This past weekend Emily and I traveled to Taiwan for a 3 day weekend. It was Buddha's birthday so everyone in Korea and probably most of Asia had a long weekend. We searched for awhile in the weeks coming up to this weekend in hopes to go to Beijing or Shanghai. We were unable to find decent flights to either spot. In most situations the flight times were horrible. In others, we were given the idea that very cheap plane tickets were available, but when we went to put our credit card/travel info in we were told that the flights were full. That's okay with me though. To go to China we have to pay about $130 on top of the plane flights for a visa (no visa for Taiwan). We plan to go to China at the end of the year here in Korea so paying for the visa will be worth it because we will have more time to spend there.
We boarded a 9:30 a.m. flight on Friday and arrived in Taiwan at about 12 p.m. By the time we got from the airport to our hostel it was around 3 p.m. It took us forever to find the hostel. The directions given to us were anything but good. Luckily after wandering around for over 30 minutes a nice Taiwanese couple stopped to help us. They had seen us walking around a little bit before that too. They spoke perfect English as they have lived in North Carolina for a few years for school or work. The hostel we stayed at was very nice. It was quite cheap and in a good location. The website we booked through had nothing but good comments to say about it. The owner of the hostel was very nice. Her English was also very good. She kept the hostel in perfect condition. The hostel was in the middle of a night market in Taipei. It was pretty cool to walk through the night market as we made our way home the last night.
After getting to the hostel and taking a quick breather we got headed on our adventure. Nearly everywhere we went in Taipei we took the subway. Seoul's subway system is very easy and I thought Taipei's was easier. All the stops were said in English and it was a fairly small subway system so it was not hard to find our way around. First, we stopped by the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. This was a massive building with a statue of the late president, Chiang Kai-shek. Inside this room there are guards who are always watching over the statue. Once an hour there is a ceremony called "changing of the guards." Not remembering this, we arrived just as the ceremony had started. It is kind of hard to explain what they did. In simple form they changed guards, but it was more complex the way they did it. I took a video of it but I don't think this blog can support videos. But here are a few pictures of it.
Street just outside our hostel
In front of the CKS Memorial Hall
During the changing of the guards ceremony
On the other end of the plaza where the CKS Memorial is
After we left the CKS Memorial we headed in search of a hot spring to sit in. We went to an area known for them. Since it's not hot spring season right now we wanted to get a deal. We saw a few places for about $20-30 per person but finally stopped by a place that said $10. It was actually $10 for the both of us. Needless to say, it was probably equal to the $10 we paid! A lot of the springs are outside but this was inside a room that looked like a converted storage closet. It wasn't the best place we could have found I'm sure but it was still fun to give it a try. Later in the night we walked through Taipei's largest night market. This market had tons of street food vendors and clothing shops. I think the night market in Bangkok was much better but it was still cool to walk around it. We tried some of the Taiwanese street foods out. It was all very good food.
The next morning we woke up very early, 5 a.m. to get picked up around 5:45 at a nearby hotel. Our tour was headed to Taroko Gorge, which is in Hualien, Taiwan. It is located on the eastern cost of Taiwan. Our tour hopped on a plane about 7:30 in the morning for a short 30 minute flight down to this city. There, we met our tour guide. She was a very nice lady who spoke English well. We were warned by the bus driver to the airport that once she started talking she wasn't going to stop until we left! He was sure right. She was born and raised in the city near the gorge so she was very knowledgeable about the gorge. She was a great guide to have. We took a bus tour through the gorge. At some points the bus stopped and we walked around for a bit to explore the area. The gorge was amazing looking. Sharp cliffs on both sides with such blue water flowing on the bottom.
One area of the gorge was accustomed to rock falls so we had to wear hardhats. I put a picture down below of how goofy I looked wearing the hat. Since Taiwan is frequented by earthquakes some areas of the gorge were closed to visitors. There was a section were a group of construction workers were fixing something. They were nearly hanging off of the edge. Looked pretty darn scary to me. There were a few temples inside the gorge park. One that we drove by had the largest Buddha statue in Taiwan and it was made from gold. Before we stopped for lunch a little bit higher up on the mountain we had the chance to walk across a suspension bridge (picture below). Before going on this trip I figured that everyone would be forced to walk across one as a means of getting to the next part of the tour. It was hard to tell because not too much information was given to us about what we would do. Luckily we didn't have to walk across if it we didn't want to. Knowing my fear of heights I attempted to walk across. I got maybe 1/4 of the way across and then the bridge started to bounce from the other people who were farther ahead of me. I said, "No thank you," among other words and turned back around! I think that if it was just me and 1 or 2 other people I could have made it across, but with 8 other people on the bridge it was moving too much for me.
