First we wrote this: “We made it through after three winters in 2023! Yes, today we bid farewell to several layers of winter clothes because, as we head toward the Tropic of Cancer, we don’t plan on seeing winter for a very, very, very long time. To fly four hours southwest across the East China Sea, we used a Jetstar flight today courtesy of a COVID voucher from 2020 so we only had to pay $160 for our two flights, plus a $33 checked bag fee thanks to their teeny tiny 7kg bag weight restrictions. And with that, we’ve officially hit our $1500 monthly allotment today as we arrive to another budget stretching country. Thankfully, January and March will balance it out beautifully!
Because of the cost it will be a quick nine nights in Taiwan, but we definitely hope to get a taste of this beautiful island. To kick it off, we’re settled into a cheap hostel for two nights in Taipei in which we have our first ever double bed within a mixed dorm room. ($18/night with two $25 Hopper credits.)”
The Reality: Day One
After a 3.5 hour flight, we arrived to the 2.63 million capital of Taiwan. We’d been eyeing the weather the previous three weeks and were ecstatic for springtime temperatures and sunshine. Unfortunately during our nine day visit we were disappointingly met with quite the opposite… Clearly we made the statement about ending winter a bit prematurely. But alas, despite our original plans for an itinerary full of hiking, we made the best of it!
As we took to the town in Taipei’s Ximending District the first night, we dodged a plethora of food carts, tourists in leggings and shorts (it is SO easy to pick out Americans) and a slew of motorbikes with multiple people and dogs on them. Thus, we were immediately reminded of a couple things…one, that despite the cool weather, we were definitely creeping toward SE Asia, and two, that we were no longer in Japan. In fact, we constantly, and maybe unfairly, caught ourselves uttering the words, “well, uh…that person is certainly not Japanese.” So, in other words, it was back to reality. 🤣 Welcome to Taipei, where in May 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
Taiwan, aka the Republic of China, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and also Taipei has the highest “two wheeled” ownership per capita in the world. Coming from a city with virtually no motorbikes, it was quite an auditory jolt, and a good preparation for our next stop in Vietnam.
We stayed in the touristy, centrally located Ximen neighborhood the first two nights because we had two free stays at the “Wow Hostel”, thanks to Hopper. And Wow!…our little plywood box was the most miserable hostel experience we’ve had in awhile! The people…errr boys… in our dorm room didn’t understand that door slamming is rude at all hours of the night, even though we witnessed two girls closing the door quietly (most likely Japanese ones…go figure.🤣) Ok, this one may not have been worth it, even for free.
Grabbing our first meal which was easily found by searching “vegetarian.” It was in a very hoarderish grandma-y shop/house but tasted pretty good and only cost us $3.50 for BOTH of us. A fruit juice and smoothie seller at the foot of our stairs. We were so happy to see fruit in the more affordable range after Japan.
How many wiener dogs can you fit on a moped? 😬
Street food…the Taiwanese version of a pancake, but stuffed with pork and veggies. We would soon learn that pork or beef are pretty unavoidable in street food, much to Mandy’s dismay.
Our first Taiwanese bakery. Neither item we got was as tasty as it looked.
Remember the days of dropping coins into a machine to try and fish something out with a stark metal claw which perpetually missed? Well, the Taiwanese are so completely crazy about these machines that they have entire arcades devoted to them and even put “useful items” like dishwashing detergent in them. Unless their teenagers are moronic enough to eat gummy-looking tablets here too…
One of these things is not like the others… 🧐
After wandering around Ximen, we checked out the Dadaocheng Wharf Container Market, a cluster of shipping containers turned trendy in Yanping Riverside Park, where we still weren’t willing to pay their beer prices, nor sit out in the cold…
…although the view of the distant mountains screamed “I have potential” which would become a reoccurring theme of our time in Taiwan.
A typical street in Taipei. You can see a mass of motorbikes waiting in the distant intersection and the signs, mostly in Chinese with a sprinkling of familiar corporate badges in English. And then we moved into Dihua Old Street which was sprinkled with lanterns, historic touches, and yes, more motor bikes.
Like Tokyo, they also had a sampling of animal cafes, but this one seemed to be only accepting of Labradoodles?!
