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| Led nine Taipei Hikers on some really off the beaten trails in Neihu |
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| About to climb the Jinmianshan Cliff |
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| Hiking at Jinmianshan |
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| A temple on a back mountain road where the trails popped us out |
Saturday October 26th, 2019
Friday October 11th, 2019 (cont'd)
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| Hiking along some lesser used trails in Neihu |
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| At Dragon Boat Rock (龍船岩) in Neihu (內湖) |
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| The hike required a little rock scrambling |
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| Enjoying the view from Dragon Boat Rock |
Friday October 11th, 2019
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| The view from Dragon Boat Rock (龍船岩) in Neihu (內湖) |
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| Heading into some off the beaten path trails |
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| Led a group of Taipei Hikers on a wonderfully fun five hour adventure |
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| A lot of overgrowth at the start of hiking season |
Thursday October 10th, 2019 (cont'd)
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| Led some Taipei Hikers from Jiannan Road Station to Dazhi Station |
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| Guanyin Mountain in the far distance |
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| At the Grand Hotel in Taipei |
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| The changing of the guards at the National Revolutionary Martyr's Shrine |
Thursday October 10th, 2019
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| Found on Beian Road (北安路) near Dazhi Station |
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| Led some Taipei Hikers from Jiannan Road Station to Dazhi Station |
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| At the National Revolutionary Martyr's Shrine |
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| A statue found on Beian Road (北安路) in Dazhi (大直) |
Tuesday October 8th, 2019 (cont'd)
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| One of two rope bridges along the Sandiaoling Waterfall Hiking trail |
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| The Motian Waterfall |
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| Shouren Elementary School |
Tuesday October 8th, 2019
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| Led a group of 11 ladies from The Center on a hike to the very popular Sandiaoling Waterfall trail |
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| Old toilets at the closed down Shouren Elementary School |
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| Waiting for the train back to Taipei |
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| Railway Police: We Serve, We Safe |
A weekend in Taitung (台東) Taiwan ...
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| At the Railway Art Village (鐵道藝術村) |
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| At the Railway Art Village |
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| Overlooking the city on a gorgeous day |
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| At the Dragon and Phoenix Temple (龍鳳佛堂) |
A weekend in Taitung (台東) Taiwan ...
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| Finally got to swim in the Flowing Lake (活水湖) |
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| Just after a 1.9KM swim where I placed 3rd |
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| My swim cap from the race and my completion medal |
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| Playing tourist after the race — at the Dragon and Phoenix Temple (龍鳳佛堂) |
Longqing Gorge (龍慶峽) in Beijing, China ...
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| Pulling into one of the docks in the gorge |
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| Had the hiking trails to myself |
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| The cableway |
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| The head of the dragon was being refurbished |
Longqing Gorge (龍慶峽) in Beijing, China ...
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| Stunning views from the walking trails at the gorge |
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| A boat tour through the gorge |
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| Overlooking the dragon from a tunnel that most tourists missed |
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| One of the walking trails at the gorge |
Back in Beijing ...
On my last morning in Mongolia, I enjoyed a free breakfast at the Golden Gobi guesthouse before packing up and meeting my driver outside at 9:00AM. My next and final stop of this trip was Beijing, where I would be staying for two nights at a Holiday Inn near the Temple of Heaven.
My time in Beijing was cut short the first time around, so I was trying to see one or two more things that were on my list and the Temple of Heaven was one of them. The ticket gate stops selling tickets at 4:30PM and I thought I'd have enough time to get through the airport, taxi into the city and then walk over the Temple of Heaven.
Wrong. I forgot how massive and busy the Beijing Capital International Airport is. Also, with it being a weekend, the traffic getting into the city was insane. We were stopped on the highway for most of the journey. Time was ticking away as was my window for getting to see the Temple of Heaven. I made it to my hotel by 4:30PM. Sigh. I was having very little luck with sightseeing in Beijing.
Upon arrival at my hotel, I was starving and decided to treat myself to the buffet dinner along with an icy cold beer. It wasn't a terribly impressive buffet but there was enough of a selection that I found a few things I liked. Before arriving in Beijing, I had booked a driver with Mark's Guide and Driver Service online. After the quietness and remoteness of Mongolia, I didn't want to brave the crowds in Beijing. I had booked a driver to take me about 1.5 hours out of the city to the Longqing Gorge the following day.
