I started a prayer when I woke up. I prayed that this day will be ok just like any ordinary day in Taiwan. 666 is a bad number and I feared that something bad might happen. News exploded the night before this Taiwan Day 666. An accident occurred in Formosa Fun Coast! Colored cornstarch being thrown to party goers ignited suddenly turning the Color Day Asia event into a real hell.
Defying the omen and testing whether I will experience the same unfortunate fate. I went on a travel adventure with Bryan, Francis, Jonalyn, Gian, Rakesh, Jason and Yoshi. As the hot summer sun scorches Taiwan into a literal hell I thought of places that will remind me of the “burning abyss”. For the “Fast-Track Travel Program”, I chose Zhuzihu and Sulfur Valley in Yangmingshan and the hot spring town of Beitou District in Taipei. We boarded Bus 128 from MRT Shipai Station to reach Zhuzihu or Bamboo Lake. I fastened my seatbelt as the bus goes up in winding road going to Yangmingshan. The bus was passing over cliffs. What will happen if our bus falls down? Whatever goes. I was ready to die on that day. lol
Blue flowers in which I don’t' know the name were abundant in Bamboo Lake. The volcanic Yangmingshan mountains was once active and there was a great lake here. The lake have dried up through the years and is now the green farmlands now known as Zhuzihu. After wandering in Zhuzihu we went to restaurant to eat for lunch. Reading the menu which was written in Chinese tortured us. What the hell!
We boarded Bus 109 from Zhuzihu to our next destination, the Liuhuanggu Geothermal Scenic Area. It means Sulfur Valley in English and the scenery was described as like a crater of a volcano. There were a lot of hot springs which shoots hot spring water into the sky. I can really feel hell here as the sun toasts our body. A man was selling ice cream and we decided to buy. It gave us a relief from the heat of the sun. The scoops of ice cream created a feeling of cold winter in a hot summer.
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| The Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch is just beside the Beitou Hot Springs Museum. |
Another bus ride and we arrived at Xinbeitou, where the famous Beitou Hot Springs Museum was located. It was built during Taiwan's Japanese colonial period and served as a public bathhouse for men and women during those times. It also houses the radioactive mineral hokutolite. We entered the museum by removing our shoes and replacing it with slippers which were provided by the museum. It was the custom during the glory hot spring days of the building and is still practice up to now.
A trip to Hell Valley made us to perspire more. Hot sulfuric gas was steaming out together with the hot spring water creating that real sense of being in hell. Water from the Hell Valley overflows into the Beitou Stream and canals along Beitou. Try walking along the sidewalks of Beitou and you will see that the canal is steaming. Puji Temple was also walking distance from Hell Valley. Believers can go here to ask forgiveness and have hope not be dragged to hell when they die.
If you thought that Taipei is a good girl. Think again! The streets along Huaxi Night Market was a former red district. Walk along the night market and you will find a turtle being sliced off. My Travel Buddies and I watched in a horror as a helpless turtle was being slaughtered. They are endangered but are still being killed. Why? Why? Why? There was also this restaurant selling snake dishes with live snakes displayed at their doorsteps. A Snake Alley indeed!
Nothing happened to me and to my Travel Buddies in this Taiwan Day 666! It was just another successful trip in the “Fast-Track Travel Program” with a hell concept. The destinations were great and as hot as hell. So do you want to go to hell in Taiwan? No problem. Just tell me and say “Luo-mu Jie drag me to hell!”