A market devoted to making lanterns…a big business during Lunar New Year! Dihua Street was constructed during the 1850s. Since then and throughout the rest of the 19th century, Dihua Street has been an important centre for commerce in Taiwanese products and produce such Chinese medicinal herbs, fabrics, incense, and teas.
The lanterns were clearly decorated by children based on some of the clever stick figures and rainbows. Much better than a refrigerator for display!
Dihua Street by night
The king of Dihua Street, or at least this nail salon where he got his claws done.
And getting hungry for dinner, we meandered into our first Taiwanese night market called Ningxia. So we had some tough choices to make…
Would it be braised duck head? Or, fried balls of sweet potato?
As we enjoyed our balls, we sat down at a table still pandemic partitioned, and began to observe the passerbys, as they stood in line for grilled sausage which sounded “normal” enough. Oh wait…what’s that in the right hand corner of your menu? A digestive canal wrapped in a poop shoot? But, truth be told, our potato balls weren’t very satisfying either.
After passing a horrifically odorous “stinky tofu” stand, and somehow surviving, we realized that was one vegetarian option we wouldn’t sampling. So, deciding to follow our noses, we went to one that smelled nicer….what appeared to be a rice tortilla stuffed with “things.” Since a few selections were written in English, we opted for the one that said kimchi and confirmed there was no meat. But, the kimchi was indeed mixed with something that tasted a lot like pork…
It had been a long day. So, exhausted and cranky, Mandy grabbed a watermelon juice for $1, and we decided to go back for a cozy night of slamming slumber.
On the way…we encountered some fancy displays from tourism boards to add to the lights of Lunar New Year. They included a very elaborate one for Shanghai, one for our our much missed Japan and …and Guam! Ooooo…can we go there!?
The lights along the pedestrian boulevard in Ximen.
Bao-An Temple
Our guidebook said that if you’re gonna see a temple in Taiwan, then Bao-An Temple should be the winner. Since we don’t like to get too templed out, (or churched/mosqued/shrined) we decided to go with their recommendation. This temple, next to the Confucius Temple, was built in 1804 and is arguably one of the busiest and most beautiful folk-religion temples in Taiwan. It’s bursting with color pops, mythical creatures, gilded gold, ornate drawings and immaculately cut stone and very worth moving at a slow pace to appreciate all the elements.
The temple is remarkably elaborate and a national treasure to the people of Taiwan having achieved the status of a level two historic monument and being recognized by the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. It is flanked with detail like this throughout.
We immediately felt more calm upon entering this tranquil space after dealing with the constant bustle of the city. The Taiwanese believe that they are the descendants of dragons and since ancient times, sightings of Eastern dragons have foretold happiness, good luck and good fortune. This one was especially colorful and spewing water. Love how we westerners destroyed the happy undertones and made him fire-breathing and evil.
As part of the Confucius Temple, one can find a tranquil garden which is lovely for a meditative stroll.
2024 is the year of the dragon…people born in the year of the dragon are seen as charismatic, intelligent, confident, powerful, naturally lucky and gifted. Also years 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012.
The main temple. Lots of people were present due to the folk arts celebrations which go from March-May.
There was surprisingly a lot of craved stonework, but the most impressive of it was on the columns. Zoom in!!
Happy New Year! Chinese New Year, now often called Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. It is the most important holiday in China, and it is also widely celebrated in South Korea, Vietnam, and countries with a significant overseas Chinese population.
What unbelievable design and execution.
It’s hard to see in the pictures just has beautiful it was.
To get there, we took the Taipei metro from the Ximen station. We realized pretty quickly it was less expensive to pay for a single journey each time rather than get the heavily promoted “Easy Card.” ($1.27 both of us.) Also, it was a bit of a process to use the metro because the machines only took cash and then spit out a token for your ride. We then got on the train going the wrong direction, an amateur mistake, because it wasn’t obviously labeled. It seems the city may be a bit behind the times in their processes, although the ride itself was pretty efficient and clean.
Day Two: Ximen & Surrounding Areas
Taipei is a city we pretty much only knew of due to its world famous Taipei 101 building. However, on the first day, nowhere near the looming pagoda-esque skyscraper, we quickly discovered this city of 2.3 million is so much more than this. It has a tumultuous history, including a mid-20th Century violent massacre, which we just learned of for the first time. It also has really lovely parks and temples, a world class zoo, authentic bubble tea, great vegetarian options, some really vibrant street art and a restaurant where you can eat out of toilet bowls….
