Wedding photoshoot was done in Ping Dong, and we still have 2 days in Taipei before we fly back to KL.  Initially we plan to visit Jiu Fen 九份, but we overslept and miss the schedule, hence we have to reschedule for our day tour.

One hand on map, one hand on itinerary.
Next destination :  Yang Ming Shan National Park 陽明山國家公園.

Traveling around Taipei its easy, as long as you go to the tourist information counter, and get a map, most of their info were updated. The best part is, most of the tourist attractions can be accessible through public transport.

As we stayed at Future Star Hotel 明日饭店 in Ximending 西門町, so we will transit to Jiantan MRT station, and catch a bus to Yang Ming Shan. Do mark this station, as it is very convenient for any bus transfer. Most of the bus would be passing this route and it could save you lots of time and cost efficient.

Future Star Hotel 明日饭店 is highly recommended for budget travelers. We paid for RM120 per night, for its location that save you time and just 2 steps to shopping heaven. But please do not expect for a 5 stars hotel,  at least its clean and neat.

Before we proceed to Yang Ming Shan, we did explore around Shih Lin, the big cities seems quiet during day time. Not much shop open for business. Most probably they operate at night and from what I heard their culture start business in the afternoon.

Camwhoring ^.^ while waiting for bus.

The bus journey to Yang Ming Shan will take around 45minutes to an hour from Jiantan Station. You just have to catch the local bus where you would pass by lots of residential area.  We took bus number R5 (red) to Yang Ming Shan. All the way up to the hilly road, you could see universities and research center.

When you reach the final station, you can hop on to the Mini Bus which travels you around Yang Ming Shan by using bus number 108. The climate is getting cooler roughly around 12′c. Even the vegetables sold here looks greener.  And I still challenge myself  by just wearing one thin long sleeves and scarf.

Look at this map, it shows the hot spot at Yang Ming Shan and the bus route. We do not have that much of time to go to each of the spot, as some are just for sight seeing only. Hence we chosen a few popular hot spot by tourists.

Yang Ming Shan is popular for the cherry blossoms in Spring, but since it is Winter, you could just go up the mountain and see the beauty nature scenery.

1st stop: Erzihping Trail (二子坪步道)

Basically, this stop attracts more people for mount hiking.  There’s proper trail that allow you to walk up to the peak. We weren’t prepare for that, with our attire its totally not match.

We asked some other tourist, what’s up there, they replied us, “oh, its just a piece of land which the scenery is just so – so”. Worth to go ?  He chuckled.

We gave up after walking for 15 minutes. And stop halfway to have photoshoot. Scenery are absolutely nice and simply breathtaking.

2nd stop: Xiaoyukeng (小油坑)
The fog is getting thicker, weather is getting cooler up here.
Smells of rotten eggs are every where. Haha, do you dare to challenge the sulfur? You could see some small volcano spot left over but its not dangerous.

The pictures are getting blur here, hardly focus.
Anyway, it was a great experience exploring Yang Ming Shan.

I heart this kind of weather so much. I bought a cup of instant noodle, with hot soup from the cafeteria. Its so enjoying to have it in such a weather!

We choose to go back to City centre for our dinner. For those who opt to go for Hot Spring bath, you would see a few outlets on the way down. Some offers free admission, some you might have to pay. You should try it once in a lifetime.

Overall the trip to Yang Ming Shan consider as a very relaxing trip. You skip away from the busy and hectic city. Avoided jams and air pollutions.  Yang Ming Shan is also a good place for the elderly too!