Hiking in Maokong 貓空, Taiwan

January 11, 2014 ---- Nathan and I have been to Maokong many times. It is a great place for dining, drinking locally grown tea, or hiking on many scenic trails. The best way to reach Maokong is by taking the Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車 from Taipei Zoo MRT Station. It has 3 stops: Taipei Zoo, Zhinan Temple and Maokong Station. If you are afraid of heights or the Gondola is closed due to bad weather, there are buses running up and down the mountains as well.

It isn't often that you get a sunny, nice day in Taipei, especially in the winter. Suddenly it was sunny and warm, so we just couldn't resist going out even though I had a test to study for. We took the Gondola all the way up to Maokong Station, had a fabulous local lunch, and then walked on many trails, including Camphor Tree Trail, Zhangshan Temple Trail, Zhinan School Trail, and Zhinan Temple Trail. In the end, it was a well-spent afternoon exploring the local tea fields, temples, and mountains.

There are so many beautiful trails in Maokong that you can hike. Where Nathan and I went wasn't much of a forest adventure but rather a cultural experience. Taiwan has a lot to offer. Put on your shoes and go explore!

Maokong Station

Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車

Lunch

The view of Taipei City from Maokong Station

 Hiking  

Camphor Tree Trail  樟樹步道

Maokong Tea Gardens

Camphor Tree Trail

Zhangshan Temple Trail  樟山寺步道

Zhangshan Temple   樟山寺

Zhinan School Trail and Zhinan Temple Trail 指南宮步道

Zhinan Temple 

Taking the Gondola back ...

Hiking in Wulai 烏來, Taiwan

January 1, 2014 ---- Happy New Year 2014!!!  The first thing we wanted to do in 2014 was hike in the mountains. Before New Year, I flipped through my Lonely Planet book about Taiwan and found an interesting trail in Wulai called Jia Jiu Liao Trail 加九寮溪步道. It isn't far from Xindian and we could take a bus from Xindian MRT Station straight to Wulai. Soon I made the decision that I was going to go hiking on New Year Day. Nathan agreed to the plan, and then we asked our dear friend if he wanted to join in and he said YES! It was probably his first time in Taiwan, if not in life, going hiking.
 

Hiking on  Jia Jiu Liao Trail  加九寮溪步道

Jia Jiu Liao Trail is a 20km trail running up the valley of the Jia Jiu Liao Steam. The beginning of the trail is at Chenggong Village in Wulai, and the end of the trail is at Manyueyuan Forest Recreation Area in Sanxia. To get there, we took a public bus (#849) from Xindian MRT Station and about half an hour later we got off at Chenggong stop 成功站. From the bus stop, we walked toward the red bridge, crossed the bridge and kept walking following the road till we saw the trail head sign on the left hand side and long concrete steps up on the mountain.

The trail runs along the stream for a while before turning into the beautiful forest. There are many bamboo bridges crossing steams and small waterfalls. While we were hiking, we saw someone was working on cleaning and managing the trail and met some other hikers who seemed to start from the other end of the trail in Sanxia. We planned to hike till we saw the resting hut, about 2 hours from the trail head, and then turn around to Wulai to soak our feet in the free hot spring.

Old suspension bridge

At the Trail Head

The resting hut (1.5-2 hours from the trail head)

Wulai  烏來

Nathan and I have been to Wulai a few times. This time we just came for a late lunch after our hike and wanted to soak our sore feet in the hot spring afterward. I don't remember the restaurant we went to, but the food was quite tasty, or else we were extremely hungry. There were a lot of aboriginal dishes on the menu, such as Wild Mountain Boar (山豬) and Bamboo Tube Rice (竹筒飯). Our friend seemed to know best because he had lived in Taiwan longer, so he ordered the meal for us.

After getting our stomachs stuffed, we walked straight to the steam where we could soak our feet in the hot spring. There were many small man-made pools and a ton of people gathering around. We couldn't find a spot that we three could fit in together, so we had to separate and sit in different pools. It was quite relaxing. When the water got too hot, someone would make a new water way to let in the cool water from the steam. Very interesting experience!

Bamboo Tube Rice (竹筒飯)