Author: Jan

Did I mention the blisters? and rash?

I managed to get a blister on each little two the first 2 days (first one foot, then the other). Oof, feel like I’ve been limping all week. Not fun.

I didn’t get to bike the riverside today as I had planned, mostly because it turns out you can’t rent from one location and return to another (plus it was getting late in the day, and being tropical here, it does get dark early). I did pick up a cycling trail map from the tourist office, and it is quite impressive! There are 3 rivers that come together in Taipei, and they all have trails (plus some street bike lanes too). You could easily bike for hours along the rivers, even up to Danshui/Tamsui which is practically on the coast.

And yes, I did do the needle & thread through the blister trick (thanks to dad for that one almost exactly 10 years ago when I was in Kyoto, Japan).

Oh, and the rash on the inner elbows and inner knees. It might be a heat rash, but I noticed it after the public hot springs… It took me a few days to find my anti-biotic ointment though!

I really should read up on history first

Yesterday I took it easy (lots of sleep!) and rode the metro around, as parts of it are above ground. While underground, I read up on Taiwan history in my Lonely Planet guide (pdf on my smart phone – I bought a few electronic chapters, not the physical book).

Anyways, I called Chiang Kai-Shek one of the founders of Taiwan (big statue of him etc.) but it turns out he was a dictator who ruled with martial law and is not liked, to say the least. Oops. To wit: most of the statues of him have been removed from public squares, the international airport was renamed to Taoyuan International Airport, and even the square around his memorial hall was renamed.

Side note: the international airport is an hour west of Taipei, while a domestic airport with its own metro station is right in town (when I was at the Confucius Temple, the planes were coming in overhead for landings).

More likes/dislikes for Taipei

A few more to add to the list

Likes:

  • Mobile phones work on metro (even underground)
  • It’s safe – haven’t felt in danger in the slightest
  • It’s generally very clean, including in public bathrooms (spotless!)
  • Long cycling paths along the rivers (haven’t used them, but great concept!)

Dislikes:

  • Mobile phones work on metro (even underground)

So what I have I seen so far in Taipei?

A quick summary, more details to follow

Day 1 (Sat):

  • Area around Taipei Main Station
  • Ximen (hip youth hotspot, sort of like Tokyo)
  • Longshan Temple
  • Huaxi St Night Market

Day 2 (Sun):

  • Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall (founder of Taiwan)
  • Taipei 101 (2nd tallest building in world)
  • Core Pacific City (quick peek – it’s a mall that looks a little like the Death Star from Star Wars, i.e. what was the architect smoking?)
  • Raohe St Night Market
  • Rainbow Bridge

Day 3 (Mon):

  • Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (big statue of another Taiwan founder)
  • Da’an Park (likened to Central Park but smaller and somewhat disappointing)
  • Rode a gondola up into the mountains at the south end of town (also reachable by metro!)
  • Hiked a paved trail with a very long set of stairs straight up the hill to a nice lookout (unlike the crowds at the gondola top station, I only saw 6 people at the top of the mountain), and did a bit of a hike through unpaved narrow paths in the forest up there
  • Had a 40-minute foot/leg massage (NT$400=US$14) – note I didn’t say I “enjoyed” it because it was downright painful during it (I wanted to cry uncle a few times but didn’t!) though I did feel better afterwards (to be ruined by the next day’s walking of course)

Day 4 (Tue) – see attached photos

  • Danshui aka Tamsui (confusing name change on the train station!) – a fishing port located on the estuary (i.e. just about on the Taiwan Strait but still reachable by metro)
  • Beitou Public Hot Springs – natural hot springs for under US$2 (I spent 1.5 hours), within a 5 minute walk from a metro station!
  • Confucius Temple (what, he lived around 550 BC, are you kidding me?)
  • Baoan Temple (also got to see a ceremony to help protect the island from harsh water (typhoon, mudslides etc.))
  • Shilin Night Market – the king of them in Taipei (disappointing food though)