THINGS TO DO IN TAIPEI
Sakura Series - Taiwan
2024 Forecast
Taipei 101 first flowers
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Taipei Flower Test Center
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Broadwood Park
Sunshine Sports Park kawazu sakura
Wuling Farm (武陵農場)
SYS kawazu sakura
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
CKS Memorial Hall
Shibafen Yoshino Sakura
Hope River
Dongfang Temple
Tianyuan Palace
Neicou Stream Trail
Orange Garden Cafe
Yangming Park Visitor Information Center
Yangming Park Service Center Bus Stop
Huashan Road
Qianshan Park
Zhongshan Hall Entrance
Tenglong Sakura Farm
Flower Test Center Shōwa Sakura
Neihu Creek Trail
Shulin Land Office
Xióng Kōng Cherry Blossom Forest
Lung Yen Sakura Forest
Yangming Park cherry stream
Yangming Park fountain
CKS Memorial Hall Tairyō sakura
Wugu District Tianyi Road
CKS Memorial Hall yaesakura
Loving Farm
Yong Long Farm
Zhongbaling Sakura Road
Sun Link Sea
Tai'an Police Station
Cherry Hill Slope
Hsinchu Park
Taipei 101
Kāng Gào Kēng Creek
New Garden City
Broadwood Park
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Alishan Ranger Station
Alishan House
Alishan Police Station
Alishan Forest Railway
Alishan Station
Alishan Entrance
Alishan Gou Hotel
Alishan Magnolia Garden
Wulai tour
Wun Chang Elementary School
Bishanyan
Sanzhi Sansei Trail
Sakura Series - Taiwan
Nei Cuo Stream
Orange Garden Cafe
Sansei Trail
Tenglong Sakura Farm
Yangming Park Cherry Stream
Yangming Park Fountain
Flower Test Center
Broadwood Park
New Garden City
Yinghua Park
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Yangmingshan Visitor Center
Taipei 101
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Sakura Series - Japan
Kamonyama Park
Near the Nippon Maru Memorial Park
Shinko Park
Minato-mirai 21 area
Tokyo Tech Suzukakedai Campus
Onda River
Tenryuji
Byodoin
Kiyomizudera
Himuro shrine and Yakushi-ji Temple
Hōryū-ji Temple
Nara Park attractions
Tokyo Tech Ookayama Campus
Sumida River
Tsuruma Park
Gion
Maple Series
Taipei Aowanda
Shimen Dam
Alishan
Aowanda
Shanlinxi
Taoyuan Valley Garden
Fushoushan Farm
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| Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis |
The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)
Always in my heart
MRT birdman
Valentine's Day
Tulips Festival
2018 Taipei Lantern Festival
City of Azaleas
Linji Huguo Temple
Nanjichang Night Market
Gudetama Chef restaurant
Dalongdong Bao'an Temple
Shilin hollyhocks
Ningxia Night Market
Ximending graffiti
Discovery Center of Taipei
Chunghwa Postal Museum
Double-Decker Bus
Shilin Cold Balls
Jingimoo
GomanMango
mud volcanic ice
Fire and Ice Dumpling
Opium Fen-Yuan
Ichiran Ramen
Liu Shandong Beef Noodles
hydrangea flowers
National Palace Museum
Other attractions in Taipei
Taipei on a budget
Japanese buildings
Dāoxiāomiàn beef noodles
Presidential Office Building
Yongkang St. and Elephant Mountain
CKS and SYS Hall
City tour
Beitou ramen
MRT Monopoly Game
Winter city tour
Zhicheng Park
Shilin Plum Blossom
Art museums
Shopping in Taipei
Summer desserts
Qingtiangang
Qixingshan hiking
2015 Calla lily
2016 Calla lily
Beitou tour
Beitou-Zhuzihu tour
NTU
Confucius Temple
2015 Dadaocheng Festival
Puppet Museum
Fantasy Ice World
2016 Bread Show
Strawberry picking
2015 Rose Garden
Modern Toilet
Shilin Night Market
NASA Exhibit
Raohe Night Market
Longshan Temple
2013 Taipei Zoo
Maokong Gondola
Lupin flowers
Taipei 101 day visit
Taipei 101 night visit
Tiger Mountain
Din Tai Fung
Taipei Story House
2014 Flower Show
Chrysanthemum Show
Miramar Ferris wheel
Miniatures Museum
Archery
1600 Pandas
Wulaoguo hot pot
Upside Down House
2016 101 Fireworks
New Taipei
Tamsui Pumpkin Tunnel
Shifen Waterfall
2017 Sand Sculpture
Dragon Caves
New Taipei tour
2016 Kite Festival
Pingxi Crags
Bitou Cape
2016 Sand Sculpture
2015 Christmasland
Juming - Jinshan
Houtong - Pingxi
Sandiaoling Waterfall
Jiufen foodtrip
Guanyinshan hike
Yehliu Ocean World
2014 Kite Festival
Pingxi Rail tour
Jinguashi tour
Vigor Kobo Pineapple
British Consulate
Yehliu Geopark
2014 Sand Sculpture
Paragliding
2014 Christmasland
2014 Pingxi Lantern
firefly watching
Yingge Ceramics Street
Jiufen tour
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