Taipei : Maokong Gondola

The Maokong Gondola has three (3) stops. Taipei Zoo Station, Zhinan Temple Station, and Maokong Station.

First stop, Taipei Zoo Station. We stayed and went around the zoo for about 2 hours. We didn't spend a lot of time here because our main reason for going is to experience riding the "Gondola" 😉. I'll post the picture from the zoo in a separate blog post. 

We also went down at Zhinan Temple Station because we saw the Giant Dragon Statue from the gondola. We thought since we're already there, why not take some pictures with the dragon? (Insert Dragon Ball Z OST here!😀). The station is still far from the actual temple. There are a lot of Taxis waiting near the station though. So if you're planning on going to the temple and haven't arranged a service in advance, you can take the taxi here. We didn't bother to check how much they are charging. We are in a hurry to get back to the Gondola to reach Maokong Station. 😁

Finally, after 2 stops, we reached Maokong Station! There is a tourist information centre inside the station. There is also a convenience store and several souvenir shops. However, the best part is across the street from the station. They have lots of different tea houses offering a variety of food and drinks. The whole road (maybe about 1-2 km) is filled with tea houses. If you are not keen on walking, there is a big food court (hawker-centre style) just a few minutes from the station. We tried their oyster pancake, milk tea, and lemon tea. The oyster pancake was so yummy! You can also try this pancake at Raohe Night Market. We saw several stores selling it there as well.

  

The view from the Gondola. So pretty! Nature + building/apartments.

There's Shenlong (I don't know its name)! LOL. There are also several statues around this "Chinese Garden/temple" structure that corresponds with the 12 Zodiac animal. Of course, we had to take pictures of our zodiac. 😀

See all these Tea Houses? So Difficult to choose! 😱

After our Gondola adventure, we still had a few hours to spend before we needed to go to Raohe Night Market to hunt for dinner. For this remaining time, we decided to visit the Dazhi Bridge. It's a little far from the Gondola and you will have to be prepared to go on a long walk. However, the view and feel of the park are perfect. We spent a few hours just sitting in the grass, drinking refreshments which we bought from the convenience store at maokong station and just observing the people walking around the park to do some exercise. This was actually not part of the itinerary. It was an impromptu decision because we had time to spare. 😅

And here is my selfie/OOTD inside the Gondola! 😊

BTW: we also saw these bikes for rent. Unfortunately, only brother-bear knows how to ride a bike. 😂

That's it for now. Until next time! Ciou! 😘