Sightseeing Taipei: Elephant Mountain, Bopiliao Old Street and Longshan Temple

I went on a girls' trip to Taipei earlier this year with my friend and her then 18-month-old. I brought along my youngest (then just shy of her first birthday) and a nanny to give us an extra hand. Bringing the nanny was the best decision. For the most part, we did everything as a group. But being able to leave the little ones sleeping while we go out at night to explore the night markets was awesome! And while we initially planned to hike up Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) as a group with the little ones strapped onto us in carriers, we rejoiced when the babies fell asleep in their strollers on the way to the hiking trail, and we could leave the sleeping bubs at the bottom of the mountain while my friend and I did the hike. And oh my, while we were climbing those countless steep stairs up Xiangshan, we were so glad the babies were not strapped on to us. We also joined a free night walking tour through Bopiliao Old Street to Longshan Temple - without kids! So yes, getting our nanny to Taipei with us was a good investment of my airline miles!

Just a small portion of the stairs we climbed to get up Xiangshan:

The view of Taipei from Elephant Mountain (click image for larger photo):

My friend and I, glad that we didn't hike up the mountain while carrying the babies!

On the night walking tour, we walked through Bopiliao, a historically important street in a district that was once a prosperous trade center. Just a tad spooky walking through here in the dark:

The exterior gate of Longshan Temple, built in the 18th century:

Beautiful and ornate detail on the gate eaves:

Lighting joss sticks for temple worship:

A huge joss stick holder:

One of the offering tables in the temple:

One of the altars to a deity popular with students who pray for good grades:

There were a few large lanterns, celebrating the Spring Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar year. People were bowing and walking under these lanterns:

Outside Longshan Temple:

Hiking in Sai Kung: Hoi Ha loop

When I was about 5 months pregnant with #3, hubby and his buddy planned to go on a hike somewhere in the countryside of Hong Kong. I love hiking, so when hubby's friend asked our 7-year-old son and myself to join, I jumped at the chance. Since I would be the limiting factor on the difficulty of the hiking trail, I took it upon myself to find an easy but still fairly rewarding route. I read about the Hoi Ha loop at Hike Hong Kong's blog, which gave detailed information about the trail complete with a map and several photos. The loop is within the Sai Kung West Country Park, and access is by minibus or taxi into the area. Our friend drove and parked outside the park, and the four of us took a taxi to Hoi Ha Village to tackle the trail. The 7-year-old did brilliantly as he's always had good stamina (he fared better than me as a 4-year-old when we tackled the tough 3km hiking trail between Monterosso and Vernazza of Italy's Cinque Terre). The Hoi Ha loop took about 2 hours to complete and was fairly flat with beautiful views.

Some houses in Hoi Ha Village at the start/end of the loop:

:

:

Click image for larger photo:

:

Hiking the Lamma Island Family Trail

Last Sunday was Mother's Day, and hubby and the kids treated me to an outing to Lamma Island. I love hiking, and I've been wanting to go to Lamma Island for the past four years, so indeed it was quite a treat! The weather forecast for rain threatened our plans, but I decided to take the risk. We were fortunate because it only drizzled during our time on the island, but the weather turned pretty bad in the evening after we had returned home. Lamma Island is the third biggest island in Hong Kong, and its main appeal is the abundance of natural scenery, and delicious fresh seafood. No automobiles are allowed on the island, and buildings have to be less than three storeys high. It is a nice change of pace and scene from the hectic city life, and in fact many expats live on Lamma Island. The ferry rides to and from Central are about 30 minutes duration, and the ferry schedules are fairly regular to and from Yung Shue Wan, the main population center on the island. We decided to ferry into Yung Shue Wan and hike the Family Trail to Sok Kwu Wan where we ate a very good and delicious seafood lunch before catching the return ferry back to Central. The Family Trail is paved, which made it possible to hike with baby girl in the stroller, but there are parts of the trail that are rough and cobbly, and many hills to climb and descend. The drizzle and humidity made it an uncomfortable hike, but overall it was quite a pleasant hike with beautiful views. We took about 1.5 hours to complete the 4km trail at an easy pace with a 6-year-old walking and a toddler in the stroller.

