Having returned from the rain of the Yehliu Geopark on the west island to the dry shores of Taipei city on the east, I now had time to kill until 5pm. I had arranged to meet with a guy off the couchsurfing website who was going to show me around his neighbourhood. As it was now only 3.30pm I had some time to wander a bit more first. North of Tamsui station where I was staying was the old market and colonial buildings. But just south of the station which I could a...

For my last nite I wanted to check out some of the muslim restaurants and have a rare chance to eat chinese food as it would be halal. The first place I wanted to check out was a famous muslim beef noodle restaurant. This was easy to reach by Zhongxiao Dunha station on the blue line. Come out from the NE exit, take the first light at lane 223, and go north one block. Unfortunately, they keep very strange hours. They open for lunch from 11-2 then close to 5pm. The...

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 ...