Taiwan - surrounded by mountains

My next trip took me to Taipei. It's been a while since then, but due to exams in recent weeks, I had little time to focus on a new post. But better late than never!

So on Friday, September 29th, I made my way to Taiwan. I arrived at the hostel around noon, giving me about half a day to explore the city. Shortly after my arrival, it became clear to me that Taipei was very different from what I had imagined. I expected a modern city, similar to Seoul, but Taipei was much more chaotic and much more Chinese than I thought. It was also much warmer than in Korea, which took some getting used to at first. Nella, my roommate who had traveled to Taiwan with me, and I took a short exploration of the area and headed to Dihua Street, one of Taipei's attractions. This is an old street with many small boutiques and traditional Chinese shops.

We then went to a pier on the Danshui River, which flows through Taipei. Unfortunately, we couldn't admire a great skyline here, but we were able to take beautiful photos at sunset and escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Our last stop for the day was a visit to one of Taipei's night markets, which sell all kinds of Taiwanese dishes. However, we didn't try anything that evening, maybe also because the smell of Stinky Tofu, a fermented and pickled tofu, filled the market.

The next morning took us to Taroko National Park in eastern Taiwan. We had set out to explore not only the city but also the beautiful nature of the country, so we booked two nights in a small hotel on the edge of the national park. The journey consisted of a train ride to Hualien, a city on the east coast, and a bus ride to the park, during which we fortified ourselves with the typical Taiwanese "Fried Rice". It was served to us at a small stand near the train station, where we sat on plastic chairs by the street, which reminded me a lot of Thailand.

In the coming days, we went on many beautiful hikes in the national park, which stretches through the Taroko Gorge. The most beautiful trail led us along a small creek to the cliffs, and at the end of the approximately 2-hour hike, we were rewarded with a refreshing dip in the water.

After returning to Taipei, we continued to explore the city. This included the Bao'an Temple, where we were surprised by singing crowds, probably during a ceremony, the Huashan 1914 Creative Park, a shopping center consisting of old factory buildings that houses many modern stores, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a monument dedicated to the long-time president, the palace in the north of the city, which, however, only has a crowded museum besides a beautiful park, and of course the Taipei 101 Tower, which impressed us with its exceptional architecture, but which we had imagined a bit taller. We spent our first evening back in Taipei on a night market again, this time the Rahoe Street Market, one of the oldest in the city. And unlike our last visit, we tried some specialties this time, such as pork-filled dumplings, dumplings, fried chicken, and Taiwanese pancakes, which tasted the best to us.

Our last excursion in Taiwan then took us to Jiufen, a mountain village on the coast. Although a little crowded with tourists, we were able to get many beautiful souvenirs here and enjoyed the view of the valley and the sea from a restaurant located on the mountainside. Definitely worth a visit!

The next day, my journey finally took me to Shanghai! But I will write about that in the next post.

It's slowly getting cooler in Seoul, and after a wonderful visit from Mom and Dad, everyday life is slowly returning after the exams. But I will also describe the visit in a later post!

Until then, 안녕!