Taipei - Yangmingshan Flower Festival 2012

This trip was totally an impromptu trip. I was in Taipei for a business trip earlier this year but it was originally planned for a week. It ended up with a few extensions and it resulted in me having to spend one weekend in taipei with no pre-arranged plans. Well, I guess I could easily go shopping around in Taipei. However it was the spring season, with nice weather and being in a foreign place like Taipei where language is not such a big problem for me, I wanted to try something different - something that I will not be able to do back at home.

So there I was still deciding up till that very morning if I should visit Yangmingshan for the flower festival or to go to the hot springs at Beitou. I found that it happened to be the flower festival in Yangmingshan which is not so far from Taipei. In this period, the cherry blossoms are in bloom, so I decided that I should not miss this chance to view it.

There are many special bus services from various MRT stations like Jiantan, Taipei Main Station, Beitou going to Yangmingshan during this flower festival. There were some jams along the route to Yangmingshan, but I realize that you will still be trapped in those jams even if you take the cab or drive. Hence I would say the special bus transport are not such a bad choice after all.

Frankly, I was expecting much more after watching the numerous travel programmes about cherry blossoms in full bloom. Along the way, you could see the signs of spring with occasional cherry blossom trees popping out every now and then. However when I arrive at the Flower Clock area at the top of Yangmingshan, it was really crowded and it was not so easy to get nice pictures. Furthermore, being unprepared for any sightseeing, I was in my heels and it was really difficult walking in them in such "terrain". I spent my time there till around noon (i think i was there up in Yangmingshan only for slightly more than an hour), then decide to leave for Beitou, but if you decide to try this also the next time, do take note that the bus transport down could be a little chaotic. So do remember to leave some time for figuring out the right bus to the respective MRT and also the queue!