From Kaohsiung back to Taipei- the 2nd Half of Family's Trip

Monkey Mountain in Kaohsiung 

No visit to Kaohsiung is complete without a trip to Monkey Mountain.  The Monkey gods were with us and we saw monkeys after hiking for only a short while.  My family captured some great pictures of monkeys.  Here are two of my favorites:

It was a beautiful day-  hard to believe that it was Christmas Day and we were all in t-shirts.  Myron and I were delighted to be able to share monkey mountain with my family.

Aquarium in Kenting

After spending a few days in Kaohsiung, we headed down to Kenting.  This time we went to the aquarium, which I thought was quite impressive.  My favorite exhibits were the beluga whales, the penguins, and the very incredible whale shark.  Picture credits here go to my mom and my sister. 

Sansiantai or the Platform of the Three Immortals 

After spending some time in Kenting on the beach and hiking, we started our drive up the East Coast.  The East Coast of Taiwan is stunning and I would compare the scenery to driving up the California Coast on Highway One.  We made a stop at Sansiantai, which is a series of arched bridges leading to a small island.  I really enjoyed this stop as well as the pictures that help to capture the beauty of the coastline.

Here is one of my first pictures with my sister and my niece-  I can't wait to meet my niece in June.  Amy's baby bump is so cute. 

Taroko Gorge

This was probably my favorite part of the island and certainly a place that I would like to go back to.  Unfortunately, when we were there, many of the trails were closed.  I guess this is common when traveling around Taiwan-  frequent earthquakes and typhoons cause damage that obviously take awhile to repair-  so you have to be patient and have a plan B.  We were able to enjoy both of the trails that were open, as well as walk along the road that was painstakingly cut into the Gorge. The trails were certainly the highlight. 

 

New Year's Eve in Taipei

Our trip came to a close as we completed the circle around the island by returning to Taipei.  It was a great trip-  we saw a lot of the island and were able to do a lot-  these blogs only capture my top 10 highlights of the trip and a minimal amount of the pictures, but we were fortunate enough to do much more.  

My last highlight would be the Taipei 101 on New Year's Eve.  Mom and Dad sadly had to leave to go home before the New Year.  So during the day of NYE, Amy, Kevin, Myron and I went up the building and in the picture above you can see the fireworks rigged outside the building, as well as the view from the top of the building.  Yes, the Taiwanese take one of their most famous buildings and set hundreds of fireworks off of this building.  The Taiwanese have a very different approach to fireworks than we do-  they not only let people go up the building the day of the firework lighting ceremony, they also have people partying on the top floor of the building as the fireworks go off, with the biggest gathering of people celebrating located right below the building as the fireworks go off.  We watched the fireworks from a distance-  us and about 1000 or more of our closest friends.  Since Taiwan was celebrating its 100th year of the ROC, it was a big firework show.  I imagine the experience was similar to being in Time Square on New Year's Eve-  you literally could not move- we were packed in like sardines.  But it was the most amazing display of fireworks that I have ever seen.  While I will never do it again, I am happy to say that I have done it once.  Here is a video of the fireworks-  you should really watch until about 5 min 30 seconds, as the really cool stuff doesn't happen until about a minute and 30 seconds into it-  This isn't my video, but one I pulled off You Tube.  Enjoy!