On our 6th day, or last day in Taiwan, we woke up late and had complimentary breakfast from Go Sleep Hotel Xining. Our plan for the day was exploring Beitou.
We didn’t really have chance to explore Ximending even though we stayed there. After breakfast, we checked out, stored our luggage with the hotel, and then took MRT from Ximen to Xinbeitou.
Beitou is famous for its hot spring. It’s easy to navigate at Beitou, thanks to the abundance of detailed signage and signboards.
The map of Xinbeitou area
Helpful signage easily found on the road
View outside Xinbeitou MRT
Our first stop was Beitou Hot Spring Museum. It was free of charge, but visitors need to change their shoes into the provided slippers.
Beitou Hot Spring Museum
Beitou Hot Spring Museum was main public bath in the past
From the museum, we walked to the nearby library (Taipei Public Library, Beitou branch). As a book lover, I love the ambiance of this library. I could spend whole day reading, writing, daydreaming, and contemplating there, sadly I did not have luxury of time.
Taipei Public Library (Beitou Branch)
Outdoor seats for Taipei Public Library (Beitou Branch)
Building in Beitou area with beautiful sky in the background
After library, we walked to Beitou Thermal Valley. I was fascinated by the valley. You can clearly see the smoke from the hot pond. It was really awesome. Pictures won’t do justice to that amazing place. Video is better than photo btw.
Entrance of Thermal Valley
The steam of Thermal Valley
The steam of Thermal Valley
Us at Thermal Valley
After that, we walked back to the Outdoor Hot Spring but found out that cleaning was in process, and the hot spring would re-open in a few hours.
So we walked to Indoor Hot Spring just nearby the museum. However the indoor hot spring requires visitor to take off all clothes before dipping into hot spring, and male & female rooms are separated for sure. We didn’t feel comfortable with the rules so we decided to wait for outdoor hot spring to re-open while having ice cream and 7-11 nearby.
After convincing ourselves that we had killed enough time, we went back to outdoor hot spring. Fortunately, the cleaning was complete and we got to enjoy the hot spring.
Indoor Public Hot Spring
Outdoor Public Hot Spring
Outdoor Public Hot Spring View
Unfortunately, my mosquito bites (from Jinguashi) came back to haunt me with more itchiness after the hot spring. Anyway, after that, we walked back to Xinbeitou station. Nearby the station, we checked out the mini markets to buy souvenirs for our loved ones at home.
We took MRT back to Ximen, walked to our hotel, collected our luggage, kept our souvenirs in the luggage, and walked back to MRT.
We took MRT to Xingtian Temple station in order to catch a bus to Taoyuan Airport. However the time was very limited and we were not sure whether we could reach airport on time.
So we decided to take cab from Xingtian Temple station. We haggle with the cab but we think we still paid a hefty sum, we had no choice.
Anyway, we arrived in airport early and had some time to squeeze for last minute souvenir shopping spree and a 5 minute dinner. Eventually, we bid farewell to the land of Taiwan. Till next time!
This is Part 7 of my “Taiwan Trip in 2015” series. Read other posts in this series in chronological order:
- Part 1: 6 Days Taiwan Trip Overview (10-15 September 2015) – Itinerary & Cost
- Part 2: Taipei and Jiufen – Badouzi, Buyanting, Gold Waterfall, Shuinandong / Yin Yang Sea, Gold Museum (Jinguashi), Jiufen Old Street
- Part 3: Jiufen to Keelung – Yehliu Geopark – Keelung Harbor – Miaokou Night Market
- Part 4: Keelung-Taipei-Taichung-Puli-Cingjing , Little Swiss Garden, Green Grassland (Cingjing Farm)
- Part 5: Cingjing-Puli-Sun Moon Lake, Cycling around Sun Moon Lake
- Part 6: Ita Thao Village, Sun Moon Lake-Taichung-Taipei, Ximending, Rao He Night Market
- Part 7: Exploring Beitou in Taipei
To see all articles I’ve written about Taiwan, visit my Taiwan page.
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