Holy Land 2019 ~ St Catherine Monastery and Out of Egypt (DAY 4 ~ EGYPT-ISRAEL)

DAY 4 - St Catherine Monastery

The St. Catherine Monastery (named after St Catherine, the martyr of Alexandria)  is an ancient
monastery founded about AD 330 by the Byzantine empress Helena.  She built a small chapel and a fortified refuge for local hermits built beside what was believed to be the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses. 

This monastery and its surrounding area is a Unesco World Heritage site.

The monastery was later on fortified. A fortress was constructed around the original chapel, to provide a secure home for the monastic community that had grown there, and as a refuge for the Christians of southern Sinai.

Within the monastery compound, you'll find the original Burning Bush, the Well of Moses and the Transfiguration Chapel.

Burning Bush (now surrounded by a fence to keep tourists from nipping and cutting off the bush for souvenir). 

The Well of Moses (where Moses met his wife Zipporah. It is said whoever drinks from the well, shall have marital happiness). 

The Church of the Transfiguration ~ an ornately decorated 6th-century church and is a sight to behold (Unfortunately picture taking inside the church is not allowed).

A picture with one of the locals...

Check out the picture of the Sinai Rock 

 A granite stone from the top area of Mount Sinai showing what seems to be a depiction of a bush.

St Catherine is our last stop in Egypt.  Alas, we had to leave early as travel from St Catherine to Israel will take about five (5) hours. 

Pharaoh's Island (also known as the Coral Island) a small granite atoll surrounded by coral reefs and amazing dive sites. The island is also known for its citadel, originally built by crusaders and later conquered and reconstructed by Saladin. The citadel is listed today as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We are sad to leave Egypt, but equally eager to see Israel.   

At the Taba Border Crossing ~ is the international border crossing between Egypt and Israel.

Waiting after immigrations is Alex.  

He will be our guide as we continue our Holy Land adventure in Israel.

Follow our Holy Land Adventure:

• For Holy Land helpful Tips >>> Holy Land Tips
• DAY 1 - welcome to Cairo Egypt >>>> Day 1
• DAY 2 - touring the land of ancient monuments, pharaohs and great pyramids  >>>> Day 2
• DAY 3 - road to Mt Sinai >>>> Day 3
  

Please check also my separate post on all the hotels we've stayed at during our tour of the Holy Land.  

For questions and inquiries on our Tour Package with CITTI please visit their facebook page at CORPORATE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURS INC

Taiwan Day 2 - Jiufen and Pinxi Tour

Our Day 2 is one of Taiwan's most popular day tours ~  Jiufen and Pinxi

Jiufen and Pinxi are relatively near Taipei.  Jiufen the nearer of the two is only about 40 minutes by private car.  A DIY is a viable option, but we want a worry free tour and so we opted to simply book a tour via My Taiwan Tours. Click on this link to their website ~ MY TAIWAN TOUR.

Our Jiufen and Pinxi Tour is an eight (8) hours day tour which includes: hotel pick up and drop off (via a 9 seater sedan), a local guide  and a sky lantern crash course :P

Our ride for today

Arrangement via My Taiwan Tour was fast and easy.  They contacted me 2-3 days before our schedule, which assured me everything will go as planned.  

Lucy our guide was at our hotel doorsteps early to pick us up.  She is energetic and bubbly. Her enthusiasm is contagious, enough to make us feel excited of our day's itinerary. It was clear that she loves Taiwan and she is proud to show-off its beauty!

Jinguashi

Our first stop ~ Jinguashi is a  mining village, which was famous for its vast gold mine exploited during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan.

Here is a view of an abandoned mining refinery called Thirteen Ruins

The Golden Waterfalls and Yin-Yang Sea

Next stop is the decommissioned mining  town of Jiufen.  It is now alleys and alleys of tea house and stores selling local  snacks and souvenirs. 

We tried their Peanut Ice Cream Roll and Taro Balls 

From Jiufen we travelled to SHIFEN, PINXI ~ 

the  Lantern Capital of Taiwan.  

Our HANDMADE Sky Lantern  with our Family Wishes:

GOOD HEALTH and LONGLIFE, HAPPINESS and PROSPERITY, PEACE ON EARTH, LOTS OF LOVE (and my youngest son's personal wish "MORE FOOD" ~ I think there is no need to explain)!

The highlight of our day ~ seeing our sky lantern FLY!

Taiwan Day 1 ~ Aboard a Maokong Gondola Crystal Cabin, Shopping at Guanghua Digital Mall and Watching Chinese Opera at the Taipeieye

We arrived at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport via Eva Air at about 630am. Prior to our flight, I have pre-arranged for local WiFi and Sim cards for my family, and private car transfers via Klook.  

