Posted in Hiking, tagged Banping Mountain, Banpingsan, Banpingshan, Day trip, hike, Hiking, Jinguashi, Jiufen, Taipei, Taiwan, Teapot, Teapot Mountain, Trek, Trekking, Walk, walking on September 12, 2012| 22 Comments »
Teapot Mountain as seen from Banping Mountain
Teapot Mountain on Taiwan’s north coast has to have some the most amazing views you can get for a day hike from Taipei City. The hike begins in the rejuvenated Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park. I remember visiting this area years and just thinking how depressing it was, but it’s now fully open and makes for a nice place to visit especially in the morning when the crowds aren’t too bad. (more…)
Posted in Hiking, tagged hegu waterfall, hike, Hiking, motian waterfall, papi waterfall, Pingsi, Pingxi, rain, Sandiaoling, shifen, Taipei, Taiwan, train, Waterfall on January 14, 2012| 24 Comments »
The weather in northern Taiwan is notoriously bad in the winter and this year has been no exception. So f you’re going to hike in the rain, there won’t be much scenery to look, unless of course you visit a waterfall and the Sandiaoling Trail 三貂嶺 has waterfalls in abundance.
Hegu Waterfall, the first waterfall on the trail
When I woke up on Sunday the weather in Taipei wasn’t too bad, just a slight drizzle and so I had high hopes for our hike. However, the further east we got, the heavier the rain became and when we finally arrived at the tiny station of Sandiaoling, it was pretty much a persistent downpour. Still, everyone was in high spirits as we headed along the tracks and got onto the very muddy trail.
Posted in guide, Hiking, Hotspring, tagged accommodation, addresses, app, Danshui, Guide, guide book, guidebook, Hiking, hot springs, hotels, info, information, ipad, iphone, ipod, itunes, maps, mobile guide, online, online guide, Outdoors, taibei, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan Adventures, tamsui, transport, Travel, Traveling, Travelling on September 14, 2011| 12 Comments »
It’s been a hectic and crazy year for us, but finally our comprehensive online guides to Taiwan are finally ready. Myself, Neil Wade, Ross Tweedie and my brother, Phil Dawson have spent the last 8 months or so building the two guides. There is one in English and one that we have had translated into Chinese.
It’s been hard work to say the least. Working full time jobs and then spending the evenings writing and the weekends travelling and visiting places, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. It gave me a real kick up the arse to get out there and visit some of the places that I had been meaning to go to for a long time but had never gotten round to.
Some of my personal highlights include Guguan which I knew nothing about but absolutely loved, especially the hiking, getting the car stuck in snow at the top of Hehuanshan, and motorcycling up and down the east coast between Hualien and Taidong with Neil this summer.
Each guide is divided up into 5 main areas, Taipei, north, east, south and central and then each area is divided up into specific places, such as Kending, the North East Coast or Danshui/Bali. You can use the site to search for what’s near you or to plan a trip to another part of Taiwan or simply browse through the categories for things that interest you.
We have some 900 places listed including hotels, hikes, hot springs, transport etc. Each place is listed on a google map and the address is in Chinese and English to make it easier to find.
Hopefully next week the mobile app version will be released in the itunes store and each area will be available for download to your iphone, ipad, or ipod. The app version will have online and offline maps so getting directions will be even easier and there are some 2000 photographs included. We will continuously update the app and so, unlike a guide book, you won’t have to wait 3 years to pay for a new version., the update be available for free!
We hope that people find these guides useful and we’d love to hear some feedback about how we can improve them – info at taiwan-adventures dot com
Posted in Cycling, tagged Cycle, Cycling, 貓空, Maokong, Taipei, Taiwan on April 30, 2011| 6 Comments »
The tea growing area of Maokong makes for a great place to cycle. Plenty of hills and different routes, loads of cafes and tea houses with awesome views and there’s really not that much traffic, at least not during the week!
A beautfiul sunset over the Maokong Cable Car
Posted in Hiking, tagged Beichatianshan, Best, day hikes, day trips, hike, Hiking, Huangdidian, Mountain, Qixingshan, Taipei, Taiwan, Top, Walk, walking, walks, Wuliaojian, Yangmingshan on October 20, 2010| 25 Comments »
I often get people asking for good day trip hikes to do in and around Taipei so I thought I’d write about my own top 5. They’re in no particular order and each one is very different and in terms of terrain and difficulty. All can be done in a day by public transport with the exception of Beichatianshan.
One of the many views of Taipei 101 from the Four Beasts
Posted in Cycling, tagged Bike, Cycle, Cycling, Shrines, Taipei, Taiwan, The Graveyard on August 26, 2010| 7 Comments »
Seeing as this week saw the passing of Ghost Day, it seemed appropriate to give the route known as “The Graveyard” a write up. This road can be taken as a short cut from Nangang over towards Heping East Rd. and for me as I can do it in a loop in just under an hour, it’s perfect short run in the evenings.
My bike on The Graveyard Road with Taipei 101 just over the hill
Posted in Hiking, tagged Cuicui gu, Cuicui valley, 磺嘴山, Ecological protected area, Hiking, Huangzui, Huangzui mountain, Huangzuishan, Mountain, Taipei, Taiwan, Yangmingshan on May 13, 2010| 10 Comments »
Within the Yangmingshan National Park, there are 3 ecological protection areas, Lujiaokeng 鹿角坑, Dream Lake 夢幻湖 and Huangzuishan 磺嘴山 and each one has its own unique features. Lujiaokeng is an ancient trail at the end of which there is a huge waterfall. Dream lake is a shallow lake the foot of seven star mountain, the highest in the park and Huangzuishan is a former volcano whose ancient, volcanic crater can still be seen today.
The peak of Huangzuishan
Posted in Hiking, Hotspring, tagged Hiking, hot spring, Hotspring, mountains, River, swim, Taipei, Taiwan, taoyuan, trail, valley, xinxing, xinxing hotspring on January 19, 2010| 16 Comments »
The Xinxing Wild Hotsprings 新興溫泉 are another wonderfully remote hotspring set in the bottom of a steep valley in Taoyuan county. It takes a while to get there, about 3 hours by motorbike from Taipei but if you like riding, you’ll love the drive out on the number 7.
The Xinxing Hotsprings
Posted in Hiking, tagged Cityscape, 登山, 陽明山, Hiking, Hsaioyukeng, Night, Qixingshan, Siaoyukeng, Taipei, Taiwan, Xiaoyoukeng, Yangmingshan, 台灣, 小油坑, 七星山 on November 4, 2009| 10 Comments »
The moon was exceptionally bright and we didn't even need torches to walk up the trail
Qixingshan, otherwise known as Seven Star mountain, is the highest peak in the Yangmingshan national park. This area is very different to most mountains around Taipei because there are very few trees and the trail is almost entirely exposed to the elements. This means it can be a painful hike to do in the heat of the summer but it also means that you get fantastic 360° views from the peak. (more…)
Posted in Rivertracing, tagged Hiking, Mountain, River, Rivertracing, Taipei, Taiwan, Wanli, Yangmingshan on October 30, 2009| 10 Comments »
This was the second time we’ve been to this spot. The first time we actually found it by accident. Our intention was to go to a completely different place but we couldn’t find it and so we just settled on anywhere, anywhere being next to the Dixi bridge. This time was pretty much the same! Not finding the river we where looking for, we decided to revisit this one. (more…)
Hiking Taiwan
Hiking Taiwan 