You can read my post on Day 1 in Taipei here.
Our second day in Taipei was spent at Beitou & Danshui. Even for countries that I’ve visited a few times, I love to incorporate new elements into our itinerary, so this time round, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf for the first time, and were all mesmerized by the gorgeous sunset from Rainbow Bridge. :)
Breakfast was settled quickly at Formosa Chang nearby our minsu. The food’s frankly not up to our expectations, but I tried their Lou Rou Fan (Braised pork rice) for supper that evening and it was super delicious.
I personally liked this omelette-wrapped glutinous rice. It was tasty and very hearty, though may be too heavy as a breakfast item.
There’s floss in the glutinous rice too! Yums.
Our first stop of the day was Beitou for our hot spring experience. Getting to Beitou is easy – Just take train to Xinbeitou station (Beitou –> Xinbeitou). If you are lucky enough, you’ll board a hot spring-themed train from Beitou to Xinbeitou. We managed to get on one of those on our last trip to Taipei in 2011, but not this time round. Once you arrive at Xinbeitou station, you can walk down the road and check out what option you have. There are many hot spring hotels and resorts there and every one offers overnight stays or just a few hours usage of the hot spring – some with private rooms, and some communal. There is even an open-air hot spring pool if you want to go for those. For us as a family, we opted for a private room with a king sized bed so that the kids can rest after the hot spring. It was perfect, and cost us only 3,000NT for 3 hours! The husband and I also bought lunch back to the room and we had a really relaxing and nice time in the room together. If you’ve not tried it before, I strongly recommend a hot spring experience for your family.
After walking around for 5 minutes, we decided to settle down at Golden Spring Hotel Beitou (No 240, Guangming Rd). We had a private room with a king sized bed, TV, sofa and a separate stone tub for hot spring. Toiletries and towels were all provided, along with some titbits and hot drinks. Just look at our room!
Super huge tub, right?? All 6 of us could squeeze in together!
There were controls for natural hot spring water as well as warm and cold water to blend in so that the guests can choose their preferred temperature of the water.
The kids had fun dipping in the tub but just a word of caution though – First timers should take it easy and dip only maximum 10 minutes at a stretch. Come out of the tub and rest or take a cold shower to cool the body down. Otherwise, it’s easy to feel giddy and unwell. For kids, it’s the same. My kids went back and forth several times before washing up and rested on the bed.
After a rejuvenated hot spring experience, we set off for Danshui. Due to the proximity of both places, most tourists visit both places on the same day. The train ride to Danshui station took about 15-20 minutes. Upon reaching Danshui station, we hopped on to a bus that brought us to Fisherman’s Wharf. I was really looking forward to it because I’ve heard so many people tell me about the beautiful scenery there!
We spent a couple of hours just relaxing and enjoying the quietness of the place, which is a contrast from main Taipei City. As the time drew closer to 5pm, more and more people appeared to catch the sunset.
A family shot on the Rainbow Bridge is a must!
And see how the color of the sky changed bit by bit! It was breathtaking.
What a great time we had at Fisherman’s Wharf. =)
Apart from taking a bus, you can also opt to take a boat ride back to Danshui (costs slightly more than a bus ride), and as our boat set off from the jetty, we caught sight of the rainbow bridge with lights all switched on as night fell. It was lovely.
Back at Danshui, we wandered and walked the Old Streets night market and had our dinner. Everywhere in Danshui, you would see shops selling the brown beancurd in some sauce. I am not too sure what dish it is, but I didn’t like it very much. Just a specialty local dish that we had to just try.
The fried bee hoon with braised minced pork was nice though. :)
Supper was briased pork rice bento from Formosa Chang. Super duper yummy!
Day 3 beckons! Thank you for following us on this journey. =)
