Weekend 5: Sunday

Yangmingshan (陽明山)

After the exhausting Saturday, it was a miracle that I woke up at all on Sunday.
As I waited for my friend (who did oversleep,) I almost fell asleep again.

The two of us eventually found our way to the bus stop. We were both shocked to find the number of people waiting for the bus to Yangmingshan on a Sunday morning. We managed to squeeze ourselves onto a bus and away we went. 

Once we got off at the bus station, neither one of us knew where to go (too tired to do research the night before.) The tourism centre was a good twenty minute walk from the station. So we decided to take a risk and get on the park shuttle, getting off only at the stops marked in red on the map. We figured only the stops worth seeing would be marked in red bold font. A strategy that worked out pretty well, more or less.

Siaoyukeng (小油坑)
We could see the smoke from afar. And once we got closer, we could smell the sulphur.
You can even see the sulphur residues on the rocks.
If it wasn't for the sulphur, the bubbling hot springs would be a great place to boil eggs. Hot spring eggs are so good~    

 

Lengshueikeng (冷水坑)

 Given that 冷水坑 literally means "cold water hole," I put my hand in the water expecting cold water. Apparently, it's all relative because that water was pretty warm. Compared to the sizzling heat at Siaoyukeng, this must feel like a cold spring. If it hadn't been such a hot summer day I would have gladly joined the ladies in soaking my achy feet. It does look pretty relaxing, doesn't it? 

Cingtiangang (擎天崗)

The guide from the tourism centre was nice enough to walk with us and point out some of the historical sites. In the colonial days, fishermen used to smuggle fish through this point to sell in Taipei, a walk (魚路古道="Old fish road") that would take days. She pointed out a trail that would lead us to the ancient road.  to the the fishermen used to us. It was about 7 km. The entire smuggling trail is about 30 km. Both were out of the question, given how exhausted we were after the previous day.
So we opted for the much easier 1+ km trail to the top of the mountain (the tallest peak in the photo.)

Along the way, we saw some wild cattle, left from the days when 擎天崗 was used as pasture. 

The trail was pretty abandoned with only the leopard-print butterfly to keep us company. Since there weren't any signs along the way, we decided to just kept walking until the trail ends. And, thirty odd minutes later...

...we did it! We reached our destination. The view from the top.

A old battlement left from the colonial days.

I was so exhausted by the end of this trip I pretty much passed out on the bus ride back. It would definitely be nice to go back and try some of the more challenging trails. Not sure if I'll ever be up for the 30km one tho. That one will definitely take at least a day.