more interested in the spectacular view. I looked towards where I'd been earlier at the viewing point on Elephant Hill, and also saw the Living Mall which is back in the direction where I was staying:
At the top of the tower there were some souvenir shops and also places for you to sit and look out at the view. One of the most interesting things to see was a dampener which was kept on the floor below the observation desk, and you could go down and see how it stops the building from shaking and keeps its stability in a strong wind:
I stayed at the top of there for about an hour just walking around and marvelling at the view before joining an inevitably long queue which headed back down to the ground floor. Rather conveniently we came out in the food court which meant that I could get some dinner for the journey home. I went to a stall that was selling chicken bites and chips and seemed to be rather popular so I figured it must be reasonable good.
I made the decision to walk back to my room rather than getting the subway, partly because I wanted to eat my dinner, but also so that I could reflect on what an enjoyable day I'd had.
It might have started off badly thanks to the weather, but by the end of it I knew that I'd put an extra special bow on my time in Taiwan.
Lighthouse Family (1997)
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