I had read about the Longqing Gorge here before my travels and thought it would be fun and different! I mean, who wouldn't want to ride on escalators inside of a 258m long artificial dragon that sits on the side of a rock face?! While eating dinner that night, I looked again at the article and noted that it said as of August 2019, the escalator was no longer in use. I wanted to cry. I wasn't sure if I should cancel the driver the next day and find something else to do. I did want to get out of the city so I decided to go and make the best of it. Needless to say, I was a tad disappointed.
The driver picked me up the following morning at 8:00AM. It allowed me time to enjoy the free breakfast buffet before setting off for the day. The drive out of the city was lovely. I got to see many different parts of the Great Wall of China along the way. The driver spoke a little bit of English and we had a nice conversation switching back and forth between English and Mandarin.
When we reached the gorge, I had to buy a ticket for 5RMB to take a shuttle to the entrance of the gorge. The weather was fabulous, the air was clean and there seemed to be very few people around. I was pretty excited to be on this adventure! The entrance ticket was 140RMB and this included a boat ride through the gorge.
The Longqing Dam and the dragon escalator are almost the first thing you see when you go through the entrance gates. The head of the dragon was being refurbished but people were going inside. There didn't seem to be another way to get into the gorge so I went inside and much to my surprise, the escalators were running! Fabulous!
I giggled my way up the escalators, thrilled that they were working! I hopped on a boat which took us through the gorge. It was quite stunning! It being China, there was a lady with a loudspeaker telling us where to look and what to look at. She talked for the entire boat ride which was slightly annoying. We went through the gorge as far as we could go, did a u-turn and then got dropped off at another dock. There wasn't much to do there but walk through a not so great forest. One could rent small boats and row themselves through another part of the canyon but since I was alone, I didn't think it would be easy or fun.
I hopped on another boat which took me back to the start of the canyon. From there, one could pay 20RMB for a return trip up a tiny, creaky cableway. It was old and steep and I feared I wouldn't make it to the top.
Once on the top, one could walk to the right or left and take well marked stone trails along the top of the mountain. The views were stunning and due to the number of stairs, there were very few people at the top of the mountain. I was up there alone for quite some time and I used that time to rest and enjoy the silence and the beauty. I was quite happy with my decision of heading out of Beijing City for the day.
After a long rest, I slowly headed down hundreds of steps making my way back to the cableway. I took the cableway down and then found a tunnel that took me to the top of the dragon. It offered great views of the dragon escalator below. There were no signs to this place and it seems that the few tourists who were around missed this turnoff. The only reason I thought to find it was because I saw two people up there when I was coming back down the cableway.
I then backtracked to make my way through the 'Flowers Cave'. In the past one had to pay 10RMB to go through, but the price had been crossed off the board and it was now free. The cave was full of artificial flowers and animals and scenes. It was an odd place and definitely not worth paying any amount of money to see. It led people back to the main gates.
Rather than take the shuttle back, I decided to walk along the road for the 1.5KM walk back to the car park. I sent my driver a note to let him know I was on my way and he was near the shuttle area waiting for me. We got stuck in traffic on the way back and I arrived to my hotel around dinner time. I decided to have the dinner buffet in the hotel again and had an early night. I was scheduled on an 8:30AM flight the following morning back to Taipei and my hotel suggested that I be down at the front desk by 5:00AM to call a taxi. I hoped my flight would leave the airport on time! I was looking forward to getting back home to my cat and my apartment!
My time in Beijing was cut short the first time around, so I was trying to see one or two more things that were on my list and the Temple of Heaven was one of them. The ticket gate stops selling tickets at 4:30PM and I thought I'd have enough time to get through the airport, taxi into the city and then walk over the Temple of Heaven.
Wrong. I forgot how massive and busy the Beijing Capital International Airport is. Also, with it being a weekend, the traffic getting into the city was insane. We were stopped on the highway for most of the journey. Time was ticking away as was my window for getting to see the Temple of Heaven. I made it to my hotel by 4:30PM. Sigh. I was having very little luck with sightseeing in Beijing.