The view from the ferry pier at Yung Shue Wan:

At the end of the Yung Shue Wan Main Street, which has a lot of eateries and shops nearer the pier and more residential buildings as we got further from the commercial area:

Lots of green around:

A beach (Hung Shing Ye Beach) we came across on the Family Trail, which had a lifeguard station, barbecue and picnic facilities, as well as changing rooms, toilets and showers. Note the power station in the background:

We bought these baked goodies at a bakery we came across on Yung Shue Wan Main Street. Egg tart, coconut tart, glutinous rice cake and chiffon cake - carbs to fuel the 7km hike!

The Lamma Power Station is a prominent structure on this island, and is very hard to miss even if you tried:

A panoramic view at one of the high points on the trail (next to the Hilltop Pavilion). Click on image for a larger view:

Another panoramic view of Sok Kwu Wan village (click on image for a larger view):

Sok Kwu Wan's main street is lined with seafood restaurants and shops:

A shop selling dou fu hua and other sweets:

A red bean rice pudding-like sweet made with the special local pinky-red brown sugar:

Near the ferry pier is a little playground and a court:

I really enjoyed our day out in Lamma Island, and will post about our delicious seafood lunch up on the blog soon.

Cinque Terre (Italy) Part I: Hiking from Monterosso to Vernazza

Well, I'm busy packing for yet another trip, this time to Japan! We are really excited about our first trip back since moving from Japan 3.5 years ago, but I really ought to try and get the photos from our Europe trip out of the way. The main purpose of our trip to Italy last summer was the five villages that makes up the Cinque Terre (translates to "The Five Lands"). When we were first told in 2012 by a couple of very well-travelled relatives that we ought to make Cinque Terre on our travel list, we knew it must be an outstanding destination. Then when we found out I was expecting our second baby at the beginning of 2013, we decided that we'd better make another trip to Europe before #2 was born which would make travelling a bit more difficult. And we did a lot on that trip, visiting both France and Italy, a bit exhausting while 5-months pregnant, but I have no regrets.

The Cinque Terre is part of a national park (Italy's first national park), and the natural beauty and coastal hiking trails are a draw for many international tourists into the area. Landslides is a continuing problem in the area, and most of the hiking trails between the villages were shut for public safety during our time there. Except for one trail, between Monterosso and Vernazza, touted to be the most difficult of the four coastal trails between the villages, but also the most rewarding with the best views. It was just as well, because we had already set our minds on that trail. To be honest, I was a bit worried about doing the strenous hike, whether the boy and a 5-month-old pregnant girl could handle it. But I'm glad we did it, and all the more when we made it all the way to Vernazza! If I would change anything, it would be to start much earlier in the morning, before it got too hot (but alas, travelling with kids does slow us down quite a bit). It was safe to say that I was the only visibly pregnant woman crazy enough to take on the tough 3km trail that day, and our boy (then 4-years-old) was perhaps the youngest hiker that day. It took us 2.5 hours to complete the hike between Monterosso and Vernazza (most would finish the trail in about 1-1.5 hours), but the boy amazingly still had energy to spare for more walking, running and jumping around for the rest of the day.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the views we enjoyed on our hike.

The beach at Monterosso, just after stepping out of the train station. Looking towards the other four villages of the Cinque Terre:

Panoramic shot of the beach at Monterosso (click image for larger view):

A clock tower in the main part of Monterosso town (which was a little walk from the train station through a tunnel under a large hill):

At the start of our hike, looking back on the little town of Monterosso:

The panoramic view from somewhere on the hiking trail, looking back on Monterosso while it was still visible. Click image for larger view:

A smoother part of the hiking trail. Hubby and I took turns between carrying the backpack and holding the boy's hand, though hubby was concerned about the boy tripping pregnant mummy, so he took on the holding hand duty a lot more. The terrain was quite rugged, and it was a steep fall a long way down in some parts:

This was our view for the better part of the hike - nothing but us and nature (click image for larger view):

A little bridge to pass over a downhill stream:

And after 2 hours of walking, BOOM! we were rewarded with this beautiful sight of Vernazza:

The view of Vernazza as we neared it:

So, so close! (Click image for larger view):

The first thing the boy did when we reached Vernazza:

Moving away from the touristy marina full of restaurants, the streets of Vernazza were also bustling with tourists (and I suppose a majority of them were hikers):

One of the many focacceria, where we bought our lunch, and carbed up after that huge hike:

No trip to Italy is complete without gelato! Here's a nut-free flavour for the boy:

I believe this flavour was named "Cinque Terre", and it was chocolatey and nutty with hazelnuts:

And thus ended our Cinque Terre hike. We reached the other towns by train, and photos of them will follow soon.