Hello from Taipei, Taiwan,
Flying from HCMC to Taipei normally would take about 2 and a half hours, if we had flown direct. However, due to the odd departure times and expense of the direct flights, we ended up flying backwards an hour and a half to Kuala Lumpur and then, after a 2 hour layover, forward for 4 more hours to get there. That took most of the day, arriving at 10:30 pm. Everything went as planned except that the transfer security agent in Kuala Lumpur confiscated my fold-up mustache scissors (that I have been taking through security for more than 15 years)…. “No pointy allowed.” I guess I’ll just have to look a little ragged in these travel photos from now on.
Getting around in Taipei is easy. They have a wonderful subway system that goes everywhere for a small fee. If you buy a “smart card” (somewhat equivalent to Seattle’s Orca Transit Card) to use in the subway, they give you a 20% discount on the fare. And, the smart card can be used on any transit system as well as in stores and for services. You can even buy coffee at Starbucks or goodies at 7-Eleven with your smart card. There are more 7-Eleven’s here than there are cafes in Seattle. On our street there were two across the street from each other. The subways are clean and heavily used by the locals. Lots of people everywhere, but the crowds move quickly through the system. The floors in the subway trains are white and kept very clean. They must scrub them every night. And, there are lots of services too, like special rooms for nursing mothers, assistants who walk blind people through the tunnels and lots of clean restrooms everywhere. In fact, there is an indicator panel on the outside of some restrooms showing which stalls are available and which stalls have “western” or “squat” toilets. There is no litter or graffiti anywhere. This was surprising to me because there were also no trash cans anywhere either. They just carry their trash with them until they get home and dispose of it then.
The first day here it was threatening rain, so we decided to head on over to the famous “Taipei 101” building. Between 2004 and 2010 it was the tallest building in the world. It has the second fastest elevators in any tower, topping out at about 38 miles per hour. They whisk you to the 89th floor in no time at all. Your ears pop on the way up. From the observation deck near the top you can see the unique stabilization damper that absorbs motion from tilt and sway of earthquakes and typhoons. It is a large ball, 18 feet in diameter, weighing 728 tons, suspended from the core of the building on cables. There is a very cool movie there showing it moving during a recent typhoon. The specialty drink at the observation deck is a “beer and mango ice cream float.” It didn’t sound too appetizing but, heck, they had a two for one coupon special, so we couldn’t pass it up.
We generally like to walk around in big cities seeing the sites and soaking up the culture. Beyond the help from the subways getting around, we averaged about 8 miles a day walking, one day topping out at over 10 miles. That day we climbed up 60 flights of stairs to the top of Elephant Mountain, overlooking the city. On the way up we passed a young woman wearing a banana costume. She told us that her punishment for losing a game of monopoly with her friends was to walk up the stairs wearing this costume. Some pix in the photo gallery captured the moment. Now, I sometimes feel a little old, like when I collapse into bed after walking up 60 flights of stairs, or hiking 10 miles around the city, but what REALLY makes me feel old is when a young woman on a crowded subway absolutely insists that I take her seat. I guess one white haired westerner must really stick out among a sea of black haired Asians. The people here are very polite and friendly. Early one morning, as we left our hotel, the store across the street had all its employees out on the sidewalk exercising before the day started. Taipei is a really safe city. There is very little crime or vagrancy here. It’s a really great city to hang out in.
One of Carol’s goals here was to try out the food stalls at some of the many night markets for dinner. And, of course, she was hunting for the infamous “stinky” tofu. She had done her research and we hit the jackpot on the first try. Stinky tofu, marinated and cooked to perfection. Actually, it tasted pretty good, but it left this sewer-ey aftertaste in my mouth. To get that taste out of my mouth I had to get some ice cream. There was a place there that made ice cream by mixing liquid ice cream with liquid nitrogen in a mixer. They were also selling cookies dipped in liquid nitrogen. So I had to try both. The ice cream came out nice and smooth. But the cookies were something else. While chewing a cookie, the nitrogen would boil off and blow fog out my nose and mouth. It was a hoot. I did, however, end up with a minor nitrogen burn on the top of my tongue. We also tried meat cooked with a blow torch at he night market. There are some pics in the photo gallery you might enjoy.
Our first 4 days here we stayed at the YMCA Hotel. It’s a newly remodeled hotel in a great central location that has comfortable rooms, nice bathrooms and a reasonable $72 per night rate. The bathroom had a toilet seat that had a control panel on the side. Most of the buttons were in Chinese letters, with a few English words scattered about like “massage” and “power.” I was afraid to try it because I wanted to make sure I went home with all my body parts in tact. However, Carol had no such fear and jumped right on pushing the buttons. You’ll have to ask her how she liked it.
After the YMCA we moved to a B & B a little ways up the subway line, in a suburb famous for its hot springs, built by the Japanese when they occupied the island. We decided to try out the mineral baths and rented a private tub room at the local public spa. The water smelled of sulfur and after we got out I noticed that our silver wedding rings had turned black with tarnish. I was told that these mineral waters had a very special healing property that only this location and one in Japan had. It’s called “green water” because it has traces of radioactive elements in it. Heck, I blew liquid nitrogen out my nose (and probably my ears, too) last night at the night market, what harm could a little radioactivity do? I did, however, notice a little glowing in the room when we turned out the lights that night in bed. After the hot tub we were invited to dip our feet into a pool of water that had little fish swimming around in it. The fish were there to bite off all the dead skin from our feet. They looked like tiny goldfish, but I’m sure they were baby Piranhas. At first I was going to pass on this experience, but there were all these young ladies doing it, so I figured I’d give it a try. Heck, I had just taken a bath in a tub of radioactive water, what harm could a pool of baby Piranhas do? It was an interesting sensation. It felt like a prickly massage. After a few minutes, we had had enough. See the photo gallery for some pix.
There are over 8 million people living in the metropolitan Taipei area. So, almost everywhere you go there are lots of people going there too. Especially at the night markets, the crowds are so thick it is hard to walk through them. Every museum and tourist site has lots of people visiting. However, things are made to handle lots of people and it’s mostly tolerable. There is an underground city in Taipei that is so extensible it’s easy to get lost in it. There are underground malls that stretch from one subway stop to the next, all underground. One day we entered a subway station to ride one stop to our hotel. We accidentally made a wrong turn and stumbled into this underground mall and walked a mile underground, back to our hotel. A lot of people here wear surgical masks when out and about in the city. Signs and announcements in the subways ask people to wear masks when you have a cold. Many of them wear custom made masks that match their cloths. It’s a bit strange to be greeted by a hostess wearing a mask in a hotel or restaurant. They talk to you through the masks. It’s just a very normal thing for them to do, like me wearing a hat. Maybe it helps prevent the spread of sickness. It would be interesting to know if it does.
Well, that’s about it for this Asian adventure. More than visiting the sites and museums when we travel, we mostly enjoy visiting the culture and the people and discovering things that are unique and unusual in the world. This trip did not disappoint. Until next time……….
Be sure to check out the photos on the right and Carol’s blog below:
Carol’s blog:
https://carolapucci-tips.blogspot.com/search?q=taiwan
Later…….. your favorite travelers, Tom and Carol
Taipei Photos
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