Hiking in Taipei

This post focuses on one of the maja day trips I did with my bro during our 4 day stay in Taipei. We decided to do a morning hike up&around Elephant Mountain + spend a quiet afternoon wandering Maokong Mountain. Let me just put it out there, if you ever find yourself in the magical-ness of Taiwan, you absolutely must go on a hike of some sort & I suggest this one (naturally). It is a bit of a stair-master of a challenge (no Big Buddha hike though) BUT well worth the sweat. You get an absolutely breath taking (whether you like it or not) view of the city, Taipei 101 & as far as the eyes can see. We decided to venture a little more & with a little luck+help from a nice local couple, we found ourselves atop one of the mountains with the most beautiful view of Taipei. After getting lost, finding ourselves on the wrong side of the mountain & hitch hiking back to a metro station, we then set off for Maokong Mountain. They have an abundance of tea plantations, shops & restaurants with gorgeous views that are an irresistible escape from the chaos of the city. The must-try is the tieguanyin tea (what makes this place famous) & the views of course. Anyways, enough blabby blab & more ogling over the pictures.

so many stairs (again)

first view of taipei

there's also a little gym up in the mountains...I can't make this stuff up

2nd view of Taipei - a weee bit tired

3rd view

& then we got lost...woops

Maokong 

famous tea that is DELISH

nommy nommy hot pot

tea plantations high up in the mountains

Hike to the Big Buddha

Are we crazy? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Let me start from the beginning. The Big Buddha is a must-see in HK and is located on Lantau island (if you have great memory, you'll remember I've already been...if not, go here to review). I wanted to take my brother here (aduhhh) but wanted to HIKE it up. Give us some well needed exercise but also see a different part of HK (fyi there are NUMEROUS hiking trails all over HK). So off we went, taking the MTR all the way to Tung Chung (about 30-45 minutes from Hong Kong station in Central). Once there, it was a bit of a struggle. First of all, everyone we asked at the cable car/bus stop near the station laughed at the idea of our hike and told us not to go. After a few minutes of wandering and asking, we finally had some helpful guidance on where to go. Essentially, we took the Ngong Ping Rescue Trail, which is a bit tricky to find. Best way to get there is to ask/look for Hau Wong Temple and follow the trail over this bridge/through some sketchy paths. Once we started, I almost immediately regretted this decision, jkjkjk - but for reals this is not a trail for the weak. It's a definite physical and mental battle for the first 1-2 hours. All uphill, all stairs/hills and a WHOLE LOT OF SWEATING. In the end though, it was totally worth it and I definitely suggest hiking UP to the Buddha (vs hiking down from it). It's more challenging/more rewarding. Unfortunately for us, it was very cloudy/foggy that day and we could barely see the Buddha once we actually got there. It was still a great day and we were so thankful that the weather was against, aka it wasn't OVERALLY hot/humid. Here are the photographic memories that I captured!

the start of our hike & diegs is already sweating

& it's all uphill 

breathtaking views (literally)

some inspirational words on the way up? thanks tips

& in comes the fog

our destination...a little bit foggier than I remember