As many of you already know, Andrea is currently in China advancing her knowledge of Chinese medicine. Perhaps unknown is that we currently only have one camera and it is currently in her possession. This is OK as I had the camera for the first several weeks I was in Taipei and was able to take a lot of pictures. What is unfortunate is that today is definitely a day that I wished I had a camera (this is an exaggerated misfortune. I'll have other opportunities to take the necessary pictures in the future).
I have now been in Taipei for over two months, and while I'm embarrassed to say it, today was actually the first time that I left the house with absolutely zero agenda about my final destination. I've done bits of wandering here and there, but it usually was tied to some eventual goal. Wait a second. Even leaving the house without an agenda is technically an agenda. It's just a little less specific.
"I will leave the house with no destination. I will just walk."
Sounds like an agenda to me. With a liberal bias I might add.
Since I have been in Taipei, I have been relatively content with my walk to the MRT station, to work, and back. So today, I walked down a street I had never walked, looked down alleys I have yet to walk, crossed a bridge I had never crossed and found myself in what was for me, uncharted territory. What was interesting about this uncharted territory, is that as soon as I crossed the bridge, I found myself back on the street that passes right by my apartment (Zhongzheng, which is also another name for Chiang Kai-Shek) and crosses a different bridge. I decided to walk down this street and see where it lead.
Well, it lead past a lot of businesses, and a park, and buildings, and then it ended. I hadn't anticipated walking this major road to its eventual conclusion, though I have to admit there is something satisfying about it. I had noticed early on that it did lead toward some rather attractive looking forested hills, and so I wasn't disappointed when I reached its end.
For those unaware of Taipei's geography, a brief word. Taipei is a vast metropolis that has gradually absorbed surrounding towns and is composed of the original city and New Taipei (the surrounding areas that make up Taipei County). If you are viewing this area from higher ground, it looks like an almost endless urban landscape surrounded by mountains. This is actually one of Taipei's most charming attributes. No matter where you are, if you want to get into a little bit of nature, it's really not that far away.
So once I reached the end of Zhongzheng Rd, I found myself at the foot of what looked like a rather impressive hill (mountain). I wanted to climb up that mountain but was not sure if there was a good route to take. I made a couple attempts by going up a couple of Taipei's seemingly infinite alleys, but was thwarted both times. Eventually I just decided to walk down the major street parallel to the mountain to see what would happen. At first, not much. But right as I was about to give up, I discovered the entrance to a little hiking trail that ended up being less of a trail, and more of a stair master. Really, it was just a bunch of stairs. A bunch of stairs that took you up almost 2000 feet in elevation in about a mile.
Taipei is a city of contrasts. This is exemplified by tall, new buildings next to building that look like they could have been torn down years ago. These same old buildings are also interspersed in the most luxurious shopping areas you can imagine. The view I find at the top of my short and steep hike was also one of contrasts.
If I looked one way, I had an amazing view of the seemingly endless urban sprawl that makes up Taipei and New Taipei. It's not a bad view. I have long been a fan of big cities, and there is something awe inspiring about all the pieces that must come together to make a large city work.
However, looking the other way was truly breath taking. Before I came to Taiwan, the non-urban image of SE Asia that I had composed from movies and pictures was one of layered, rolling mountains shrouded in mist and mystery. This was my other view, and what was amazing about it was that all I had to do was look left rather than right. I had my layered, rolling mountains covered with a thick green forest; what looked like tea fields; and the ethereal haze that added something extra to the whole panorama.
After making my way back down the trail of stairs, I made my way to the riverside bike and pedestrian trail that I had also yet to explore. This further added to my joy of Taiwan's natural beauty (and dismay of not having a camera) as I was treated to the sun setting behind forested hills with the small batches of clouds lit up with colors of pink, red and orange and the sun's rays reflecting on the river.
As I walked down the riverside trail the view of the river was eventually obscured by tall reeds, though every once in awhile you'd get a glimpse of a little garden that someone had made after making a small path through the reeds.
Have I mentioned that I really like Taiwan?
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