This post focuses on our day at Damshui, and about our hostel (hostel details at end of the post). We had spent the morning at Beitou; you can read about it here. I'll be recapping on other places e.g. Wufenpu/Raohe night market, YeLiu/Chiufen, Nantou/SML and Taichung 宝岛时代村later this week. :)


How to go: Take the taipei metro to Tamsui station, it will take you straight to Tamsui 淡水.
Turn left as you exit the MRT and then right along the river. To get to the fisherman's wharf/Fort San Domingo, you can take  R26 from Danshui MRT Station. It's a long walk (more than 2km) so it's advisable to take the bus a rent a bicycle to cycle there. You may also take a ferry NT$50 from Tamsui Ferry Pier to the nearby island of Bali, 八里.

Tamsui is a smaller city located to the north of Taipei that is famous for it's old street and beautiful sunset upon fisherman's whaf. The small city was once the center of shipping and commerce in northern Taiwan during the 19th century. 

Tamsui Old Street and waterfront (淡水老街) is a pedestrian shopping area with a wide selection of food stalls, restaurants and stores specializing in traditional handicrafts. While there you should try local specialties such as the A-Gei (crystal noodles stuffed in fried bean curd, served with a mild hot sauce), fish ball soup, and 阿婆铁蛋 "grandma iron eggs". 



happy with really tall double favour ice cream (mango/green tea)

While we were there they Tamsui was having a celebration or proceeding of sorts on the roads, with many elaborately dressed people, some wielding swords, some playing musical instruments. There was also no lack of hot babes doing sexy dance with techno music blasting in the background. Talk about diversity. 


hot babe on lorry dancing to techno



double exposure of temple and floor of temple entrance

Aside from food there's also no lack of places to shop- there are stores selling anything from bags to torchlights to mini pool tables to nanchakus to quirky funny glasses. We had a lot of fun goofing around and not buying anything, ha. 

cute chapstick from Watsons

As we had limited time (it was already almost evening since we spent the morning in Beitou) we decided to skip 八里bali to go straight to the Fisherman's Wharf. 
Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) is located quite a distance from Tamsui. The Wharf comprises of a boardwalk, food stalls, cafes, and some pricer seafood restaurants. The "Lover's Bridge", a slanted tower cable stay pedestrian bridge which spans the harbor is illuminated with many different colours at night. It's a popular spot amongst couples looking for a quiet night out. Outdoor concerts also often held at theamphitheater particularly on weekends, making it a really lively place. 

We were there on a weekday so things were relatively quiet with just a few stalls and restaurants open. Would advise you to come on a weekend if you prefer a more lively environment. 






Following this we took the metro back and collapsed on our beds at our comfy hostel. The next day we were to head to Yeliu and Chiufen, really looked forward to it!

Accomodation: I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is to stay near Taipei Main station. This is your homebase to explore the entire of taipei and do day trips in/out. All the metro, TRA, HSR interchange stops are here, and there's even a shuttle bus service from here to Taoyuan airport. 

I stayed at Nihao@taipei, a hostel housed within an office/commercial tower. Exit from M3, turn left past Cosmos Hotel and the building right next to it is it. Reception is on 11th floor but your room may be on other floors. we stayed at 4th and 5th floor respectively and took up the options of bunk beds (with sofa) and twin single beds respectively on the dates we stayed (we went to Chiufen and stayed the night in between, details & post to be up soon). 

We had a few really helpful ones and some just tell us very strictly that check in time is 4pm though we arrived at 350pm. 

Hostel was clean, rooms a bit small but ok. Shampoo, body wash available in the shared toilet. There's a nice flat screen tv and small table area (for twin room) or sofa area with round table (for double deck) for you to sit around. There's also a small basket with tissue and hairdryer provided. 
Staff service varies since the counter staff are university undergraduates on part-time, depends on your luck. 

Some photos below for your reference: