I now went back to the Tamsui station bus terminal to catch a bus to the Yehliu Geopark. This is on the other side around the northern tip of Taiwan Island. I was told by the tourist office yesterday that my metro pass will not work and that I would have to pay 125 TWD ($4) each way. The 1262 bus comes every 30 mins and there was a family from malaysia and india that both said they were going to the same place. People were tapping their card as they got on so I t...

Having done all my exploring in Taipei City I now had Saturday to do some exploring outside the city. Originally I was deciding if I should fly back Sat or Sun and decided Sun would get me an extra full day to see something extra. As I was staying at the historical port of Tamsui/Danshui at the end of the red line I now had the morning to explore the fort and colonial buildings which were closed when I tried the day I arrived after 5pm. I had left at 9 this morni...

In the distance a short walk away from the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial was the Taipei 101 tower which was my next stop. When I arrived at 4 there was partially clear sky, but now it had become very overcast partially shrouding the tower, the whole time I was in the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial building. It would be better to come another day but this was the only day I could schedule a visit. Admission was an expensive 400 TWD ($13) so I was half deciding if I would pay or not ...

Leaving the Taipei Mosque I took a bus back to the metro then went north to the Confucius and Baoan Temples which are both by Yuanshan station. First was the Confucius Temple. This is a normal buddhist style temple seen all over korea or the rest of asia. It was on the flight path to the domestic airport and there was a large school party who practiced saying hello to me. The front entrance was different as they had coloured artwork placed on a mirror, and other ...

A short walk over from the Martyrs Shrine was the Grand Hotel, which is otherwise awkward to get to. I wanted to go quickly and be downtown for noontime. The hotel is on top of a cliff and I can always see it from the red line but it is the centre of two stops overlooking a river so not easy to get to. Eventually I found a staircase to go up to the main access road. This is the distinctive landmark hotel of Taipei. It is a highrise pagoda style building with red ...