Our trip to Taiwan felt like traveling as a tourist as our itinerary was already prepared by the husband's company. I personally didn't do any research, I felt that I should just wait for whatever it will offer us.
However, I didn't realize that we can actually go on our own if we prefer it. So, when going to Maokong, we explored the place by ourselves. Today's blog is about how our Maokong Gondola Cable Car experience.
Let's start with our train trip.
Maokong as per my research offers the most scenic spot in Taipei. This area locally grows its own tea. This quaint village is located at the top of a mountain and can only be accessed by taking the Maokong Gondola cable car from MRT Taipei Zoo Station.
From our hotel, we walked to the Ximen Station where the Red House Theater is also located. My husband here posing with the building behind. This is often called Hong Lo Red Play House, Red Theater, Ximen Honglou, a historic theater.
My husband and one of his colleagues being tourists themselves.
We have to use our very kawaii iPass cards which we bought from seven-eleven the night before. I selected this Hello Kitty and Chii Maruko Chan with some guitars design while my husband opted for the black and white Hello Kitty. He said it was more manly!
While waiting for the rest who were late in coming to the station. Mind you, it was really hard to travel with a huge group. We were like more or less 40 in the group and there are some of them who would take their time without considering the others. Oh well, it was a lesson to be learned by the organizer.
The company bosses came with us too from the photo here, they are those who were on leather jackets! I so love their big bosses because they act like they are just part of the employees, there's no superiority complex or whatsoever and they'd love to talk with the family members too!
From Ximen Station, we arrived at the Taipei Zoo Station and went straight towards the cable car station. Saw these yellow bikes for rent outside the station.
The ticket price was NT$120 each way for adults, NT$50 for children 6-12 and seniors over 65. Our tickets were again provided by the company and were given to us when we were at the station.
Here, we were already on our way to the cable car station on the third floor I guess, if my memory serves me right!
There was a long line of course because it was a weekend when we came there. Both locals and tourists were flocking here. We also opted for the glass floor so we could see the view below which added more waiting time.
While waiting, I was really amazed at how clean their streets are even if this place is a little far from the main city. It seems like someone is really cleaning up the grasses, the streets, and even the main highway.
Then after a few minutes, this came:
We don't have this in the Philippines so I was really adoring it while it went here and there until I can't see it anymore. This answered my questions on why the streets are just clean, even fallen leaves can't be seen!
Anyway, I just hope our government could afford this too!
Finally, it was our turn, the cable car can accommodate six adults so we were with some of our companions, and boy, I didn't realize this trip was actually long! There were three stops and since we were aiming to go to the top, we had to stay inside at every stop. This was our very first cable car ride though so it was still a little scary when the car would somehow swing when there's a strong wind.
The cable car is approximately four kilometers away from the main station and is hanging at 1000 feet or 300 meters.
Actually, the glass floor was not too pleasing, it added to the scariness and if one is afraid of height, you'll surely feel sick!
But as mentioned, the Maokong Gondola Cable Car provides a good scenic view of Taipei, and true enough, we were treated with really nice views.
Here's one view of the highway which was really cool! If there's a really good viewing deck, it would be a great area for some long exposures for all those cars passing by.
One thing that I didn't like was that the glass windows were not clean or there were already several scratches which made taking photos of the scene a not very nice thing. It also didn't help that the weather was not good, it was cloudy and hazy.
We passed by some temples too. I saw some tourists down there so I guess it was okay to go down here but it would cost another set of Taiwanese dollars!
And of course, some residential buildings too! This one here had red and maroon roof colors! We also passed by some cherry blossom trees and it made me really excited if we could find some at the top.
That would be for another story but I just have to say that when we arrived, I was excited to see how the traditional Taiwanese houses look like because, in Taipei, we only get to see the tall buildings and apartments.
Here's a preview of that although these are just stores and tea houses. But as you can see, it shows a preview of what to see further. I'll share more about Maokong Gondola in the next blog! Stay tuned!