Maokong Via Cable Car

I went to the mountain top village of Maokong today via their cable car system; the Maokong Gondola. Now, being afraid of heights, why did I go? I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. I figured that after surviving the cable car ride in Hong Kong, this one just couldn't be as bad simply because the Hong Kong one was just sooooo high up in the mountains. This one seemed not quite as high up from what I saw of the pix. I was wrong. At some points of the ride, especially when the view of Taipei appeared, it seemed just as high up in the air; like flying without a plane. The heights were comparable to the heights in Hong Kong. I survived it, though. But, I think this will be my last cable car ride. I don't think my nerves can handle the heights anymore. Cable cars are just too open.

It was also raining a miserable heavy drizzle type rain when I got up there, too. The city itself was only cloudy when I left, and when I came back. But, up in the mountain village of Maokong, that miserable heavy drizzle persisted. According to the tourist map, there's lots to see up there. I didn't see any of it because of the rain and the cold. It must have been quite a few degrees colder up there than in the city center. I left shortly after arriving, especially when I could not find a "Tea House" to warm up in. What I found were all outside! That was ok, though, as I came mainly for the ride in the cable car and the view; which was spectacular in the rain, mist and cloud. I loved the atmosphere. But, not the wind and the sway of the cable car on the way down.

Oh, yeah. Don't believe the website that the Maokong Gondola has either. It stated that the gondola was not operating. Otherwise, I would have gone much earlier in the week when the weather was better, although I wouldn't good as it's not really been good all week. It was only after someone had told me that the gondola was operating that I took the chance to head on out there to see if, in fact, it was. It was.

Afterwards, when I got back into central Taipei, I just wandered around inside the underground mall at Taipei Main Station for a few hours. At least it was warmer and drier there.

Tomorrow, I head out via high speed (?) train to a town named Hualien. It's around a two and a half hour ride. I'm to meet up with some family of my step-mom's there. So, there won't be a Saturday blog post as I'm not bringing the computer with me for the overnight. I like to travel light. The iPod Touch cannot handle the website scripts to do any posting. I'll update my blog when I get back to Taipei on Sunday instead. Catch up with me at that time!