Upon arrival at my hotel, I was starving and decided to treat myself to the buffet dinner along with an icy cold beer. It wasn't a terribly impressive buffet but there was enough of a selection that I found a few things I liked. Before arriving in Beijing, I had booked a driver with Mark's Guide and Driver Service online. After the quietness and remoteness of Mongolia, I didn't want to brave the crowds in Beijing. I had booked a driver to take me about 1.5 hours out of the city to the Longqing Gorge the following day.
 |
| The dragon escalator at the Longqing Gorge |
The driver picked me up the following morning at 8:00AM. It allowed me time to enjoy the free breakfast buffet before setting off for the day. The drive out of the city was lovely. I got to see many different parts of the Great Wall of China along the way. The driver spoke a little bit of English and we had a nice conversation switching back and forth between English and Mandarin.
When we reached the gorge, I had to buy a ticket for 5RMB to take a shuttle to the entrance of the gorge. The weather was fabulous, the air was clean and there seemed to be very few people around. I was pretty excited to be on this adventure! The entrance ticket was 140RMB and this included a boat ride through the gorge.
The Longqing Dam and the dragon escalator are almost the first thing you see when you go through the entrance gates. The head of the dragon was being refurbished but people were going inside. There didn't seem to be another way to get into the gorge so I went inside and much to my surprise, the escalators were running! Fabulous!
I giggled my way up the escalators, thrilled that they were working! I hopped on a boat which took us through the gorge. It was quite stunning! It being China, there was a lady with a loudspeaker telling us where to look and what to look at. She talked for the entire boat ride which was slightly annoying. We went through the gorge as far as we could go, did a u-turn and then got dropped off at another dock. There wasn't much to do there but walk through a not so great forest. One could rent small boats and row themselves through another part of the canyon but since I was alone, I didn't think it would be easy or fun.
 |
| The creaky cableway to the mountain top |
Once on the top, one could walk to the right or left and take well marked stone trails along the top of the mountain. The views were stunning and due to the number of stairs, there were very few people at the top of the mountain. I was up there alone for quite some time and I used that time to rest and enjoy the silence and the beauty. I was quite happy with my decision of heading out of Beijing City for the day.
After a long rest, I slowly headed down hundreds of steps making my way back to the cableway. I took the cableway down and then found a tunnel that took me to the top of the dragon. It offered great views of the dragon escalator below. There were no signs to this place and it seems that the few tourists who were around missed this turnoff. The only reason I thought to find it was because I saw two people up there when I was coming back down the cableway.
I then backtracked to make my way through the 'Flowers Cave'. In the past one had to pay 10RMB to go through, but the price had been crossed off the board and it was now free. The cave was full of artificial flowers and animals and scenes. It was an odd place and definitely not worth paying any amount of money to see. It led people back to the main gates.
Rather than take the shuttle back, I decided to walk along the road for the 1.5KM walk back to the car park. I sent my driver a note to let him know I was on my way and he was near the shuttle area waiting for me. We got stuck in traffic on the way back and I arrived to my hotel around dinner time. I decided to have the dinner buffet in the hotel again and had an early night. I was scheduled on an 8:30AM flight the following morning back to Taipei and my hotel suggested that I be down at the front desk by 5:00AM to call a taxi. I hoped my flight would leave the airport on time! I was looking forward to getting back home to my cat and my apartment!
The Mongolia Diaries: Day Fifteen and Sixteen
Breakfast was served in our ger. We had another long drive, the final one, to get back to the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. We would be stopping along the way to pick up someone who was on a short tour and needed a ride back to the city.
We did about 100KM along a paved road before pulling off onto bumpy roads again. I couldn't help but giggle to myself at how many kilometres we had traveled over these kinds of roads. I wasn't sure I'd miss them much!
The car rides were much the same. One of the Australian girls and the French guy slept for almost all of the car rides and on this day, it was no different. The other Australian girl was reading a book on her iPad. I stared out the window and took in my surroundings as this would be the last of scenic Mongolia!
The place where we picked up the other tourist was in a place known as the 'mini Gobi'. There were small sand dunes and it was here that we were to spend the night prior. It was a shame the van needed to be fixed as this set of family gers would've been much nicer for sunset and sunrise on our final night and morning of the tour.
