After a nice lunch at our hotel’s lounge and relaxing in the hotel room during the afternoon we decide to go out again in the evening when the heat has receded. And our goal is Taipei 101, the highest building in Taiwan and once the highest building in the world before Burj Khalifa took the crown a few years later. The subway takes us right to the building now it is time to find the tourist elevator.
It is more difficult than we expected really as there is a whole mall at the bottom level with limited signs but we find the right escalators and after paying the tickets it is time to take the elevator. It is the fastest elevator in the world according to the signs and we agree that it is really really fast as we are whizzed close to the top of the building.
The views from the indoor observation deck at night are mesmerizing and we stare at the small buildings below and the cars moving like ants far below us. It is difficult to make photos though, the glass is reflecting the inside light quite a bit so we fail a lot when trying to take photos.
That doesn’t stop us though and the many other tourists here. In fact there are sections set up specifically to take more framed photos and some spots are even marked for selfies, quite interesting.
However some of these spots are weird and we fail to see any relationship with the views. Like what does the tent have to do with it or the robot exhibit? That doesn’t stop as from taking photos of course just it doesn’t fit thematically somehow.
One major attraction is the Tuned Mass Damper that can be seen from a couple levels. It is huge and it acts like a counterweight when the building is swaying in heavy winds or earthquakes.
As we explore we notice some stairs and we follow them up to what we find out is the outdoor observatory. We didn’t know it had one so are quite excited about it. But first we start by looking up, we are not really on top of the building but really close and we doubt the rest of them are residential or commercial floors.
And then we take in the views without the reflective glass and they are magnificent. While we cannot go around as we could in the covered observation deck the section that we see is exciting enough. And there are less people here, probably because everyone is missing the stairs. And then after enjoying the views for a while we return downstairs and buy a few souvenirs and then it is on to end the night with a bang at a night market.
