Almost Elephant Mountain

Named after four animals- Tiger, Lion, Panther, and Elephant- The Four Beast Mountains are the closest mountains to Taipei and offer some of the best views of the city.

Elephant Mountain is probably the most popular, as it's the easiest to get to and has great views of the 101. I thought I was going up Elephant Mountain.

I did not go up Elephant Mountain.

If you know anything about me, you know things don't always go according to plan. Instead of taking the time to plan out where I was going and all that fun stuff I figured I'd just roll with it. There had to be signs, right?

Of course there were signs! Not English signs, but there were signs. I forgot the minor detail that I can't read Mandarin.

But, it all worked out because I found a quiet and peaceful trail with beautiful views of its own.

About half way up the mountain was a small temple. Music filled the air, a relaxing soundtrack that could be heard the whole way up the mountain.

It started to rain as I reached the top, but it was actually a refreshing break from the humidity.

I guess I still haven't made it up the main Elephant Mountain Trail, but I'll get there someday!

Sorry about the lack of updates!

You can check out more pictures here.

<3

National Taiwan Museum and 2-28 Peace Park

April was pretty much just rain, at least on the weekends.

 Yes, I realize it's almost June. And yes, I realize I said I'd update this more and I'm still a few months back. I'm working on it!

So anyway, the rain. I decided to embrace it and go for a rainy wander. I mean, I lived in London long enough to know how to handle a little rain. Plus this was the good kind of rain, the warm, cooling rain. 

I ended up in the 2-28 Memorial Park. It's a beautiful park dedicated to the memory of the 2-28 Massacare.

Luckily the rain stopped for a bit so I could enjoy the peaceful walk. 

And of course, some people taking pictures of squirrels. Seriously, what's the deal with the people in Taiwan and their fascination with squirrels? I'm not sure why, but there always seems to be a crowd of people around trees watching squirrels. 

It started raining again and I found myself in front of the National Taiwan Museum. 

The museum mostly focused on the aboriginal cultures of Taiwan. 

There were some cool things, like these old tools used for tattoos. Ouch!

Then upstairs there was a whole exhibition about the earth and Global Warming. It was cool to see them educating about global warming instead of pretending it doesn't exist, ahem. 

They're starting to come up with ways to keep cities green, like this building (not my picture, obviously) with trees and gardens on each foor.

That's about it, there's a shot of the beautiful inside of the museum. 

You can check out more pictures here.

<3