If you are new to Klook, click on this link to join and get instant discount >>> KLOOK. 

After clearing immigration (which was a breeze), we picked up our checked-in luggage and bought NTD at one of the many forex counters inside the airport.  Our driver was already waiting for us at the Arrival Gate.  He was nice to have assisted us pick up our reserved WiFi and Sim cards.  

(We were rushing we forgot to buy Easycard, no worries through as we were able to get them easily at Family Mart right next to our Taipei Hotel.  Get an Easycard, if you plan to use the public transport it is convenient). 

My cutee Little Twin Star Easycard 

We were told to wait at the Airport Gate as our driver picked up the car (which to my surprise was a Volkswagen T6, an upgrade from a 4-seater Toyota Camry I originally reserved).  An upgrade was such a nice way to start our Taiwan adventure.  

Just 30 minutes in this country and I am loving it already!

We were already at Ximending in 45 minutes ~ entering City Plus Hotel doors (our accommodation for our Day 1, 2 and 7 in Taipei).

We checked-in our bags and headed to the first item in our itinerary ~


MAOKONG GONDOLA

From Ximen we took the blue line (Bannan line) then transferred to the brown line (Wenhu line) at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station. We alighted at the Taipei Zoo Station and walked a bit to reach the Maokong Gondola Station.

At the Maokong Gondola Station ~ waiting for our cable car :P

The Maokong Gondola is a scenic cable car system operating between Taipei Zoo and Maokong. It is about 4 kilometers long and a one-way trip is about 20-30 minutes.  It has a wonderful view of Tapei at an elevation of about 299.3m.

I guess we were lucky as there were very few visitors that day (considering we came on a Saturday).  Our queue for the Crystal Cabin was under 10 minutes.  We paid for the Maokong Gondola tickets via Easycard (we just tapped our cards at the turnstile entrance - easy).

Our ride a Cable Car with Glass floors (also known as Eye of Maokong Gondola) 

A tour in the Taipei Zoo is a practical side trip for tourist considering its nearness to Maokong, but we skipped the zoo as my boys weren't much into animals.  

We only spent about an hour and half at Maokong, there is not much to do there except to check the view and have tea.  The restaurants open late as well, so we were not able to get a decent meal (we were initially planning to have lunch with a view at the Longmen Restaurant).  

We munched on Taiwan local snacks 

~ Taiwan sausage, oyster omelet and stinky tofu :P

From Maokong, we took a cab to our next stop ~
 

HUASHAN 1914

Huashan 1914 is a cultural-creative park and events venue showcasing up and coming artists.  The place gives a cool and young vibe ~ creative juices is overflowing at Huashan 1914. 

If you would like to see quirky, fresh and innovative products this is the place to go.  There were plenty of restaurants here too, but we weren't hungry yet, so we postponed super lunch for our next stop. 

Our next stop is just 500m away (about 5-6 minutes walk)


GUANHUA DIGITAL MALL

My boys are tech-savy, so when they learned Taiwan has a Digital Mall (with 6 floors of digital everything), we had to include it in our itinerary (it was after all very near Huashan Park).

Guanhua Digital Mall ground floor has all the latest gadgets to die for. If you are, however interested in peripherals check out the top floors for cool deals. Battery banks, headphones were cheaper by few hundred here (compared to Manila prices).

Guanhua has a food court at the ground floor with pretty good options. I had here one of the best Beef Noodles I have tasted in Taiwan.

My NTD 160 Beef Noodles pared with Mango Milkshake ~ delicious!

 
We were watching a Chinese Opera-Acrobatic Show at the Taipeieye.  Box office opens at 6pm and pre-show activities at 7pm. As it was still early, we still have time to go back and freshen up at our hotel.

From Guanhua, following Waze we walked toward the Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station and took the MRT Bannan line (Blue line), then alighted at the Ximen Station (which was right next to our Taipei Hotel).

TAIPEIEYE

If you are interested in Traditional Chinese Performing Arts head to Taipeieye. They run different shows and during our visit they performed The Monkey Business in Sea Palace and Bouncing Drums and Bouncing Dragons.
The show was really entertaining and engaging (sit upfront to see what I mean).

Don't miss the pre-show activities.

TIPS: 

• Come early to get good seats.  They only have free seating.  
• Check out their pre-show activities, which were delightful.
• The show ends at 9pm, but don't worry the staff will help you get home safe.  There is a queue at the lobby for those who need help getting back to their hotels.
• For tickets visit Taipeieye's website directly>>> Taipeieye OR get it from Klook.

This ends our Day 1 in Taiwan.  Tomorrow is a busy day as we tour Jiufen and Pinxi.  

Check our full Taiwan Itinerary and Tips for Taiwan First Timers >>> Taiwan ~ More Than Just a Vibrant City