Taiwan: Hike Up The Elephant Mountain

The first stop in our 4 days, 4 nights Taiwan itinerary is exploring Taipei.  To be honest, Taipei as a city has few tourist spots.  The main tourist attraction you can see in Taipei is Chiang Kai Shek Memorial and Taipei 101.  You can make the most of your Taiwan visit by traveling to Northern Taiwan and Taichung.  To be fair, Taiwan is famous to tourist because of their delicious foods.

Going back to Taipei 101, this building is the world’s tallest building from 2004 to 2010, until Burj Khalifa in Dubai was built.  Since Taipei 101 is really tall, you will not be able to see the whole of it if you stand in the entrance area and look up.  The selfies don’t look nice with only half of Taipei 101 seen.

So how can we see the beauty of Taipei 101?  Hike up the Elephant Mountain.  Elephant Mountain, also known as Xiangshan, is a mountain located in Xinyi District in Taipei.  You will be able to see the view of Taipei 101 in Elephant Mountain’s hike trail.

How to go to Elephant Mountain from Taipei Main Station?  Ride the MRT Red Line from Taipei Main Station [R10] to Xiangshan Station [R02].  Alight at Xiangshan Station, walk through the Xiangshan Park for 20 minutes and you will arrive at the hiking trail of Elephant Mountain.

The Elephant Mountain is a famous place to view the whole of Taipei city especially Taipei 101.  There are a lot of tourist, both local and foreign, who hike the trail of the Elephant Mountain.  There is no entrance fee, you just need a lot of energy.

The hiking trail of Elephant Mountain is not the normal hiking trail for mountaineers.  Because tourist go to this place, the hiking trail is already cemented to form a ladder with handrails.  There are also several viewing decks in the hiking trail.

We were very tired hiking up to Elephant Mountain since we were on an early flight and after roaming around Taipei City, but the view that greeted us on the viewing deck of Elephant Mountain really is amazing.

It is best to go and hike Elephant Mountain late in the afternoon so you can see the beautiful sunset.  You can also see the city change from natural lighting to the glitz of artificial lights.