We have said this in every country we've visited, but we did NOT have enough time in Taiwan! There was so much we wanted to do and see, and when we arrived in Taipei, we found out about even more options! Although just a small island, Taiwan is packed with a huge mvariety of dramatic landscapes and natural beauties. After a month of jumping from one big and busy city to another, we did not expect to spend much time in Taipei, "just another city". Our impression of the city changed instantly upon arrival!
Our friend, Elaine, is originally from Taipei and made the amazing offer to connect us with her parents who are still living in Taipei. May and Robert opened their home to us, took us to a fantastic Taiwanese dinner, bought us a feast of exotic fruits to sample and spent time telling us all about their beautiful country and city. As in Korea, having a connection to locals made the experience so much richer! We ended up staying an extra night with them because we loved the city and the surrounding areas so much.
Dinner with the Chens
Taipei is the smallest big city I have ever experienced. It is very easy to get around, there are tons of fantastic restaurants, the people are incredibly friendly (and speak a lot of English), and it is quite clean and safe. The first day we arrived, we wandered out from the house that was ideally located central to EVERYTHING in the city. A hundred yards from the house was a beautiful park filled with hundreds of people from the community enjoying a skating rink, playground, running trails and basketball courts. I cheered Blair on as he played a couple games of basketball with the locals. We then made our way down to Taipei 101, the largest building in Taiwan. An outdoor performance of a children's play was being performed in the park across the street and the block was buzzing with families and friends enjoying the night out.
The next day we rented bikes from the city's bike share stalls and explored the rest of the beautiful city. In the afternoon we visited the Imperial Palace Museum that houses the largest collection of Chinese royal treasure.
Chiang Kai-Shek Mausoleum
After taking the time to explore the city proper, we took a day trip to the north coast to see Yehliu Park. What a tourist trap! We had seen photos of beautiful rock formations that form along the coast and create a unique natural setting. Unfortunately, they have made it into such a spectacle that you experience the site with a constant sea of people being shuffled through to see a bunch of rocks that have rope and stanchions around them. The most exciting part of the day was when we jumped a fence to hike to the end of the peninsula that was reserved only for bird watchers. We had a bit of peace and quiet and much better views! All and all a pretty boring day, but these things happen from time to time...it's pretty hard to avoid it on a trip like this!
The next morning we said farewell to our gracious hosts and caught the high speed rail to the west central part of the island--to Sun Moon Lake. The lake and mountains made for a dramatic retreat from the city life. We could have spent another two or three days exploring the trails around the lake and renting scooters to make the full loop, but we enjoyed the little bit of time we had there taking a cable car with expansive views of the lake, sampling the street food in the small villages and exploring the temples along the shore.
From Sun Moon Lake we made our way to the very south end of the island and visited an aboriginal village called Maolin in central Taiwan that was completely off the beaten path of foreign travelers. The day was a looooong day of travel! Bus, bus, train, train, train, train, bus. The final bus dropped us in the "town" next to Maolin around 7:30pm that was more like three run down businesses that were completely deserted except for a family eating dinner in their scooter repair shop. Without any clue of how to make it the rest of the way to the De En Gorge Ecolodge, we unabashedly interrupted their dinner to ask for help (we are getting much better at this). None of them spoke a word of English, but after much pointing at our phones and repeating the name of the lodge, we finally were able to get them to call the lodge to ask for help. With our ecolodge host acting as interpreter, the scooter mechanic offered to drive us there for $10 and we made our way deeper into the middle of nowhere!
By the time we arrived at the lodge, our terrible dinner had been sitting out waiting for us for 2-3 hours (in an open air building in the middle of the woods with BUGS everywhere), we had missed the guided night time nature walk, and our aboriginal host, "Big Head" that we had read rave reviews about gave us about 5 minutes of his time to point at a map and say we should go to two spots the next day and that it was a shame we had so little time there because we were missing so many things. We went to bed in a run down room with uncomfortable, dirty bunks feeling super disappointed that we had spent so much time getting to such a shithole. Also, that we had gotten there too late to enjoy any of the unique aspects of the lodge like hearing the history of the aboriginal tribe.
The next morning we woke up, had an equally crappy breakfast and set off for the first hike feeling pretty jaded. It didn't take long for our spirits to rise, though. The hiking trail that we had all to ourselves followed a river that wound through lush forests and groves of towering bamboo. After forty minutes, we rounded a bend and were greeted by a massive waterfall cascading down a cliff into a deep pool of turquoise water. Eager to take a swim in the refreshing pool, we started down the steep rocks along a rope that locals had rigged to aid in the descent. As soon as I hit the wet rock, my feet slipped out from under me and I slammed into the rock wall. Luckily, I was able to keep hold of the rope and avoid tumbling the remaining ten feet to the rocky river bed below.
Fifteen minutes later, after refusing to finish the descent, agreeing to try again, falling a second time and slowly inching my way down the slick rock, I finally made it to the enticing pool. Swimming in the cool water with the waterfall crashing down and not another person in sight was a rich reward that made up for the painful falls and the terrible day prior! Unfortunately, I slipped and fell AGAIN on my way out of the water and nearly broke my tail bone and sprained...or possibly broke my finger. Just call me "Grace", people.
Once we arrived back at the ecolodge, Big Head brought us to the main road to find our own way to his next recommended destination. "Try hitch hike", he says, "People are friendly, very safe here", and then he speeds off into the sunset. So, there we stand, all alone, at the corner of "Nowhere" and "WTF are we???" with a hand drawn map leading us to a suspension bridge. I shrug my shoulders, stick out my thumb and am shocked when the second car that drives by slows to a stop and beckons us to get in. I look down at my thumb in awe as if it had just turned water to wine--it actually worked!?
Three hitch hikes later, we arrive at the trail to a suspension bridge that crosses a massive gorge and has beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. We hike for the rest of the afternoon and then attempt to hitch hike to our bus stop to head back to Kaohsiung for the night. After a few minutes we get picked up by a woman and her two young girls. She is an elementary school teacher who lives near Koahsiung and she generously offers to save us an hour on the bus by driving us to her home town where we can catch an express bus the remainder of the way!
I can't tell you how many times already during our travels that I have been completely blindsided by people's generosity and willingness to help complete strangers. The news so often paints entire groups of people and countries and even regions of the world to be dangerous and evil people, but my faith in humanity is being restored bit by bit, over and over while traveling through Asia. Sure, there are dishonest and evil people to be cautious of, but as a general rule, I am being taught that people are much more good than bad.
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