Day 2 Itinerary
- Xinbeitou (新北投)
- Cingtiangang (Qingtiangang/ 擎天崗)
- Tamsui (Danshui/ 淡水)
Dandy Hotel Tianmu Branch is located in a small lane right next to the junction with Mos Burger. (Screenshot from Google Maps)
Google Map Search: No. 2, Lane 728, Section 6, Zhōngshān North Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City
The window view from our hotel room
Mountain at the backdrop. Gorgeous, sunny day
Simple breakfast at the hotel restaurant
Salad, hashbrown, cheese. Limited choice for those on vegetarian diet
Toast + kopi
Interior of the dining area
Buffet style breakfast
After breakfast, we decided to go visit Xinbeitou (新北投) to explore the area there.
We took bus number 902 from the bus stop along the main road of Dandy Hotel and alighted at the bus stop next to Shipai station (石牌捷運站) . From there, we took the MRT to Beitou station and transferred train to Xinbeitou station.
Route from Dandy Hotel to bus stop along the main road
(Screenshot from Google Maps)
Map of the surrouding area of Xinbeitou. The main walking route is the big patch of green next to the station.
Outside Xinbeitou station
Walking towards Beitou park, located directly across the road from Xinbeitou station.
Strolling along the long, narrow park
What a warm, sunny day! Backdrop is Beitou library
Small pond by the library building
Euro-Japanese style Beitou Hot Springs Museum
We continued walking up the slight slope
Finally found the place where we could relax and soak our feet. But weather was hot! Felt like we were in sauna room instead.. haha. 
Quite a few others doing the same
Soaking our feets + getting sun tan + sauna at the same time
Mini rest stop at 7-11 next to the park for snacks and drinks. Pretty cool for them to install seatings by the window, it’s quite nice for people watching while snacking :)
As it was too warm, we decided to go to Yangmingshan (陽明山) hoping that it will be cooler on the mountain.
From the bus stop opposite of Xinbeitou station (next to the park), we took bus 230 to YMS and then transfer to internal bus 108. Bus 230 frequency is about 30 minutes.
The waiting area for bus number 108
We were quite surprised that the transport is a mini bus. It was crowded! We stood most of the way to Cingtiangang (Qingtiangang/ 擎天崗), at some point, clinging to our dear lives as the mini bus manoeuvre through the mountainous route. As we inched towards the very back of the bus, we decided to sit on the floor for the last 15 min stretch of the bus trip. We definitely felt safer than standing, the downside is we could not see much view by doing this :P
Look at how crowded the bus is!
Taipei tourism board should seriously consider upgrading their buses and increase the frequencies to encourage repeat visitors. Much as I like the place, I have to consider twice before visiting YMS again.
View from the mini bus (while we sat on the floor. Lol)
The bus ‘terminal’ to alight/board bus 108. Look at the long queue.. :S
The visitor centre
We walked up slope. The buildings are the bus waiting area and the visitor centre
Nice vast greeneries. Much cooler here!
Towards Mt Zhugao
We randomly choose the route on the left
Cute doggies playing on the large green field
Some climbing to do
Cloudy and windy
We climbed up the slope and just find a flat area that we can sit on the grass. If you decided to do the same, maybe bring along a mat and some snacks so that you can have a mini picnic party here. Very relaxing and windy.
We had cheese bread while enjoying the breeze ~~
In order to avoid the more crowded queue for the bus toward closing time later on, we did not spend too much time there. We took bus 108 down again to YMS visitor centre and then transfer to bus 260 to Jiantan station. From there, we took the train to Danshui station.
Danshui here we come!! ^^
This is the 2nd time we visit Danshui. The first time we joined the tour group. This time round, the vibe is totally different, more relaxing as we need not have to rush through the place.
We deliberately avoided walking along the main old streets at this evening hour as we anticipated the large crowd (weekend + evening). The plan is to walk clockwise along the river bay instead.
We spotted a farmers market there.
Spotted this auntie selling soya beancurd pudding. We bought one to try.
Not too sweet, not bad to kickstart the food trail :)
Street performer. Nothing too special. I’m not sure what is attracting the huge crowd there :P
Look at the huge crowd as the sun is setting!
We almost miss this gorgeous sunset right behind us as we were too busy looking at the food stalls. :P
Finally, the less crowded path!
Food stall selling deep fried mushroom!
Deep fried sinful mushroom! My favourite! I will be back for more!!
Extra large ice cream with queue forming there. I didn’t buy this as it looks really messy to eat lol
The crowd admiring the sunset
Bye bye sun!
Wonderful weather!
Relaxing view
Ok, back to the food trail!
Fried cuttlefish
‘Swirling potato’. I really thought this is suppose to be crispy but it’s a little soft to my taste. This will be group under my ‘at-least-try-it-once’ food category
Lots of different seasoning to choose from
Fun to try, although it’s a little awkward to eat
Little stall selling mochi
Mixing the mochi with peanuts. Yummy~~
Handmade mochi. This is quite nice and there is constant queue for it! The auntie making it seems quite passionate judging from the way she treats her customers and preparing the mochi for each order.
‘Fried fresh milk' balls. Taste ok.
After an overdose of fried stuff, we ordered some fresh juice hoping to gulp down the sinful guilt hehe
Getting more and more crowded! Thank goodness we started in the opposite direction as the crowd.
We walked to this corner before u-turning into the main old street
Soap piggie
Spotted someone roasting the coffee bean
It’s a sign for us to take a break :)
We ordered coffee of course!
Huge chunk of peanut candy
Peanut candy in the process of being chop into small pieces
Stall selling smelly toufu
Grilling the toufu
Decided to give smelly toufu another chance. But… gulp.. no thanks. Ok. I REALLY don’t like this. haha
After happily exploring most of the main streets, we took the train to back to Jiantan station and transfer to bus back to Dandy Hotel to rest for the day. Fun day!
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