After the bridge we went to lunch at a small resort higher up on the mountain. This place served us traditional Taiwanese food. It was delicious. the food consisted of fried fish, some vegetables, a pork stew, mashed potatoes (Taiwanese style), and a bamboo stick that was full of rice. The bamboo stick was the best part. We cracked the stick open and ate the rice straight from the stick. It tasted like oatmeal! It was probably the best rice I have had since being in Asia. On our way back down to the bottom of the gorge we stopped by a memorial shrine for the workers of the gorge. A long time ago when construction first started the workers had to create all the winding roads and tunnels. Many people died during this time so there was a shrine set up for them. I took a few pictures of that below. Overall the trip to the gorge was an awesome time. The weather was perfect, our group was full of nice people, and our tour guide was fantastic. I definitely recommend this trip to anybody thinking of going to Taiwan someday!
The next morning we woke up very early, 5 a.m. to get picked up around 5:45 at a nearby hotel. Our tour was headed to Taroko Gorge, which is in Hualien, Taiwan. It is located on the eastern cost of Taiwan. Our tour hopped on a plane about 7:30 in the morning for a short 30 minute flight down to this city. There, we met our tour guide. She was a very nice lady who spoke English well. We were warned by the bus driver to the airport that once she started talking she wasn't going to stop until we left! He was sure right. She was born and raised in the city near the gorge so she was very knowledgeable about the gorge. She was a great guide to have. We took a bus tour through the gorge. At some points the bus stopped and we walked around for a bit to explore the area. The gorge was amazing looking. Sharp cliffs on both sides with such blue water flowing on the bottom.
One area of the gorge was accustomed to rock falls so we had to wear hardhats. I put a picture down below of how goofy I looked wearing the hat. Since Taiwan is frequented by earthquakes some areas of the gorge were closed to visitors. There was a section were a group of construction workers were fixing something. They were nearly hanging off of the edge. Looked pretty darn scary to me. There were a few temples inside the gorge park. One that we drove by had the largest Buddha statue in Taiwan and it was made from gold. Before we stopped for lunch a little bit higher up on the mountain we had the chance to walk across a suspension bridge (picture below). Before going on this trip I figured that everyone would be forced to walk across one as a means of getting to the next part of the tour. It was hard to tell because not too much information was given to us about what we would do. Luckily we didn't have to walk across if it we didn't want to. Knowing my fear of heights I attempted to walk across. I got maybe 1/4 of the way across and then the bridge started to bounce from the other people who were farther ahead of me. I said, "No thank you," among other words and turned back around! I think that if it was just me and 1 or 2 other people I could have made it across, but with 8 other people on the bridge it was moving too much for me.
After the bridge we went to lunch at a small resort higher up on the mountain. This place served us traditional Taiwanese food. It was delicious. the food consisted of fried fish, some vegetables, a pork stew, mashed potatoes (Taiwanese style), and a bamboo stick that was full of rice. The bamboo stick was the best part. We cracked the stick open and ate the rice straight from the stick. It tasted like oatmeal! It was probably the best rice I have had since being in Asia. On our way back down to the bottom of the gorge we stopped by a memorial shrine for the workers of the gorge. A long time ago when construction first started the workers had to create all the winding roads and tunnels. Many people died during this time so there was a shrine set up for them. I took a few pictures of that below. Overall the trip to the gorge was an awesome time. The weather was perfect, our group was full of nice people, and our tour guide was fantastic. I definitely recommend this trip to anybody thinking of going to Taiwan someday!
The trip to the gorge was from roughly 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. We took a train back into Taipei after leaving the gorge. It was the first real train I have been on! We then attempted to go to Taipei 101, the world's 2nd tallest building. We didn't get there until about 9 p.m. The line was MASSIVE and the lady selling tickets said it would take about an hour to wait and that the place closed at 10. Also, they were pretty much sending people up to the top and right back down to get more people in and out before it closed. I only considered going to the top of the building at night, and I would not have minded if the elevator doors opened, I peeked my head out, and then went back down! I'm sure my fear of heights would have not fared so well. But, we didn't feel like waiting in such a long line because we were hungry and hadn't eaten in awhile. I know Emily wanted to go to the top and I was hoping that I would at least attempt to get to the top just to say that I went to the world's 2nd tallest building and that I may have slightly reduced my fear of heights. Oh well, there's plenty of other tall buildings out there.
An entrance to the gorge
Picture of the bottom of the gorge
Hardhat time! I looked like a total goon. But then again, who didnt?
Temple type building inside the gorge
Suspension bridge
Traditional Taiwanese lunch
The memorial to all those who died constructing the roads and tunnels throughout the gorge.
Taipei 101 from a street bridge
On Sunday before leaving we went to a historical museum. The museum was pretty cool. It was full of ancient Chinese artifacts. While there we ran into my Korean partner teacher! Earlier in the week we both found out that the other was going to Taiwan for the weekend. She was there with her husband. We were doing a lot of the same stuff but with the couple million people in this city I didn't expect to run into her. It was fun to see somebody we knew! Over all the trip was a blast. It would have been nice to spend more time in Taiwan so we wouldn't have to feel crunched for time. It would definitely be fun to go back again!
Night market
Chicken feet, hearts, probably other random parts too. Yummy!
Front of the national palace museum