Overview thoughts on Taipei

Having wandered around for 3 days now, I must say that I am enjoying Taipei, with its mix of modern and old.
After doing laundry last night, and still not being adjusted to the 12 hour timezone change, here are some thoughts:

Likes:

  • English on many signs (esp in metro (subway)) and a little spoken by many people
  • Great modern metro (opened in 1999) which apparently has improved air quality significantly, as well as making travel around the city and suburbs a breeze
  • Technology
  • Cheap tasty (maybe not so healthy) food
  • Weird food (cola flavored Mentos anyone?)
  • Funny/interesting signs
  • Polite, orderly conduct
  • Scooters taken into consideration on roads (and parking)
  • A surprising amount of greenery – mountains right next to the city (or should I say, the city expanded right to the neighbouring mountains)
  • Few westerners – at big tourist sites, I see maybe a dozen foreigners; otherwise, I see less than a dozen a day around town
  • Taipei 101 – 2nd tallest building in world, designed to look like bamboo

Dislikes:

  • Sudden wafts of sewer smell (I noticed it frequently the first day, but it hasn’t hit me as frequently the past 2 days – maybe it depends on the area)
  • Humidity (as Taipei isn’t on the coast, you don’t get a refreshing breeze nor can you just hop in for a swim)
  • Hard to find cheap healthy food
  • Too many rules (can’t take my coffee on the metro!)
  • Crowded

Many of the points above could use their own post and accompanying photos, more to come…

Taipei airport notes

–          Easy immigration (fast moving non-citizen line) and customs (just walked through “nothing to declare line”
–          Used an ATM with Plus symbol to withdraw cash (New Taiwan Dollars)
–          Took an airport express bus to downtown (not a regular public bus) which took about an hour to the main train station. It felt like the bus had a speed limiter on it, as most of the distance was on a highway but he was going slowly in the right lane.
–          The bus put numbers on the luggage which had to match your claim stub when leaving the bus (a little security is a good thing!)
–          My hostel was only 5 minutes walk from the train/bus/subway station

Some flight notes (to Taipei via Tokyo)

Some flight notes (all United Airlines):

On 1 hour YYZ-ORD flight
–          I did receive a status upgrade on the short YYZ-ORD flight, woohoo!

On 12 hour ORD-NRT flight:
–          Having Economy Plus seats on the Boeing 777 flights made it bearable (an extra 5” legroom vs regular economy). Surprisingly, ½ the plane’s economy section was Economy Plus (domestically it’s ¼ – 1/3 of the plane)
–          Woman next to me had Pepto Bismol and immediately asked flight attendant for an air sickness bag, which luckily she didn’t use (though she did manage to spill a cup of water on my socked foot
–          I watched 3 movies on seatback entertainment system (choice of 7 free movies and a handful of TV shows; I didn’t do the $10 premium package that gave some more choices and games) – X-Men First Class (fun entertainment), Bridesmaids (some funny moments) and something else escaping me at the moment (update: it was Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides)
–          I managed to snooze a little (fee red wine with meal helped!)
–          Received a meal, a snack and a meal
–          Flight was very full – I only saw a few empty seats
–          2 regular power outlets

On 3 hour NRT-TPE flight:
–          Similar B777 plane, but less crowded (at least in Economy Plus)
–          Received another meal
–          Was able to sleep a little more
–          Different movie choices – this time I watched the animated movie Rio (so-so)

Made it to Taipei

I’ve checked in and am relaxing with AC in my small private room with own bath and cable TV and working wi-fi signal, in a Mexican-run hostel, downtown (about $35/night). No window though…

It’s 28 C here at this hour, which is the low for the day…

After a delay out of Toronto due to mechanical, then a delay in Chicago due to incoming airplane being late (good thing or I would have missed it, with no later flight the same day), a 12 hour flight to Tokyo, an easy connection (only a security checkpoint, no immigration) to the next flight to Taipei (3.5 hour flight time).

26 hours door to door.

It’s GMT+8 here in Taiwan (i.e. exactly 12 hours ahead of US/Canada Eastern Daylight Time)

Haven’t really looked at my guidebook yet, oops…