Things I've learned about Taiwan

As I reflected about my time in Taiwan, I found it difficult to think about things for this list. And then I realized that because of my time in some other countries, I was ignoring aspects of Taipei that made the city different from the western world of my childhood (despite some similarities to the countries I've now travelled to). Trying to keep that in mind, here are a few things that I've learned about Taiwan.

View from Taipei 101 on a cloudy day...

1. You can do everything at a 711. From my time in Korea, I already know that convenience stores are way more common and have a wider purpose than what I'm used to in Canada. Honestly, in Canada, I never really bought anything at a convenience store. Not so in the asian countries I've visited. I felt like Taiwan took it to an all new high. Not only can you buy almost anything you might need on the fly (from shampoo, pads, first aid kits, alcohol, ramen or milk), you can also top up your transit pass AND buy tickets for the train and other places. Seriously, it's your one stop store.

2. Stinky Tofu is really Stinky. I've heard of this "food" but I had no idea how smelly it actually was until my first time walking around the night market. It was bad. I thought about trying it, but for this trip, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'll just have to go again and try next time.

3. The Motorbikes. Having been to Vietnam, Malaysia and China, I think I was a little desensitized to seeing people stream around street corners, but my mum reminded me that it is not a common occurrence back in the true North. And while Vietnam still wins in my experience as the craziest motorbike-flow, Taipei still had enough that it is cool to see. They drive so confidently.

In the Shilin Night Market (Friday Night).

4. That Night Market Life. My mum and I visited Shilin and Ningxia Night Market and both were very different from each other. Shilin, being the biggest, reminded me more of Seoul's Hongdae-type shops with a Namdaemun Market atmosphere (if you know the references). There were a number of stores that sold clothing, phone cases, toys, stuffed animals, etc and then among them pop-up street stalls that sold all sorts of food (steamed buns, chicken, stinky tofu, sausages, fresh cut fruit, and more). On the other hand, Ningxia reminded me more of the Old Quarter of Hanoi meets a Kuala Lumpur food court. There were some hole-in-the wall restaurants along the sides of the street with the small stool chairs and tables along the sidewalk. Down the center of the street, there were two rows of pop-up stalls. Some stalls also had a section of stools and tables while others you just grabbed your food and went on your way. Really popular foods had some crazy-long lines, especially on the weekend, so be prepared. The selection of food between the two markets is also different, so if you are in Taipei, I recommend hitting up both of them.

Whatever this is, I really liked it. (Shilin Night Market).

Some delicious steamed buns!

5. Don't stay in the City. While there is a lot to see and do within Taipei, there are so many amazing places to go in and around Taiwan. Even if you only have a couple days, dedicate 1 to out of city.

Mountain Hike Views: Yangmingshan

Yangmingshan Fumaroles.

I climbed above the clouds over Yangmingshan with a couchsurfer and new friend. My mum and I had the chance to go to Taroko Gorge on one day, which was amazing and so worth it. On another day, we hopped on a bus and road along the North-East coast. We hit up the Queen's head and a couple other places along the way. I was initially worried about taking the bus away from the city because if we got lost in a small town without Internet and potential English, things could get complicated quickly. (Ha). But there were a couple buses that went along the coastal road and it was easy to hop-on and hop-off at your fancy. On the way back, we came through the Tamsui District which is the top of the Red subway line in Taipei. I really wish we had ventured that way a day earlier because I would have liked to explore the area in more depth. Le sigh. At that point I was tired and didn't take many other photographs.

The Yehliu Harbour; there's something about a portside photograph... 

View from the Yehliu Peninsula back toward the island.

Do I even need to say that my time in Taiwan was too short?

Love and Hugs.

Taroko Gorge by Taxi

Price Summary (in New Taiwanese Dollars)

Train Ticket from Taipei to Xincheng per person = 311 or 403 (one way); 622 to 806 (round trip)

(price depends on express or ordinary train)

Taxi Rental (4 hours round trip to Xincheng Station) = 2500 

Entrance to Taroko Gorge.

When I asked my Taiwanese friends (and others who have been to Taiwan) for recommendations about the country, most mentioned Taroko Gorge. For someone who likes hiking, it was a must. Mountainous terrain with stunning scenery--really, how could I resist?

One of the bridges in the park.

View of one of the ravines.

There are many places on the Internet where you can find different attack plans for the Gorge. Some people stay over in Hualien city either before or after whereas others commute from Taipei or other areas of Taiwan. Here's one more post among the many about what we did (March 20, 2017).

As my mum and I had only a couple of days together in Taiwan before coming back to Korea, and I knew she would have more luggage, I didn't want to find another place to stay in Hualien, despite the recommendations to try out the nightmarket and other sites within the city. That being said, we opted to do a round trip from Taipei but instead of booking a company tour, we did it on our own. I think you can technically buy train tickets the day of, but one of my new friends helped me reserve seats a couple nights before just in case they sold out. We booked our train tickets to Xincheng (this stop is closer to Taroko Gorge than Hualien).

Because I wanted to make sure we got the most of our day, we were on the earliest train (7:08) and we arrived at the Taroko around 10 in the morning.

Eternal Spring Shine from a distance.

The trails jut off at different points along the road. For some trails, you need to reserve a permit in advance whereas others are come as you please (see http://old.taroko.gov.tw/English/ for more details). The Internet revealed that the main methods of maneuvering through the park are by using the bus, if you are okay with potentially long wait times; scooter, if you have a license to rent one; on foot, if you don't plan on going very far very quickly; taxi rental, if you have the money.

My mum and I were originally thinking of taking the bus. One of my friends did it a couple weeks ago and said it wasn't too bad and that they still were able to see a lot of the park. When we went, the forecast predicted thundershowers and as we weren't planning on spending a lot of money on other parts of our trip, we decided to splurge and use a taxi for the day. The taxis are waiting right at the station and the first we approached had a laminated sign with English. Listed were different day-trip options along with prices for one-way vs a round trip. My mum and I chose the 4 hour round trip.

Don't forget a hard hat!

Our driver didn't speak any English, but we managed to communicate. We drove to different spots and he would motion to our cameras for a photo op, or to a trail for us to explore. At certain points, we did out-and-back trails while at a couple other points, he met us at the end. My mum and I were quickly confused by the curving nature of the roads. Without the taxi driver, we doubt we would have seen as much as we did. Plus, four hours was a good amount of time. We probably could have pushed ourselves to do more, but both of us were tired and content at the end. No regrets.

When we rounded a corner and gasped in surprise, our taxi driver pulled over and told us he'd meet us up ahead.

We were lucky, too, in that the rain was at our backs and as we went deeper into the park, we could see it coming, but it didn't catch us until we were on the way back to the station. I had originally reserved our return tickets for the evening, but luckily there was space on an earlier train and we were heading back to Taipei just after 15:00. We arrived back in the city around 17:30 and enjoyed an easy dinner at one of the nightmarkets. All in all, a day well spent.

The storm, coming over the mountains.

And now you're in the know.

Love and Hugs.