Day 4 arrived, our last day for a full day out in Taipei. We had one more location to visit, and that was Pingxi.
Though known for their sky lanterns which we both had no interest in, we did wanted to check out the other attraction, the crags.
Despite getting up early, we were met with two missed trains, and ended up taking a pretty long journey to reach our destination.
Along the way, we stumbled upon a road side stall at Ruihang which served large intestines mee sua. I swear, it was the best I've had, move aside Ay Chung, you officially...er...suck.
I'm not an intestines person, and yet I'm really enjoying the juicy tender innards which was well seasoned and cooked separately from the noodles, only to be added in at the last minute so it doesn't over cook and release all its flavor into the soup which was already rich.
Once alighted at Pingxi, many turned straight to the touristy streets, while we headed across the river and made our way towards the trekking path.
I had a bit of reference from online blogs but was pretty green to all this, little did I know this place involved a lot of climbing, both up as well as down.
The initial trek was smooth, flat, and nothing spectacular, but it was tranquil and the air was cooling which made it a joy to walk in.
We stumbled upon a house which didn't seem all to abandoned, I guess people still call this place their home though probably more of a cabin for whoever maintains the forested area.
Things started to get a lot more challenging after the hut. We stumbled upon the Earth God structure, after which we were met with a few tough climbs upwards.
Going up was easy, in a sense that if you have a fear of heights, so long as you keep looking up, it's fine. It was still tiring though, and by the time we got to the top I was huffing and puffing a little. Shufen on the other hand, no biggie. Tsk.
We managed a few more climbs as well as descends. Going down as the scary part, at one point I was hanging with my legs dangling trying to find a grip. Having a fear of heights did not help either. =P
I think my favorite top was Cimu Peak (I believe it was Peak, there were a few other names and they were rather confusing for me).
The air was fresh, it was quiet, and you could overlook the entire village, how awesome is that?!?!
Shortly after, it was time to head back. We packed up, made out descend, and took a train towards Taipei into the comfort of our hotel rooms.
Next on our list for that day was Shilin Market. Probably everyone who's asked "What's there to do in Taipei" would be given the answer "Go visit the night markets!".
And Shilin's name would pop up, be it with much enthusiasm or lots of negative comments towards it. Regardless, it's garnered so much chit chat, how can don't go and see right?
Bottom line? It was ok, and definitely not worth the hype. I preferred Raohe on the whole...crowded and street-like. Shilin just felt like a giant open air shopping mall.
On the high side, we managed to tuck into more food, and check a few other items off my list. Stinky tofu was oddly not as delicious as I'd remember it to be...the one in Geylang back home was pretty good in my opinion.
So day 4 has drawn to a close, will blog about the last day soon enough!
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