Taiwan 🇹🇼

Completely unexpectedly and never on my travel plan, if there is one, I ended up in Taiwan for almost a month. Since New Zealand, I haven't written a summary of the whole country because I've mostly already written my thoughts in the corresponding posts. Of course, I've also written my thoughts on Taiwan and the individual places, but Taiwan in general touched me so unexpectedly that I wanted to write a few words off my chest. Each of the 9 countries I've already visited has fascinated me in its own way and Taiwan, like New Zealand, has impressed me a little more than that. New Zealand was the first country that was very special to me and now Taiwan too. Two countries that couldn't be more different!

Taiwan, however, was not a country where I thought from the very first moment: "This is it, I feel at home here!" At first I actually found it a bit difficult to get used to everything here, but as soon as I saw a bit more of the country and got out of the cities, I really got to know it and love it. I never planned to stay here for so long, but in the end I wanted to see more and more and I ended up staying here for a month. As always, I arrived here with almost no expectations, but I still thought it would be similar to Japan or Tokyo in the cities. I was all the more surprised when it turned out to be the opposite. It was neither sterile in the cities nor really modern. The same thing, however, was that almost nobody spoke English. But hey, you get used to that too and learn to communicate in all other ways. I was particularly impressed by the nature in Taiwan. Everything here is super green and there are huge forests with ancient trees. I have never seen so many waterfalls and small streams without having to hike there specifically. Taiwan is generally very, very rich in a wide variety of nature and a real outdoor paradise. One national park borders the other and it is impossible to decide which is more beautiful or better. On the one hand because they are often so different and on the other hand because they are all somehow breathtaking. The sea and mountains are so close together that you can almost always see both. The highest mountain in Taiwan is higher than the Grossglockner at 3956m and thus the highest mountain in East Asia and yet nobody knows it. Oh yes, because basically nobody knows Taiwan in general. The few travelers you meet in Taiwan are all long-term travelers with lots of experience and adventures in their backpacks. Which also influences the whole travel experience quite a bit. For me, it was a very welcome change from the many travelers you otherwise meet in Asia. Even if only a few local people speak English, those who do are super friendly and warm and it is not uncommon for you to be invited for tea or something similar. Taiwan is really very modern in many ways but not in so many others. You can definitely see and feel that they are trying to modernize a lot at the moment, especially in the cities, and there is construction going on almost everywhere, but I feel that this way of thinking has not yet reached the population. Sometimes it felt as if two different worlds and lives were taking place in one place, but they didn't even know each other. But I think it was precisely this diversity that made it so special and unique for me here. Taiwan gave me so many different impressions and also let me learn a lot about myself. A country that more or less came to me from nowhere and ultimately left so many footprints in me. Taiwan is therefore a country that is really very underestimated but hopefully will remain so unknown for a long time to keep the magic! ✨