The last weekend in Feb me and Stu went to Taiwan for 5 days. We had the Tuesday off so we took a sick day for Monday and thought, "What the hell, lets go somewhere." So we headed to Taiwan, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I guess before I went I knew nothing of Taiwan. Thankfully Stu likes planning stuff so he kinda looked up cool stuff to do when we got there.
We flew in to Taipei, the capitol city, around 8 or so that night. The weather was wonderful if only because it was soooo much warmer than in Korea. We headed to our hostel and went in search of one of the night markets in the area. There was some guy staying at our hostel who claimed he knew the area. So we followed his directions and just got lost. Not awesome. Anyway, we were randomly walkin and saw another white person so we asked him for directions. It just so happened that he happened to be stayin in a hostel close to that market so we followed him. With our new found bro, Rudy, we headed off to find some markets to check out, and more importantly find some food.
The food in Taiwan was good. Not quite as good as Korea. And honestly nowhere near is good as in Thailand. But still good nonetheless. Anyway, we stopped for some type of bbq?? not totally sure what it was but it was really good. After we walked around the markets for a bit and then decided it was time to get drunk. So we went in search of some bars to go into and have 'a few' casual beers. However, all we could find were clubs and at the moment we were to sober for that. We eventually found a place that was more like a bar but if i was in MN i would probably consider it more of a club. We didnt stay out too late that night cuz we didnt wanna spend our only day in Taipei hungover. A lil too mature for me...probably.
To start off day 2 we headed to the train station to get tickets for the train down south. We were heading there the next day and werent sure how far in advance we had to buy them. While at the train station we stopped over at tourist info and asked about Taroko Gorge (google it) and if we could book a trip thru that tourist info place. Fortunately we could. After the train station we headed to the Taipei 101 building. Basically its the tallest building in Asia, and you guessed it, its 101 floors. The elevators were also incredibly fast. It took us about 30 seconds to travel 90 floors. Basically a roller coaster ride just to get to the top of the building.
So that was cool. After that we made our way to the Chiang Kai Sheik memorial hall. Oh btw we traveled by subway the whole time we were in Taipei. It was nice except for the fact that they were clearly not built for people my height. In some places, if I stood straight up my head would touch the ceiling. Also on the subway they have hand rails to hold for people. Nice right? No. They were right inside the subway doors and I would forget just about every time and hit my head on them. Very unfun. Whatevs. So the Chiang Kai Sheik memorial hall just so happened to be under repair for the weekend that we were in Taiwan. Awesome. We still could walk around the outside but we just couldnt go in it. So it wasnt all for loss.
After CKS hall we made our way to some museum that had a bunch old cool stuff in it, thats really all you need to know.
And after that we went to another night market. This one was huge. Not sure exactly how big but real big. They had lots of delicious food to eat and some not so delicious food. At one point i thought that some one around us had pooped their pants cuz it smelled so horrible. I was wrong. Stu informed me that it was some type of food that was giving off the horrible smell. Now why would anyone wanna eat something that literally smells like poop? I have no clue, they eat dog here ok.
Day 3 was an early start. I think maybe 630 or so. But we had to catch a train so we could get to the south in time to make our tour. Looking back im glad we woke up and got the tour. Taroko gorge was by far the coolest thing in Taiwan. Basically its like a tropical grand canyon. Pretty amazing. While we were in the gorge we stopped at about 4 or 5 different places to walk around and take pics. It was really beautiful and amazing. Looking back, if we could do it again we would do this day differently. We would rent mopeds and then moped around the gorge for the day. Then we could be there for as much or as little time as we want.
On the 4th day we headed back north to Joashi. Apparently its famous for being one of the only places in the whole world with natural hot springs. So basically the water is naturally warm/hot. However, it is now a tourist attraction so u have to go to like a resort to get the natural hot springyness. Whatevs. We did that for the day. It was a nice relaxing day after the first 2 which were packed with doing something constantly. That evening we got a train back to Taipei cuz we had a flight at noon the next day.
For our last day in Taiwan we went to check out a few temples and then made our way to the airport to get back to Korea for school the next day. Our flight flew from Taiwan to Shanghai and then we had to switch airports in Shanghai and fly to Incheon from there. Seems like it wouldnt be a problem. Wrong. We landed in China and because we didnt have a visa to travel in China they took us into some back room to make sure that we werent trying to sneak into the country. So for about 30-45 mins i was playing out different scenarios that could possibly occur. Missing our flight? Detained in China? Sent to jail? Murdered? Yes, all those thoughts crossed my mind at some point. I mean its China. Who knows what will happen.
We were finally allowed to leave and took the subway to the other airport and barely made it onto the flight.
I was asked if I would return to Taiwan. Its hard to say. It was a really cool country and glad i went but would I need to go their a 2nd time? Probably not. With that said I would recommend stopping there if you ever get a chance to. 안녕
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