The Maokong Gondola, and rain, and a blog post from Mom

(This post was written by Mom, and typed  by Marcus, with a few editorial comments thrown in.)

Starting off our gondola ride

Looking out over Taipei

Taipei 101 towers over everything.

Our outing today was to the Maokong Gondola, one of the few "tourist" places that Marcus had not already been. We boarded the MRT at our usual subway station (I am getting a little better about which train to board to get where I want to be!), and road to the end of the brown line, which is the station for the Taipei Zoo, as well as for the gondola. We opted for the highest station on the gondola ride (which takes you up about 300 meters over the course of the trip), and really enjoyed the beauty all around us as we climbed higher and higher into the sky. [MWD: I kept saying "This is soo cool!]  Each of the cars would probably hold six people and feel quite stable and secure.

The picture doesn't do this justice.

Sanxuan Temple, where we waited for a break in the rain

When we reached the top, we started of on a little exploration -- and then those fluffy, fast-moving clouds that we had enjoyed going up the mountain turned into angry black thunderclouds full of heavy rain and lightning. At that point, most of the exploring was over, the gondola was closed [MWD: Cool as it was, I would not want to be up there in high wind and heavy rain.], and after waiting out the rain for quite a while in a small local temple, we joined the very long line sitting and waiting for a bus to take us back to the zoo subway station at the bottom of the mountain. I don't know whether it was the gray hair ("honor your elders") or the round eyes, but somehow we were jumped to the front of the line and gratefully hopped on the bus. [MWD: Mom made friends with a little girl sitting on her mother's lap on the bus on the way down the mountain -- the mother said "She would like to ask you where you are from", and then encouraged the little girl to ask. She was probably 4 years old, I would guess, and they seemed to have quite a nice little chat on the way down the windy mountain road.]  I really don't think God left us on that big airplane for 18 hours getting us to Taiwan just to spill us out on a gondola on the mountain, but returning to terra firma felt pretty good. Another good day.

The mist rolled in, and everything was hidden.

MWD: We had thought about going to a baseball game tonight, but the rain is continuing, and so that may not be our best choice. The same for our thoughts of going to Danshui to sit and look at the water. We still have another night or two, and if the rain does let up, maybe we'll hit the local night market tonight.

Last thing -- while Mom may not yet recognize any Chinese characters, this symbol is one she has come to recognize quickly.