Taipei ahoy!

Nihau from Taipei!

What a nice city this is. A perfect base for limitless excursions. One can climb the worlds second tallest (damn you Dubai!) building, the over 500 meter high 101 tower.

Shop in a mall shaped like a golf ball

Or there are beautiful mountainside hikes and jungle at the end of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) - known in other countries as metro or underground - line. The urban jungle really does turn into real jungle very quickly, once you hit the mountains that cirle the city. This bridge in Xindian as one example - untouched jungle to the left, city to the right.

And at the end of a hike, one can join the locals at a free public hot spring, like this one in Wulai yesterday. For lack of proper bathing clothes, I entered the miss wet T-shirt competition. But I wasn't the only one...

All in all it's so comfy here, that I find myself a little loth to move on. But the deed must be done. Well, as soon as I can spare a few moments to actually think about where I'm going next.

For now I'm happy just relaxing in and around town, eating astonishing dumplings for next to nothing from street stalls

And despite the fetching and savory decor, NOT eating at the Modern Toilet Restaurant

Yes, there's no shortage of food or eateries. I wish I could bring e.g. these anatomically correct (not necessarily politically correct) delicacies home with me. But hey, they're probably filled with red bean paste anyway.