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Published: December 18th 2008
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For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com The Kembels are out of place in Taiwan. We are loud, boisterous, crude, even belligerent, and visibly shocking in such a homogenous society. Between my tattooed father speaking in gangster-talk to Taiwanese elders and my tattooed sister speaking in yak-talk to nobody in particular, I had a bit of a handful. But we rocked it proud, and we managed to stuff so many sites and activities into such a short period of time, that by the end of it my family was left confused as to the details of what just happened.
My family arrived at 7am and Jen and Dad were suffering somewhat under the effects of jet lag. But over the next few days we managed to take in the various sites of the great city I live in,
Taipei. We visited the architectural landmark memorial halls of
Revolutionary heroes Chiang Kai Shek and Sun Yatsen, the trendy Japanese style glamorous streets and alleyways of
Ximending, elbow to elbow
Shida Night Market, and the most active site of worship in the city,
Longshan Temple. We also popped into my school so my family
could meet my mob of hyperactive students, as well as an art gallery to check out some local exhibits.
For snacks I got to introduce my family to the Taiwanese food court eating experience, where finding a table can be as difficult as choosing what to order, the Taiwanese
vegetarian buffet experience (I guarantee that Taiwan has more vegetarian restaurants then any city in the world, except maybe in India), where all food is weighed and a giant meal of faux-meats is never over 4$. And finally, we tried out the unique
Modern Toilet Restaurant, where the chairs are toilets, the sinks are toilets, the dishes are toilets (your choice of Squat or Western style), and the food is shaped like shit. This chain restaurant is becoming so popular that they are putting up new stores everywhere and expanding to Japan.
The single greatest thing about life in Taipei is the sheer number of spectacular scenic spots that surround the city. On the MRT line alone you can access hot springs, beaches, mountain and jungle hikes, and tea fields. We took the popular gondola up to
Maokong ('Cat Holes'😉, a scenic
tea growing area on a mountain overlooking
Taipei. I took my family to my favorite tea house in Taipei, where you sit on glass floors with a coy filled pool of water beneath you.
We also stopped and had a look at
Guandu Temple, my favorite temple in Taipei, because of it's pleasant open courtyard, beautiful facades, and tunnel running through the mountain which is filled with Buddhist statues and eventually emerges to a lookout of the nearby river valley.
Next we went north to
Danshui, with it's popular waterside street market where the river meets the ocean, and we enjoyed some deep fried ice cream on the street. From there we caught a bus around the northern tip of Taiwan to
Baishawan Beach, where we escaped the overbearing Taiwanese summer heat under the beach tarps on in the gentle waves. It was here that my father and Leanne also gave
Betel Nut a try, a mild stimulant that is very popular in Taiwan and makes you salivate abundantly and turns your teeth bright red.
We finished the day off with a dip in the
Beitou Hot Springs, one of Taipei's most popular and accessible public outdoor hot springs. Nearby is the very interesting
Hell Valley, the giant steaming pool that is the source of the hot spring water, before it flows in a river through the Beitou park and past the MRT station.
Next it was time to get out of the city. We caught a train from the station right by my house to
Hualien, one of the biggest (and only) cities on the ruggedly beautiful east coast of Taiwan. Here we rented a car and Dad gave a whirl driving in Asia, where it is not uncommon for two different cars to try to pass you at the same time, one either side of you, with oncoming traffic, on a sharp corner...We headed first into
Taroko Gorge, Taiwan's most famous scenic attraction (see another blog), where we camped right in the valley for the night.
Next we cruised down the coast to
Jiqi Beach, where we spent the night in a tiny A-frame air con hut right on the beach. After that we drove inland to check out
Sixty-Stone Mountain, famous for it's fields of vibrant orange
tiger lilies which are used for making Taiwanese tea and soup. Then we continued along the windy inland highway, passing an
Ami Kembel Family on Scooters
My family is pretty bad-ass, you must admit Aboriginal Harvest Ceremony. Finally we finished with a night at the annual
Taitung Music Festival, with art stalls, beer served in soup bowls, and live reggae music. Then after all this travel, we treated ourselves to a night in a hot springs hotel at
Chihpen Hot Springs south of Taitung.
Next we caught a ferry to (what I believe) was the highlight of our Taiwan adventure:
Green Island, a tiny lush island off the south-east coast of Taiwan. Upon arrival we rented some
scooters to get around, and it was a little terrifying for my mother, but she got used to it quickly.
It is hard to describe how beautiful it was cruising around the island, with clifftop highways, beautiful lookouts, cave temples, and great views across the sea to the Taiwanese mountains. We did some sweet dives off the port docks, feasted on all you can eat BBQ, and Jen and Mom went snorkeling. In the hotel we had some difficulty with the Taiwanese-style breakfast that was served, but Dad discovered that
three packs of strawberry jam makes fish porridge edible.
One of the definite highlights of a visit to Green Island is the
Chaojih Salt Rueisui Hot Springs
Our very hot spring bath in our hotel room! Water Hot Springs, one of only three of its kind in the world. The hot natural pools are located right on the rocky beach, so that waves splash in at the base and mix with the hot salt water. Laying in the springs at night gazing up at the stars is a surreal experience that cannot be matched. It was here that I also witnessed a beautiful moonrise like I have never seen while I was sitting in a hot pool with my mother.
We were forced out of bed early and off of the island due to an oncoming
typhoon, and Leanne got sick on the ferry ride in, along with about a quarter of the other people on the boat. We finished off our journey with yet another stay in a hot springs hotel at
Rueisui Hot Springs, but this time we had our very own hot springs bath in our hotel room. There is no better way to wake up in the morning!
From there the we headed back to Taipei, had a final dinner at a Beijing style restaurant, and then saw our parents off the next afternoon. Then Leanne, Jen and I flew
Shisha and Cocktails
Boracay, Philippines to
the Philippines, where we spent a night in shady
Manila, before catching a flight to the beautiful island of
Boracay, with it's famous
White Beach, consistently rated as one of the
top 10 beaches in the world.
The next 5 days is a blur, but I am sure it involved a plethora of
fresh mango cocktails, beach hookahs, suntanning, drunken swimming in the hotel pool, spotting giant bat colonies, and chilling in the reggae bar. Oh ya, and the beach too! Then one more night in Manila, and that pretty much sums it all up!
For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com
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Sarah
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