Next up on the ole list of things to do was the zoo, which was an easy train ride away to the outskirts of town. I got there right when it opened to avoid the crowds and apparently I had chosen school field trip day, yippee! Hundreds, maybe a thousand kids were already there, in all shades of colors of school uniforms. What a zoo. But besides those kids I virtually had the place to myself! At the very least it was easy to see and take photos over their heads. It’s definitely one of the better zoos I’ve been to, but I’m not going to bore with you what it is like to walk around a zoo, here’s some photos.
From the zoo you can catch a gondola up into the hills where they grow tea and have cutesy instagram teahouses. I don’t exactly love tea or cutesy instagram places, but I like gondolas and good views, so sure why not. Tea is something Taiwan is very well known for, so you don’t have to pull my arm to have a cuppa out on a balcony overlooking Taipei. The skyline isn’t incredibly impressive compared to some of it’s neighbors, but Taiwan’s tallest building, Taipei 101 certainly steals the show.
And that’s where I was off to next. I hopped on a bus and was on my way. Public transit is sooo easy in Taiwan. You stop into any convenience store and buy + load your easy card and then you’re basically good to go for public transit all around the island! And with a country as well run as Taiwan, google maps functions almost perfectly, telling you which bus gets you where, and when, with a GPS indicator of each bus coming, so you know down to the exact minute when your bus is going to arrive. I’m starting to forget how people even functioned in the pre-smartphone era of travel!
I had the option of going up to the top of the tower or doing the hike nearby to get a good view of the whole skyline, and photo-wise seeing the entire skyline was the more appealing option. The hike is called Elephant mountain and it takes maybe 25 minutes to get up to the top. I waited around in a fancy coffeshop near the base for the sun to go down a bit, the type of place where they don’t have lattes and cappuccinos, just single origin roasts from various parts of the world. I went for an Ethiopian cold brew, and it costs $8! My god. Fortunately the view was worth $8!
And now, what to do in Taipei when the sun sets? Night market obviously! There are night markets all over the city. Some are more for locals, some are more touristy, each one has it’s own unique dishes and flair, although the staples will always be around. So what are some of the night market foods to try? Stuff like scallion pancakes, Taiwanese hamburgers, coffin bread, stewed pork rice, oyster omelets, sweet potato balls, pepper buns, steamed dumplings, fish balls, fried chicken chop, quail eggs, shrimp cheese skewers, well really all types of skewers, plus a wide variety of noodle dishes are all the more foreigner friendly options. And then you get into some of the more local favorites like stinky tofu, pork knuckles, blood sausage, and all sort of offal dishes. Washed down with avocado or papaya milk, or of course the omnipresent boba tea, with multiple shops being a stones throw away from wherever you are in the city. And that’s with a weak arm.
And here’s some more photos just from wandering around the city. These photos aren’t truly representative of Taipei as a whole, because I stayed in an older part of town and just prefer the old parts of towns for walking around and taking photos :)