So I went for a hike on a trail called 皇帝殿 (Huangdidian) near the small town of Shiding, about half an hour or so outside of Taipei. Before hiking the trail, I got lunch at a restaurant called 王氐豆腐 (wangdi dofu). Sadly, they were also out of dou jiang (soymilk), for which they are famous for, but I managed to get fried tofu, some greens and the best luroufan (rice topped with bits of pork meat, fat, and juices) I've ever had. So delicious.
Afterwords, I headed for the trail. For about an hour though, all I did was labor up one set of stairs after another. It was boring, hot, and exhausting. Finally, though, I got to the interesting part, with ropes and ladders. It was actually more challenging than I had anticipated and I had a few fun moments envisioning myself tumbling down as I struggle to get a grip on some of the climbs. I definitely won't be going on this hike alone again, but I do want to go back with a friend and explore some of the parts I didn't get to.
I eventually made it up to the ridge, from which there were some amazing views. The trail became very narrow here and the slopes were very steep, so there was a rope with several slings that you could hold on to. I tried it for a while but it messed with my sense of balance so I felt more comfortable just walking along without it.
In the photo above, you can just barely make out Taipei 101 rising up
from behind the mountains. Around this time, a lot of clouds had started
moving in and the sun was beginning to sink further down than I was
comfortable with. I was starting to get nervous that I'd end having to make my descent in the rain at night so as soon as I found a trail leading back to the main road, I took it. A set of cement steps eventually appeared and led me down to a few eerily empty temples. The incense had been lit and there was a little bit of music playing from radio, but no one was there, or even further down the path. It was very Miyazaki-esque. About twenty minutes down from the small temples, I came across a woman carrying two slabs of stones up the steps. I'm not sure what they were exactly but they looked a lot like Western gravestone markers (although I don't think that's what they actually were). I just can't believe she was carrying them all the way up the stairs. She had stopped to rest so I stopped to talk for a second and offer up a "jia you!". I even wondered if I should help her but she waved me on my way and I kept going.
After wandering through a small little rural community, I made it back to the main road and followed that back to Shiding, took the bus back to Taipei, took a nice hot shower, and feel asleep for nearly twelve hours.