Our first stop would be the 228 Peace Memorial Park, and accompanying museum worth visiting. It is a tranquil park dedicated to the 2/28 massacre. It was a bit surreal to sit here admiring a TAIPEI topiary gazing at palm trees and eating our Family Mart breakfast in a puffy coat and winter hat (but at least it wasn’t raining yet.)
The 228 Peace Monument, is a unique centerpiece in the middle of the park, which commemorates the massacre in Taiwan during Imperial Japanese regime. The incident, which began at the site of the park in 1947, involved an uprising in which Taiwanese protested against the post-WWII Chinese government set in place by Chiang Kai-shek. Tens of thousands were killed in the following months.
The monument itself is solemn and tranquil and invites visitors to walk to the center of its water surrounded walkway via chromed lily pads. Once in the center, you can only hear water flowing from the pond to the underground below, a constant cycle of movement representing acceptance, compromise and forgiveness for what happened in the past.
Entering the Taipei Botanical Garden, our serene morning continued in the free eight hectare botanical garden, which was an idyllic escape from the city.
Blooms of the African tulip tree were sprinkled throughout and so beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, can’t imagine this lotus pond when it’s in bloom.
An orderly and succinct government building. Look at those bikes!
The Presidential Hall Plaza is the work place of the president of the Republic of China (aka Taiwan). Naturally it was encircled by guards so we didn’t go right up to take a photo to avoid looking like spies. Or tourists.
For lunch, it was very easy to type “vegetarian” into Google and be presented with multiple and exclusively veg options. Buddha bless the Buddhists. And most of them were full buffets in which you paid by weight.
Mandy’s plate, which cost a very reasonable $5.
After lunch, we stopped into “Milksha” a Taiwanese bubble tea chain for our first in the country. No surprise, it tasted even better there although we were initially presented with a menu board all in Chinese. Fortunately, the sales girl whipped out one in English when Mandy started making finger gestures to describe she wanted “balls” aka tapioca pearls. 🤣
Bubble Tea, also known as boba milk tea, is a cold, frothy drink made with a tea base shaken with flavors, sweeteners and/or milk with chewy tapioca pearls at the base of the drink. These pearls require a fat straw to Hoover up. And, yes, don’t give them to a 2 year old or a 90-year old with difficulty swallowing because it could definitely be a choking hazard!
Arriving to the Longshan Temple, which was built in 1738 by settlers from Fujian province, China, during the Qing dynasty. As one of the largest and most popular temples in Taiwan, it worships Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Goddess of Mercy, among many other Folk beliefs.
Originally built as a place of worship and assembly for the Han-Chinese immigrants, the temple now serves as the spiritual and religious center of the nation.
The energy was lively when we arrived with many visitors and we couldn’t help admiring the bold and festive lanterns hung for new year’s. And, like in Bao’an Temple the day prior, the mind-boggling pillars intricately carved from a single block of stone.
The bloomiest orchids we’ve possibly ever seen at Longshan Temple.
In 1945, Taiwan’s US allies in World War II bombed the temple by mistake…umm…oops. The main hall was utterly destroyed, but left the golden Buddha miraculously unscathed making the prophecy revealed once again. An elderly couple uttering prayers. Probably a good idea when Americans are around. Ha.
A street scene in Taipei.
Entering the Bangka Old Street, one of three official “old” streets in Taipei. It dates back hundreds of years to the first Chinese settlers in northern Taiwan and is home to the night market known for snake and turtle meat. Nope, we didn’t stick around to sample it. 🤣
The Bopiliao Historical Block is a well preserved block of 18th Century architecture well worth a wander. There wasn’t a lot going on at 1:30 in the afternoon, but several restaurants and shop seem to exude nighttime potential.
Within the block, we noticed this poetic pile of bricks. According to the plaque, “Standing at this corner of Centenary Street, you can imagine that for the past two hundred years, these red bricks have seen and undergone waves of change and progress – history has been made and industrialized civilization has advanced in their presence. This decorative art piece represents the culture we have created and the life we have experienced. We hope it will inspire you to dive deep and have an authentic look into our past and the present that we all share.”
Umm…now that’s a bit creepy….
Taipei not only has nice parks, they have very fun looking playgrounds!
