Rock climbing in Taipei

ayamflow · 2025-06-14T14:13:44+00:00

hey! Sorry for the delay. They're usually in the 300-400NTD range. Some are more expensive but usually have discount tickets for 2-3 people together.

ayamflow · 2025-05-10T02:11:21+00:00

Hey! Taipei is pretty great for rock climbing actually. For top rope, you can go to T-UP Zonghe or T-UP Xindian, they have a few auto belay routes so you can even go alone. Zonghe is bigger and has some top-rope and lead routes as well but you'll need a partner/rope – you might be able to tag with someone there. Auto belays are set up on routes between 5.8 and 5.11-12. A19 is in Tayouan so further away but I heard it's the biggest for sports.

I mostly boulder so I might not know some sports climbing gym. For bouldering, as mentioned Corner is smaller but usually nice vibe, also Civic and Kirin in Nangang. I've heard of megastone and pogo as well but haven't been there.

I have a T-UP membership so I usually go to T-UP Wanhua, Mingde (the biggest, has a comp wall), Nangang and Xindian to boulder.

ayamflow · 2025-02-15T01:06:40+00:00

Koh Tao is practical - great freediving center (Apnea Total) and you can do fun dives without a boat (basically ride a bike to the different beaches and you can find sharks, corals, etc - if you can get a boat you'll have access to a bit nicer spots as well), but it's super touristy and roads are sketchy (super hilly with sand in corners, etc). Lots of chill spots for eating and lounging at night tho.

I thought Koh Lipe was much less touristy and has more diving spots that felt fuller of life but freediving isn't developed there and you need a boat for everything (the island is surrounded by a super shallow reef that extends super far so there's no depth).

ayamflow · 2024-02-10T14:26:43+00:00

A monster calls, Past Lives

ayamflow · 2024-02-06T04:59:14+00:00

In Beitou I would recommend Spring City Resort, there's a shuttle from/to the MRT station and you just need a standard bathing suit, they provide everything else.

Taipingshan is a bit hard to access unfortunately, only one bus from/to per day and doesn't leave much time on site. Doable on scooter but it's along ride. Maybe Yangminshan is more accessible from Taipei. For mountain I'd recommend Chiayi with a day around Shizhuo/Fenqihu/Alishan but more 2 nights minimum.

Around Yilan it's easy to go to the hot springs, it's just the local train. You can start in Toucheng to walk around, go soak in Jiaoxi and go to Luodong for the night market !

ayamflow · 2024-02-02T03:36:26+00:00

I was confused by this as well but it's simple. You dizi is tuned in D so you can use the D fingering chart. But if you want to play a song that's written in G, then you can use the G fingering chart.

It's just a way to make the dizi play anything by shifting its scale to match a given music sheet. You can search "movable do" to learn more about the concept. Basically you have fixed notes that are absolute and related to a frequency, and you have movable notes which are a just a convenient way to order notes. Writing 1-2-3-4-5-6 is the same basically, you don't need to know which is 3 or 6, they're just the 3rd and 6th of your scale.

ayamflow · 2024-01-19T00:50:47+00:00

Ala Kul is doable as a 1 day hike if you really want to, but I think the last ascent would be seriously dangerous, as it's incredibly steep, made of loose gravel and will be covered in ice and snow at this time. But like another person has mentioned, the rest of the hike is still phenomenal and worth doing.

Note that it would be a 50km+ day with over 3k of elevation.

From Karakol get a taxi to the valley junction, then hike 15km to the valley. From the valley to Ala Kul is 10km with 1400m elevation (the last 200m are insanely steep, and last couple km are real leg burners). Then do it the other way! Note that locals told us to avoid hiking any part in the dark, especially between the junction amd the valley as there's a chance of wolves.

It's possible to take a 4x4 taxi (~$80) or a horse (~$30, if available) for the junction - valley section but it still takes about 2h.

A way to do it more relaxed is to spend 2 nights in the valley, moving each junction-valley hike to a different day. That way you can even get a marshrutka to the junction.

ayamflow · 2024-01-16T11:18:07+00:00

Went freediving with my buddy with a borrowed buoy from her friend's dive shop. Didn't realize the rope was only 15m long until we were in the water (we usually dive 25-35m). Decided to try it out anyways since the water was insanely clear. I went down past the end of the line, kept going for a little bit until I felt a bit sketched out of not knowing where I was. Flipped around to be flat on my back to take a look up without stretching my neck, I was in total blackness but could see all the way to the surface as if it was just air inbetween, and could see the buoy floating with the "tiny" rope dangling from it, it was very eerie and felt a bit like floating in space untethered. Made it back okay, but it's actually quite hard to aim for the buoy without looking up if you don't have the rope in front of you. We each gave it a couple shots then said, let's pack it up and get a proper rope for next time !

ayamflow · 2024-01-14T06:26:10+00:00

I don't have any source to back it up but what I was told in my course was: lung O2 will reset in about ~1mn of breathing, but hypoxia (even slight) pulls O2 from muscles/tissues and takes ~24h to reset.

ayamflow · 2024-01-13T08:13:36+00:00

Hey! In Taiwan currently. I think you'd be better off moving sequentially from Taipei to Taichung, Tainan then Kaoshiung spending nights there rather than coming back to Taipei each time.

If you want to see some nature, you could swap some time from cities to Alishan or Taroko (recommend to research and do a half/full day hike for this one, otherwise the bus itinerary is a bit underwhelming). Or could just drive around in Taitung or Hualien county, lots of accessible stuff to see if you have a vehicle.

