Blogs from Taipei, Taiwan, Asia

Over the past 25 years, I have visited China, Hong Kong, and Macau, but never Taiwan. All of these can be classified as Chinese, but with a different history. Fortunately, Taipei is also served directly from Vancouver, so it became my City Tour for 2019. The trip didn't start well, as I misjudged the weather. I quickly realized this as I exited the airport for the subway, and nearly everyone had a jacket on and in some cases a down jacket. While I knew it wasn't going to be overly hot, I didn't realize how cool 18 to 20c can actually be when it is windy and humid. Some of the summer clothes I brought would not be needed. My other first impression was the cleanliness of the city. I really couldn't find a piece of ... read more

Arrival in Taipei was drizzly but it did not dampen our spirits. We were met at the port by our driver and 7 of us set off to see what this city had to offer. First stop was Lungshan Temple. The place was bustling with chanting, singing and praying. It was hard to know if we were interrupting or being disrespectful by watching and snapping pictures but no one seemed to mind so we went with it. There was also tonnes of food laying about. We came close to snagging a quick snack, but correctly thought better of it - the Gods need their sustinence. It was a national holiday in Taiwan and maybe this is why this temple was so busy. After this stop we took a gondola ride up over the hillside tea growing ... read more

Moj posledny den na taiwane. Sice de facto posledny bude zajtra ale to je len presun na letisko. Chrapal som az do 9/30, vybehnutie na ranajky do 711 a nazad do postele. Ubytko nakonec opustam az po 12/00. Smer severna brana a stara posta. Nakonec som si to rozmyslel a mincu nekupujem, kupim nabuduce, bo mam taky pocit,ze na taiwan sa isto este vratim. Vonku bolo dnes vacse teplo nez vcera. V ubytku nic nerobenie a cakanie na 15/30. O 16/00 mam stretko na nabrezi rieky tamsui. Dadaocheng pier plaza. Tuto oblast poznam z minula ale vtedy som bol na opacnej strane a moc ma to nenadchlo. CS i ja prichadzame na minutu presne. Je tu par stankov s pivami, francuzske, thajske, talianske. Kotvime na malej plechovke peroni za sialenych 120td. Opat som cakal,ze to bude ... read more

Rano toastove ranajky, miesto ananasu bol melon. Mohli dat radsej ananas. Spraveny check out, batoch nechani na ubytku. Recepcna mi dala kod od dveri aby som sa vedel dostat do tohto secret ubytka, pretoze kluc som musel pri check oute odovzdat. Dnesny plan ist kuknut na sever do mestecka Tamsui. V metre vyberam 1000td, dufam,ze mi to bude stacit ale ak nebudem chlastat malo by. Este ale musim vymyslet daky darcek pre ruri, zatal mam magnetku, to dam jej mame Nasadam na cervene metro a uz sa rutim nadzemou smer beitou, tu musim zmenit supravu ale farba ostava rovnaka. Vystupujem na konecnej, ta je vo velmi peknom tehlovom prevedeni. Vydavam sa po stopach ludi co idu predomnou. Nic zaujimave zatial, uzka ulicka a rozne obchodiky. V jednom mi davaju na kostovku keks. Po zjedeny hned otravuju ... read more

Ranajky toast, cokolada, arasidove maslo, lekvar, neaky salam /nevyzeral vabne/, ananas, musli a susene mlieko. Dal som si 2xcokoladovy a 2x arasidovy toast. Vsetko zapite horucim cajom. Po jedle presun do ok martu, kde kupene dva kolace. Na platbu som pouzil easy kartu bo tam mam dost penez, ktore zrejme na prepravu neminiem. Bus c.260 mi usiel pred nosom, tak cakacka 15.min na dalsi. Nastasti bol prazdny. Vyskakujem na konecnej bus stanici Yangmingshan. Islo sa pekne do kopca, na jednom useku kontrolovali policajti auta, kazde jedno. Kukali len dake nalepky na celnom skle. Na bus stanici sa stavam do ohradky kde uz kopa dochodcov pripravenych na turistiku. Do prveho mini busu c108 som sa nezmestil ale opat o 15.min dosol dalsi, tam uz bezproblemov i ked som stal. Medzi stropom a mojou hlavou medzera asi 5cm. ... read more