A giant tribute to their favorite drink! If you’ve never had bubble tea, grab one sometime. It’s a Taiwanese treat that’s gone global and is so interesting.
This color-punching grafitti was found on “America” Street though we could not find one indication why it was so named that. Maybe it’s the colorful peacock paying a Taiwanese tribute to NBC? Or, maybe it’s the Asian face inside an Elmo puppet? Needless to say, it was a lot more Tokyo than NYC.
Continuing on in Graffiti Alley, which showcased loads of color, and some obvious talent.
Another crazy crane arcade. Thankfully Greg didn’t win Mandy any dishwashing detergent, or teddy bears. Both would prove obtrusive for a backpacker tiny house.
But if we needed a place to lighten our load, we found just the spot…indeed, the Modern Toilet…Restaurant. Ha, and you thought Japan had everyone beat in this department. Nope, at Modern Toilet as you sit on toilet stools, your shitty food, like molten chocolate brownie poop balls or toilet curry chicken (so…India?), is served in mini porcelain toilet bowls. You can also order a large Taiwanese Urine Beer, served in a mini bedside hospital urinal.
We were not interested in flushing away our money, however, so we just admired the views.
So, we continued to walk through the bustling street near our hostel and browse for less crappy food. And this is how we ended up at the delicious “Super Thai,” our first official Thai in Asia and a spicy reminder why we’re so very happy to be on this continent.
Day Seven: Back in Taipei
After three nights in Jioufen, and two nights in Hualien and the Taroko Gorge, we circled 3.5 hours back to Taipei by train ($18 total) in hopes of heading up to another national park called Yangmingshan, but the weather would have different plans for us. So, we continued to explore the city of Taipei during rain breaks, realizing how much it seamlessly blends old-world charm with modern marvels like Taipei 101. This iconic skyscraper was finished in 2004 and before Dubai’s Burj Khalifa surpassed it in 2009, was the world’s tallest building at…you guessed it…101 floors. Today, considering the pace of development in China and the Middle East, it is now the 11th tallest.
Taipei 101 became the world’s first skyscraper to exceed a height of half a kilometer. In case you didn’t know, by 2030 the world will have buildings that reach a whole kilometer…tall. We like the design more than most skyscrapers we’ve encountered, which claims to be a standing monument to ancient feng shui traditions and modern architecture. From the pagoda-esque shape of entrances to curving surfaces and colors, the building is designed to symbolize prosperity and good fortune.
Back on the ground, we realized Taipei 101 looks like a glimmering pile of Chinese takeout boxes with chopsticks through the center (the death pose of the chopstick world). And no, we weren’t ridiculous enough to pay $12 each to go to the top in the clouds. Although it was quite a bargain compared to the Burj, which is literally 9 times the price. But we did take a cheesy selfie from the bottom! We also ate (twice) inside the massive food court at the bottom which had a wide selection to appeal to any appetite and was very affordable.
Wanting to get some nature in, we climbed through Xiangshan Park near Taipei 101 to the very popular Elephant Mountain. The 30-minute hike up was easy because of the stairs, but also difficult to maneuver with the crowds.
The setting was really beautiful, as were the views.
However, it got a lot more interesting when we took a big detour and headed away from the crowds toward the palace, where we started seeing one zen garden after another and you immediately felt far, far away from people and the chaos below.
We then surprisingly ran into this sizable distinguished chap who is not labeled on the map, but with at least three stories on him, certainly deserves a Google marking. It was next to the gorgeous Songshan Tianbao Holy Road Palace and despite the tourist trap of nearby Elephant Mountain (which we also did), this area was completely desolate. We have no idea what he symbolizes or means, but he sure is dapper.
He is very near the Songshan Tianbao Holy Road Palace, which is tucked back into the park surrounded by a blanket of lushness. It’s definitely the most beautiful temple we saw in Taipei in terms of natural setting.
A Taipei cemetery terraced up the hill. So interesting how it was built.
And by this time of day, the top of Taipei 101 had virtually “erased from existence”, to quote Doc Brown.
A junior high school which looks more like a college campus.
That night, we headed to LinJiang Night Market for dinner. Here they really amped up their stinky tofu options by complementing it with poop shoot!
It’s understandable why these fries look a little concerned that no one wants to eat them with all the tasty options. 😕 We settled on some of their cousins by having sweet potato fries…
…while we giggled at the K-Pop Photography Shops, which is basically a Photo Booth of event coordinator dreams on steroids.