When we arrived to the family ger, we were invited in for some fermented camel's milk. I asked my guide to politely decline for me! This family had made some of the fermented milk into candies or cookies that were drying out on the roof of their ger. It looked like the same type of things that were being offered at the Naadam Festival in the Gobi Desert.
The traveler we picked up was a young kid from Europe who was making his way to Beijing by train. He told me a few stories of his train adventures on the way back to the city.
One thing I did note about the journey back was the number of road kill we saw. Again, I had seen a number of dead animals all over Mongolia but this road kill was so much different. According to Google Maps, the road we were on was the only main road out from the capital city to central Mongolia, There were big cargo trucks traveling at ridiculous speeds. One would assume this goes on all through the night.
I saw cows that were full-on belly up with all four legs up in the air and their necks at odd angles. It was a tad horrifying. And there wasn't just one ... there were a number of these on the way back. I also saw a few dead horses but they were more humped over in a pile and ... just dead. Ugh.
It did make me wonder how they deal with the animals' bodies as the ones we saw on this day were right beside the tiny paved road. The fields always seemed to have a number of carcasses not too far from the roads that were left out to decompose. I made the assumption that it must be someone's job to come and move the road kill away from the roads. Could you imagine?!
Anyway ... this is my last post about Mongolia. We got back to the overcrowded and grossly polluted city of Ulaanbaatar and headed back to the Golden Gobi Guesthouse. I had one more night in my own suite before heading to the airport on a flight to Beijing.
I wandered around the city that day and picked up some souvenirs. I also stopped at a sports bar for a lovely salad (without goat's meat!) and two glasses of wine before calling it a night! My final thoughts on Mongolia ... BIG love and memories that will provide a lifetime of smiles!
 |
| A rough idea of our journey back to Ulaanbaatar |
The car rides were much the same. One of the Australian girls and the French guy slept for almost all of the car rides and on this day, it was no different. The other Australian girl was reading a book on her iPad. I stared out the window and took in my surroundings as this would be the last of scenic Mongolia!
The place where we picked up the other tourist was in a place known as the 'mini Gobi'. There were small sand dunes and it was here that we were to spend the night prior. It was a shame the van needed to be fixed as this set of family gers would've been much nicer for sunset and sunrise on our final night and morning of the tour.
 |
| The family gers in the 'mini Gobi' |
The traveler we picked up was a young kid from Europe who was making his way to Beijing by train. He told me a few stories of his train adventures on the way back to the city.
One thing I did note about the journey back was the number of road kill we saw. Again, I had seen a number of dead animals all over Mongolia but this road kill was so much different. According to Google Maps, the road we were on was the only main road out from the capital city to central Mongolia, There were big cargo trucks traveling at ridiculous speeds. One would assume this goes on all through the night.
I saw cows that were full-on belly up with all four legs up in the air and their necks at odd angles. It was a tad horrifying. And there wasn't just one ... there were a number of these on the way back. I also saw a few dead horses but they were more humped over in a pile and ... just dead. Ugh.
It did make me wonder how they deal with the animals' bodies as the ones we saw on this day were right beside the tiny paved road. The fields always seemed to have a number of carcasses not too far from the roads that were left out to decompose. I made the assumption that it must be someone's job to come and move the road kill away from the roads. Could you imagine?!
Anyway ... this is my last post about Mongolia. We got back to the overcrowded and grossly polluted city of Ulaanbaatar and headed back to the Golden Gobi Guesthouse. I had one more night in my own suite before heading to the airport on a flight to Beijing.
I wandered around the city that day and picked up some souvenirs. I also stopped at a sports bar for a lovely salad (without goat's meat!) and two glasses of wine before calling it a night! My final thoughts on Mongolia ... BIG love and memories that will provide a lifetime of smiles!
The Mongolia Diaries: Day Fourteen (images)
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| At the Erdene Zuu Monastery |
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| An abandoned house with a dilapidated fence |
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| Our ger at the Subedei Guesthouse came with a very playful pup |
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| The prayer wheels at the Erdene Zuu Monastery |
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