Travel in Taiwan

***Video***

I'm just back from a trip to Taiwan with many stories to tell! My favorite things about the country were the People, foods, and natural wonders. So over the next few posts, I hope to talk about these things. First, though, I'll give you an overview of the trip.

228 Peace Park

Taiwan has long been on my list of places to go. In college I had a work-study job where I worked with a Professor cataloging his slides of Taiwan and China. He would tell stories about them as we looked through little lupes at the beautiful images inside. So after almost 3 years, I finally got the chance to go there for myself. My travel buddy was a fellow ALT and friend, Jackie, who I became friends with through my English church. She's into cute things and singing in public. We got along pretty well.

The trip began in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. We went to some museums, a really cool performance of the dragon dance and Peking opera, saw parks, and split up a few times to see different things. Taipei was probably my favorite city because it had all variety of things: nature, history, food, and good transportation. I could easily have spent a few more days there.

Dragon Performance at the Taipei EYE

After Taipei, we traveled southeast to Hualien. This is a little smaller city, but big for the relatively underpopulated area. Here we were right next to a giant national park, the Taroko Gorge. I was really glad that Jackie didn't shy from exercise, cause we did a lot of walking there! Hualien itself wasn't that amazing of a city, but it was in close proximity to a lot of good daytrip locations in the countryside. I wish I'd known more of them when planning, but it was good to have a little more downtime here in the middle of our trip.

The last main city we stayed at was Kaohsiung down south. I'm not sure if it was the hoppin' hostel we stayed at, the late hours the city kept, or hanging out with a young Taiwanese girl, but I got the impression of a modern, young city here. There was so much life! Here we saw a giant Buddhist monastery and some ornate temples around Lotus Pond. I loved looking at the architecture and design of these places, but going inside the shrines there was a lot of spiritual energy around all the statues and idols. Kind of uncomfortable. Also from Kaohsiung we took a daytrip to the old capital, Tainan. We learned about the history of Dutch trading on the island, saw thousands of flowers blooming in a park, and went into even older temples.

Every day was packed to the brim with things to do. I felt like I was eating constantly, but came back having lost a little weight from all the walking, hiking, and biking we did. Things are cheaper in Taiwan, but I had to keep reminding myself that that didn't mean they were cheap. I hope I can come back some day!

Dome of Light at a train station in Kaohsiung