Taiwan Day 7 – Beitou, Tamsui, Ximending

 

18 December 2011.

Having a soak at a hot spring resort is one of the “must-do” when visiting Taipei during winter. I had booked 2 private hot spring rooms at Villa32, one of the highly recommended hot spring resort at Beitou. Advance booking was needed since the resort had only 5 private hot spring rooms. 2000 NT per room for two persons, for 90 minutes.

The nearest subway (MRT) station to Beitou is actually the XinBeitou station, not the Beitou Station. To get to Xinbeitou MRT station, we need to alight at the Beitou station and take a another train for the short journey from Beitou to XinBeitou.

Our hotel in Taipei, the Caser Park Hotel had one of the best location in Taipei as it is right above the MRT Central Station.  After a Mac breakfast at the mall below the hotel, we took the MRT train to Beitou 北投.

Beitou MRT station where we changed to a train for the XinBeitou station.

Train to Xinbeitou.

 

The decor of the Beitou MRT train station and the train were based on theme of hot spring bath. Upon exiting the XinBeitou train station, we followed the signs that pointed the way to Villa32 hot spring resort. The entrance to Villa32 was not prominent; just a number 32 on the gate. A guy outside checked to confirm we had a booking before allowing us in. Our appointment was for 11.00 AM. We were just in time.

After a briefing on the do and don’ts of using the hot tubs, it was 1.5 hours of soaking in the privacy of our rooms. The room included a private shower area and sofa for relaxation in between the soaking.  Bottles of Evian water and  L’Occitane bathing kits, Frette shower ropes, individual towels and slippers were part of the deal.

Hot tub in the private hot spring room at Villa32.

 

The hot tub inside the private hot spring room of villa32 was big enough for 2 persons to soak at the same time. Two faucets for hot water and one for cold water allows the temperature to be controlled. The tap water can be left running continuously and any excess will overflow to a drain over the top, like those of a swimming pool.

After the soaking, we rested at the lounge of Villa32 for hot drinks and use the free wi-fi.

Inside Villa32 Hot Spring at Xinbeitou.

After leaving Villa32, we went to look for the Thermal Valley (or Hell Valley), the natural hot spring where the hot water originates.

Sign at road leading to Thermal Valley.

But it was closed on a Monday! Even the Hot Spring Museum was closed. No wonder Beitou seems quiet today.

There was a trail on a wooden boardwalk that ran parallel to the stream that flows downhill, towards the direction of the MRT station.

Testing the water to check if it is hot.

The water of the stream was hot.

 

We walked past the public hot facility that charges 40NT per person for a soak in a public area and the Beitou Hot Spring Museum (that used to be a hot spring bath area build by the Japanese). 

Beitou public library, made of wood!

 

 

From XinBeitou, we went back to Beitou and took the MRT to Tamsui also known as Danshui. Danshui is a sea-side town in northern part of Taiwan. It is named after the Tamsui (淡水 )River; the name means "fresh water". This site is popular as a place for viewing the sun set and also a place to take a ferry to the Fisherman Wharf.

Map of Tamsui.

We took our lunch at a small crowded coffee shop selling fishball soup, fried rice noodles and Tamsui’s Ah Gei ( fried tofu stuffed with glass noodles).

Quite disappointing food. We also tried various snacks food on the esplanade, including the famous iron eggs from one of the stall near the pier. According to the stall holder, the eggs are stewed many times until they became rubbery in texture. Good for a try since this is a speciality here, but not exactly nice to eat.

Packets of “Iron Eggs” in various colour packaging on sale at Tamsui.

This shop selling Iron Eggs seems to be the favourite among the tourists.

 Scooters every where. Most cost effective mode of transport in Taiwan it seems.

Tamsui is a nice place to relax, feel the sea breeze, see the sunset, watch fishermen, couples, locals with their dogs wearing all sorts of doggy clothes and try the street food. The seafood snacks (fried spicy shrimps and baby crabs) were not bad.

Seafood snacks (fried spicy shrimps and baby crabs).

 

The tall ice cream looked fantastic but tasted terrible and ended up in the trash can.

Sea view at Tamsui.

Originally, the plan was to take a ferry to the Fisherman Wharf for dinner, see the sun set over there and visit the Lover’s Bridge. We had a change of plan; decided to skip this and go to Ximending for dinner and shopping instead. We walked back to the MRT station via the Tamsui Old Street (below).

Best way to get to Ximending (西門町) from Tamsui is by the MRT.  We made a brief stop at our hotel to deposit our shopping bags before heading out to Ximending. That was a benefit of staying at a hotel right on top of the Taipei Main Station.

Upon exiting the MRT station at Ximending, we saw the famous Ximen Red House. From there, we crossed the street into Ximending’s pedestrian-only shopping streets.

Red House at Ximending.

Ximending was quite a contrast to the Tamsui Old Street. This is a hip and modern shopping area in Taipei. Ximending is also famous for its street food. I had compiled a list of must-try famous food stalls in Ximending based on recommendations from the Internet. Of these, I would give the Ah Zhong Mee Suah (Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodle) a 5-star rating. The noodles were served out rapidly, fast food style on small bowls and you stood and ate by the stall. The noodles looked simple (rice noodles with pig intestines) but tasted great, especially with the hot chilli sauce and sesame oil added as extra condiments. The boys finished everything, including the pig intestines which they would normally not touch.

After satisfying our stomach, we went shopping and saw some nice knapsack bags for the kids.   There were many designs and varieties to choose from. So, we bought 4 new bags to bring home.