This is the fifth of eleven posts on Taiwan. Check out our other posts here:

• Time for Taiwan: An Introduction
• 5 Nights at the Haunted Grand Hyatt Taipei
• Sweating to Taipei’s National Sites
• Taking it to the Streets: Taipei’s Night Markets
• Hiking Elephant Mountain
• Taipei’s Cheap Eats: Savory Edition
• Taipei’s Cheap Eats: Sweets Edition
• Heading to Green Island
• Green Island’s Sites
• Hiking Taroko Gorge, Part 1
• Hiking Taroko Gorge, Part 2

Since our Selfish Year abroad, Mrs. Selfish and I have become bigger and bigger hikers. Not the kind that will strap on a backpack and spend a week in the great outdoors, however.

Typically we quantify a walk by the time spent walking vs. the payoff. Oftentimes this means we’ll end up walking for hours at a time, with nothing to see. Other times, we’ll find that a mere 15 minutes off the beaten path thins out the crowds and gets you some amazing views.

This is the case with Elephant Mountain, where a 15 minute up-hill hike yields the quintessential view of Taipei.

Aw yeah.

Continue reading →