A while ago mom told me that the son of her friend was coming to Taiwan. I used to know the kid when I was young, so I suggested the wife and I could take him round to some interesting places. He arrived yesterday afternoon and I met him and his friend up in Taipei. We went to Taipei 101 to take in the view, then met up with my wife in a night market for dinner.

  • Sunset view from Taipei 101
  • The two friends Albin on the left and Oskar on the right
  • Having dinner in the night market
  • Chatting over a couple of beers

Today we were planning to go to Taiping mountain in Yilan, and due to the risk for traffic jams, we set off early in the morning.  Despite setting off early, we still ended up in a queue out from Taipei city, it wasn’t until noon that we arrived at the mountain.

Our first stop was a walking trail called Jian Qing trail which used to be the track for a logging train. It was quite foggy up there so we thought the view might be spoiled but it turned put just fine. The trail was really good, it was easy to walk and the surroundings were beautiful.

  • Start of the trail
  • Couple photo
  • Old train tracks
  • More old train tracks
  • Can you tell I like the old train tracks?
  • Rope bridge
  • Me, Oskar and Albin on the rope bridge

After the trail we grabbed some quick lunch then headed to Cuifeng lake. The landscape didn’t look Taiwanese,  it was more Swedish or Norwegian. It was beautiful, just a shame the walking trail ended after only few hundred meters.

  • View of the lake
  • Yini, Oskar and Albin enjoying the view

We still had some time left so we headed over to a hot spring for a soak. What made this place special was that they had taken several large boulders that had fallen down and carved out the inside to create little individual pools. Relaxing in the hot water felt so good. We ended the day with dinner and a few beers in a restaurant in Yilan city.

Obligatory sunset picture