Day 74: Northern Taiwan

Today Charlotte's friends agreed to take us on a tour of the northern Taiwan coastline.  We got picked up by Charlotte's friend Stone and we then picked up her other friends Captain and Tony.  We swung by a supermarket to pick up some orange juice and cough drops as I had started to have a slight cold.  Then we went to 7-11 to grab breakfast.

7-11
This deserves its own section because people might wonder, "you went to 7-11 for breakfast?", but 7-11 in Taiwan is nothing like 7-11 in the US, while they do sell many of the same items, their food items are actually very good and they have plenty to choose from.  In addition, at 7-11's here you can also pay all your utility bills and parking tickets.  You can also order things online and have them delivered to 7-11 then when your item arrives you pay with cash or cards at 7-11 for your item.  A lot of 7-11s have xerox machine, fax machine and even an area with wifi.  Also there are a lot more 7-11's here, I think in Taipei the furthest you can go without finding a 7-11 is about a block and a half.

Northern Coast
Our first stop was at a the remains of a fort built around 1900 to fight off the Japanese.  There was also a walkway that had great views of the northern coast and the ocean.  After that we went to a section that was filled with rock formations.  The area has long been a tourist destination for Taiwanese people, but recently has become a favorite place for Chinese tour groups.  The most famous rock is one that looks like a queen.  Since more tour groups have come, the rocks started getting ruined because people were constantly touching them.  To stop this erosion from occurring, they now have setup a fake rock that the tour groups can take pictures in front of.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Stone, Charlotte, Captain and Tony at the fort

From 77 Days in China part 2

View off the northern coast

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From 77 Days in China part 2

Rock formations

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From 77 Days in China part 2

The Queens head rock formation

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Charlotte in the water

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Lunch
We next stopped for lunch in a small town.  The restaurant was strange in that you order and pick up your food in the front of a temple, but you don't pay.  Then you carry your own food to any of 4 buildings that have 3-4 floors of seats, once you find a seat which in our case took going to 3 different buildings, you sit and eat.  Once you are done then a waitress comes over and you pay.  It amazes us that no one just eats it on the street or takes the plate of food home with them, but I guess since you are buying it inside a temple, most people would be to scared to do that.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Someone bringing their lunch through the street

Northern beach and lighthouse
We next went a beach that had interesting rock formations that are volcanic rocks that grow algae on them each year and become bright green, when we were there however there was no algae on them so they were just black.  After that we went to a lighthouse on the most northern tip of the Taiwan.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Beach of volcanic rock formations

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

A log fence setup on one part of the beach

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

On the way to the lighthouse

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There were a lot of huge grasshoppers, probably 4 inches long on our way to the lighthouse

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

Tea house and mountain overlook
We then left the coast and headed into the mountains, first we stopped to relax and get some tea and coffee at a local tea house and once the sun had set we headed to the highest mountain road in Taiwan that overlooks Taipei, unfortunately it was a very cloudy night so we couldn't get great pictures of the entire city.  After the scenic overlooks we went into the city and had some dinner before heading home.

From 77 Days in China part 2

At the tea house

From 77 Days in China part 2

Charlotte's coffee and cookie

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View of the sunset from the tea house

From 77 Days in China part 2

Taipei under clouds