A quick summary, more details to follow
Day 1 (Sat):
- Area around Taipei Main Station
- Ximen (hip youth hotspot, sort of like Tokyo)
- Longshan Temple
- Huaxi St Night Market
Day 2 (Sun):
- Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall (founder of Taiwan)
- Taipei 101 (2nd tallest building in world)
- Core Pacific City (quick peek – it’s a mall that looks a little like the Death Star from Star Wars, i.e. what was the architect smoking?)
- Raohe St Night Market
- Rainbow Bridge
Day 3 (Mon):
- Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (big statue of another Taiwan founder)
- Da’an Park (likened to Central Park but smaller and somewhat disappointing)
- Rode a gondola up into the mountains at the south end of town (also reachable by metro!)
- Hiked a paved trail with a very long set of stairs straight up the hill to a nice lookout (unlike the crowds at the gondola top station, I only saw 6 people at the top of the mountain), and did a bit of a hike through unpaved narrow paths in the forest up there
- Had a 40-minute foot/leg massage (NT$400=US$14) – note I didn’t say I “enjoyed” it because it was downright painful during it (I wanted to cry uncle a few times but didn’t!) though I did feel better afterwards (to be ruined by the next day’s walking of course)
Day 4 (Tue) – see attached photos
- Danshui aka Tamsui (confusing name change on the train station!) – a fishing port located on the estuary (i.e. just about on the Taiwan Strait but still reachable by metro)
- Beitou Public Hot Springs – natural hot springs for under US$2 (I spent 1.5 hours), within a 5 minute walk from a metro station!
- Confucius Temple (what, he lived around 550 BC, are you kidding me?)
- Baoan Temple (also got to see a ceremony to help protect the island from harsh water (typhoon, mudslides etc.))
- Shilin Night Market – the king of them in Taipei (disappointing food though)