We continued the task of looking for something more to eat, and eventually went with the safe choice (because we’re in the “safe food prep land” of Taiwan and not Bangladesh) in the form of a vegetable roti. It was fantastic and cost $3. We’ve realized we can always count on the Halal vendors to get us through!
An ad that depicts publicly shaming someone who eats on the metro. 🤣
Arriving to our capsule hostel, called Work Inn, near Taipei 101. We liked this one substantially more than our first experience in Taipei and it was on budget at $25/night, and included a cozy double bed, a full size locker, and a kitchen with some lounge space.
Day Eight: The Taipei Zoo
Because the rains seemed relentless north of Taipei where the day ‘o hiking and hot springs lies, we bailed on this idea and found ourselves with an extra day in Taipei with no plans. Normally because we were exhausted, we would just embrace this and take a down day, but we were living in a capsule hostel so that wasn’t exactly an appealing option.
Thus, we found ourselves at “the best zoo in Asia” according to a couple sources. That said, we have to agree, it was phenomenal thanks to its interactive animal exhibits and variety…perhaps the best we’ve been to…AND at the bargain price of $1.90 a ticket.
We particularly like this zoo because of the ability to get very close with the animals. For example, in the Tropical Americas exhibit, cotton top tamarin monkeys, who are native to NW Colombia, were jumping freely throughout the giant jungle dome. This photo was taken at the distance of about 2 meters with no zoom. He could have easily jumped on our shoulders, but thankfully they didn’t seem to be THOSE rude kind of monkeys🤣 But, this guy seriously looks like the inspiration for Gremlins. And we don’t mean the cute Gizmo variety.
At the hippo exhibit, this gal decided to take a siesta smooshed up against the glass so we could scrutinize all her pores, blackheads, and chin whiskers. Oh my. She may need some assistance in the self-care department.
It’s only the most dangerous animal in Africa. Go for it, kid, have a snuggle!
A whole conspiracy of lemurs could also be found. Yes, that’s the name of a group of them, which also made us want to go to Madagascar all the more.
Can you possibly observe meerkats without singing Hakuna Matata anymore? (At least one of us can’t.)
Of course this zoo also has cuddly koalas…
…and endearing pandas. Although these pandas, unlike most outsourced from China zoo pandas, actually belong to the Taiwanese government.
This weird looking critter is a Malayan tapir, which is the largest in the Tapir family found in Malaysia and Sumatra. He looks like a cross between a pig and an elephant with half a trunk… a real life Wuzzle! We’d never seen one before so couldn’t believe how bulky he was.
The Tropical Americas Jungle Dome.
A type of Kingfisher.
This tortoise has had a rough day! While observing this, we’re not sure which was more entertaining…the tortoises fighting…or the Asians cheerleading.
And here is what a normal squirrel looks like in Taiwan.
The cement cage is a bit saddening around the rare white rhinoceroses, but they’re certainly a lot safer here than being poached for their horns in Africa.
This chimp contemplates if he needs a manicure, while an exhausted gorilla mother watches over her two rambunctious toddlers
Another toddler tries not to get eaten by a Grey Crowned Crane with quite a mane statement.
The bird exhibit overall was fantastic with Chilean flamingoes, salmon colored pretty birds… (yeah, no clue what the real name is!), a cluster of fake looking ducks with a flamboyant pigeon…
…and the ultimate aviary attention whore, who wouldn’t even let Greg pass until they each did a little “peacocking.”
Yes, this is evidently a pigeon. Uh. Not the uncivilized air rats that crap in every plaza worldwide. With its iridescent blues, coppers, and greens, this is the Southeast Asia “pretty pigeon” variety. Wow! Who knew?!
A more royal bird is the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, who loves to flash her tiara. Despite what her name and head gear may indicate, she is native to New Guinea, not Buckingham Palace.
The Chinese alligator is critically endangered. Yes, part of the reason is that they eat them.
A snake we’d rather not run into this year is the Burmese Python, native to Southeast Asia. They are one of the world’s longest snakes, and usually clock in around 5 meters (16 feet) long. Although they’re not venomous, it’s definitely one we’d prefer only see with an experienced guide!
Unbelievable! What a fun zoo! Definitely a highlight of our time in Taipei!
