The hills are alive..

Yesterday, Ashley, Eve, Gwyn, Thomas and I went on our first hike around the Yangmingshan National Park. The National Park is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulphur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes and hiking trails.

Thommy, who had been hiking in Taiwan before, did an excellent job of picking a trail and planning our route. Eve, Ash and I set out from the girls dorms at 10am on a beautiful cloudless day. We took a bus to the station and a train to Beitou where we met up with Gwyn and Thomas.

We went in search of some supplies while we waited for our next bus

You can always find some interesting looking meal ideas at the convenience stores.

The bus from Beitou started to take us up the mountain to the Yangmingshan Visitors centre.

When we arrived and Yangmingshan we walked into the Starbucks across the road to get directions to the Visitors Centre and to use the restrooms and spotted this poor woman...

SHOULD HAVE MADE IT A DOUBLE SHOT!  

For Ciara. This little guy was just chillin' outside a cafe in the town.

From the visitors centre we then took another bus higher up the mountain. It was really difficult to hold on to anything and we were thrown around a lot as we stood in the aisle. Thomas and Gwyn eventually took to sitting up the back of the bus.

We FINALLY reached the start of the trail just after noon and realised that the journey was well worth it.

 THE START

1.6 Kms doesn's sound like much. But it is when it's all seriously UPHILL! 

The stairs, that we have come to know and love

These weren't even the steepest set of stairs. At one point you could almost climb the stairs like a ladder! 

 Having a stretch while reading the educational material provided at the lookouts. 

For some reason I really enjoy this photo. 

Sulphur in the air. 

All along the trail up the mountain were fumaroles. These are vents from which volcanic gas escapes into the atmosphere. In Taiwan, the rock has a lot of sulphur in it and as a result, these fumaroles smell like egg. I can tell you now, this was the least pleasant bit of the hike. Worse than the stairs was the overwhelming smell of egg as you passed by one of these babies! 

We worked out quickly that it is easier just to go charging up the stairs rather than take them one at a time. But you can only 'charge' for so long!

"Think of how great your butt will look!" - our motivation.

 SNACK TIME!

 Ashley brought some Goldfish.

This cute little guy was at hanging out at the top of the mountain. He looked friendly. He wasn't. 

Our descent down the mountain was a lot slower than our journey up. Because of the steepness of the slope we had to tread very carefully. All of us had at least one heart stopping trip or slip, but thankfully no big falls! Ashley, who injured her tail bone before coming to Taiwan was particularly careful on the journey down. 

As we started our descent we started to notice that people had brought their own boom boxes. Celine Dion was heard very loudly at one point! And the culprit, was this guy!
Why would you bring such loud and terrible music on a hike for all to hear!?
We retaliated with Azealia Banks.

Just to give you an idea of the incline we were dealing with. 

The view for most of the way down was actually your feet. Easy does it! 

 FINISH. 

#toomanypanoramics 

I took about 10 panoramics, but here are some of my favourites. The rest will go up on facebook at a later date. The first was taken from a little look out point on our way up. The second two were taken from the highest peak in Taiwan, Mount Qixing. 

 The View from the top.