We biked over to Monkey Mountain with our friend Nancy this morning and had a fabulous hike. Lee had gone hiking there with a friend a couple of weeks ago and discovered new places to go, so that's where we headed this time. We parked our bikes in the usual spot but walked up an alleyway to another access point. Here is where the trail head starts.

When I walk down these little alleys I feel like I'm walking through people's backyards, or even their living rooms. There's an intimacy in peering into these quiet little spaces where people live that feels charming and voyeuristic, even humbling. People seem both happy to see us and a little wary as well. City living, and especially Asian city living, does not lend itself to much privacy and I guess people are just used to that. When we bought our house in Simsbury I was happy to have a fenced-in backyard for the privacy. How far my life has come in just 7 months!

So, back to the hike. The trail was almost all boardwalk through the jungle, including a lot of stairs. It was great for walking because they're wide and well-maintained, no scrambling over rocks and roots and the snakes tend to stay off.

The vegetation feels like it's straight out of Jurassic Park but all we saw were monkeys, not dinosaurs.

I didn't take many pictures of the monkeys but I love seeing them. It's just as cool seeing them the tenth time as it was the first.

The mountain is an old coral reef that's been thrust up out of the ocean, as all of Taiwan has been. There are a lot of volcanic rocks on the island but I love seeing these fossilized corals. The trees, especially the banyans grow in and out of the crevasses and form the most interesting shapes and designs.

The banyans grow huge. Well, everything grows huge, but the banyans are particularly impressive.

Part of the "root" system grows down from the treetops and takes root in the soil where it grows another tree trunk. It's so different from the trees I'm used to that I find them quite delightful.

At the top of the mountain I spied a little side trail and discovered this most amazing garden.

Somebody has taken the time and effort to haul up the equipment and water necessary to tend this beautiful space. It's so orderly in the middle of the chaos of the woods. It was quite extraordinary.