Taipei 2014: Yangmingshan National Park

After days of eating, Yangmingshan National Park is a good place to go to shed some of those calories. This is a great place at the outskirts of the city, away from all the noise and pollution to enjoy the nature. If you're up for the challenge, you may hike the whole hill. If you're like me and want to go to all the scenic places but not have to exercise so much, there is a minibus that goes around the hill, stopping at different view points.

Yangmingshan is a hot springs area/district, so it has a lot of natural gas and springs. At certain stops in the park, you can see, and hear, the hot gas and steam coming out of the hills, and even places where you can see how hot the water coming out is. The gas is saturated with sulphur, so it smells strongly of that.

This is called the milk pond. When people were mining around here, they created white sediments that gathered at the bottom of the pond, making the water look milky white.

I like hiking, but definitely an amateur in hiking. It was very nice psychologically to tell myself that I'm burning off all the calories I ate and that I can keep eating now :D Hiking is also the best time to bond with a friend. Cell reception is probably not excellent, so your partner is the only entertainment (and obviously the nature). Remember to never hike by yourself and bring lots of water!

Stay safe, xoxo