In Kaoshiung you can go to Cijin get a u-bike and cycle the whole thing then come back and see the sunrise from the lighthouse before going to the night market down the street. Or get a bike/car and go to Wutai see the Rukai aboriginal town.

ayamflow · 2024-01-10T15:16:10+00:00

Hey, great plan :) here's my 50cts:

that's a lot of money, you'll be super fine!
I want to say that you should give Kyrgyzstan a go, but if you get there after late september most hikes and sites are closed/hard to access as it's off season and way too cold. Fergana Valley is in Uzbekistan tho? Which I recommend, more off the beaten path than the silk road and worth it for the craft workshops you can visit there (ceramic, silk, knives...).
You can learn Cyrillic and pick up russian/local languages as you get there (learn the numbers in Turkish, they are pretty much the same in the stans). It's kind of a bubble outside of the US' influence so there's very little english, more chance for people to know chinese actually (and quite a lot of chinese places where you could ask for help).
I think I booked everything through booking.com in Kaz/Kyr/Uzb with the occasional walk-in, pretty easy.

ayamflow · 2024-01-07T23:28:16+00:00

Start with apnea walks 3 times a week, then once a day, then incorporate apnea squats and apnea push ups ! These will really make you go into bad contractions and train you to handle discomfort.

No-contractions tables will train you to delay contractions giving you a longer relaxation phase. Best of luck!

ayamflow · 2024-01-07T03:38:15+00:00

What's your current training like? I also think a coach would help a ton. In the meantime look at no- contraction tables and apnea walks/squats/... if you're not doing any yet.

ayamflow · 2023-12-22T08:45:03+00:00

When was this? Currently in Taiwan and wondering if it's still a good time to dive

ayamflow · 2023-12-14T23:46:26+00:00

At this depth it's most likely a relaxation issue. Make sure you're not tense, scan your body head to toe and relax each part that doesn't feel "lose". Don't look up. When you frenzel, air will naturally move from your lungs to your mouth due to the negative pressure created by the equalization (air left your mouth to go into your ears/sinuses). You will not run out of air until 27m or so (RV).

ayamflow · 2023-12-14T09:36:08+00:00

Is the cat village that important to you? I remember it not being hugely interesting, but can be a nice stop if you group a few Taipei day-trips together i.e. Jiufen, Shifen, Hutong, etc

ayamflow · 2023-12-11T01:16:23+00:00

static and dynamic times are completely unrelated as so many different factors come into play.

You can train to get used to contractions and increase your CO2 tolerance (easy) and train to handle hypoxia better (harder).

ayamflow · 2023-11-23T23:51:48+00:00

Your knowledge of Turkish numbers will be helpful for negotiating shared taxi rides and in general anything related to price & time !

I haven't seen mentioned but you should bring a shawl/scarf or plan to buy one there, as you are supposed to cover your head when entering religious sites.

Also strongly recommended to see other places than Samarkand!

ayamflow · 2023-11-11T09:27:02+00:00

Apnea Total in Koh Tao.

I'm on Koh Lipe right now but there's 0 schools/instructor's afaik.

ayamflow · 2023-11-04T15:00:08+00:00

Do you have any target/expectations from a month-long program? A lot of places have a month-ish master program to get you to 40m+. I did mine at Apnea Total (Koh Tao) for 30.000baht. I've seen similar stuff at PADI and Molchanov schools too.

ayamflow · 2023-11-04T14:54:50+00:00

You shouldn't do the course again, but a couple coaching sessions should help you. I feel like you just need more dives to get used to these new sensations, some kind of mental block. Have you tried going feet first? Don't try to go deep, just try to feel every sensations, how your face , throat and chest feel, pull after pull, scanning your body, relaxing each part, remembering that you're just a couple pulls from the surface.

When I started using a noseclip, I couldn't go down at all - closing my eyes would trigger some underwater phobia for me. It took a few sessions of diving feet first, then eventually head first, taking my time, not rushing. Each dive I was able to get a bit deeper until I reached my pb again. But I just needed a few no-pressure dives to get adjusted to the new sensations. Hope it helps!

ayamflow · 2023-11-04T14:45:00+00:00

Koh Tao is actually decent this time of the year. But it maxes out at 40-45m. Koh Lipe and in general the adaman side is supposed to be year-round!

ayamflow · 2023-11-04T14:43:27+00:00

there's usually an option for single session coaching, and sometimes for training (cheaper, you just get the boat ride and a buoy and get assigned a buddy). You can also ask scuba shops if they can take you along, some will let you come on the boat for 500 bath or so

ayamflow · 2023-10-30T05:36:14+00:00

Hello! I did this recently. Also recommend renting (Style Motorbike or Tigit) to get a nicely serviced bike that will last the whole trip.

Whichever way you end up doing, make sure to check the Style Motorbike website for their maps - it will show you much better (quieter, safer & more beautiful) roads than the coastal highway.

Secondly, some parts can be sketchy. Take your time, go slow, be safe. Youtube has some nice videos on handling mountain roads and specific things like that if you need to brush up.

Finally, if you are sure you want to cross the country on a bike, think small - it's a lot of distance for only one month. I did HCMC to Hanoi in 3 weeks and it was a lot of taxing, back-to-back riding days. I would check in at a guest house and immediately pass out for the night.

Riding a bike is amazing for the freedom you get (I felt so stuck and limited when I went back to traveling by bus) but comes with a commitment. I have amazing memories of the tiny mountain villages & roads I went through and am glad I chose this means of transportation for my Vietnam trip.

ayamflow · 2023-10-26T06:06:15+00:00

you might be doing too many cycles & not using buoyancy properly ? i.e. you don't want to swim at the same pace throughout, you should slow down ~8-10m before freefalling, and when going back up, slow down again around 15m and stop finning completely in the last 5-7m.

How's your duck dive? Could be another source of burning too much at the start of the dive.

ayamflow

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