A Tribute to Taipei's Maokong 猫空 Gondola (4th July 2007 - 1st October 2008)

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While the world is mourning for the loss of yet another pop legend MJ these days, mourning took on a different meaning for me .....

From a traveller's point of view, the greatest loss would be the closure of Taipei's Maokong Gondola for an indefinite period of time.

Never mind if my tribute came 9 months late. It was only while dishing out information from the tripadvisor forums that it occured to me that the system had been closed since October 2008.

I first rode on the gondola during my last visit in August 2008. The challenge of even boarding it frustrated me. Long queues killed the patience in me. The pictures were evident in that I started queueing when the sun was still high up in the sky till darkness finally welcomed me. Even after overcoming the human factors, there were constant threats of closures from the acts of god ~ heavy winds and lightning strikes.

The ride itself was pretty shaky given the strong winds that blew during the night when I rode on it. Every so often, the gondola would come to a complete halt leaving the six of us stranded in the mid-air wondering what would happened next. I've to admit though, this was one of the best ways to take in the city view of Taipei on a clear night.

Unfortunately, after 15 months of revenue operation, the system finally succumbed to the damage caused by typhoon Jangmi. Certainly, it was a pity that the gondola system was short lived.

And with this closure, I grief.

P.S. Please pardon me for this "炒冷饭" blog entry and dishing out my "舱底货" photos.

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Photos

I'm high in the sky.
This is still chicken feet though....

The tail of the queue
It was a weekday.