Last Night in Taiwan

Back in Taipei, we spent the day and evening with Harrison. We went back to Taipei 101, bought lots of tea...explored a couple temples...had lots of food and drinks. As always, sad to say goodbye.

Now packing up, leaving early in the morning for the airport. Weird...

Green Island (Part II)

After trying to write about Green Island for a few days now, I've concluded with my time here I'm going to have to keep it simple. It was too much to get down succinctly at this point. Eddie, our South African host on Green Island called it paradise and, even with the language barrier, I have to agree.

The ferry was a little rough but we kept down our afternoon snack of steamed meat buns.

Our accommodations would have definitely challenge some people, but we did fine with it. I loved it. We stayed in a warehouse, tin roof held down with tires against the typhoons. Inside was concrete floor with bamboo partitions dividing the space into rooms eopen to the short drive way, road, and ocean. Showers were outside, separated by the same bamboo walls as inside. Inside the building next door, there was a kitchen of sink and double gas burner and the cooler of beer, meats, soda and snickers.

The day we arrived was quite windy, remnants of a typhoon in the Philippines. The first thing we did was get the scooters. Brand new scooters. Eddie took our bags to the hostel, and we drove ourselves. The  scooters were awesome!!! I might have run mine in between a metal traffic sign and a light pole. Damage = a crack and some scuffs on the front piece = $40 US dollars. After stressing that I'd have to pay for a whole new bike, I was totally ok with that. As cheesy as it sounds, the beauty of that island and it's shores stole all words, so sorry, I don't have much for you. Google Green Island, Taiwan. Maybe the pictures will scratch the surface enough to give you an idea. We'd putt-putt up a steep hill, and at the top - the scene...and the next was at least as beautiful. Always, every time.

Our first night Eddie hosted his last BBQ on the Island, as he is selling (has sold?) the business. Around the table was 21 people, Americans, French/Danish, Yukranians, Irish, Taiwanese and South African = the best part of traveling, especially staying at hostels. The conversation in those settings cannot be matched. Everyone walks away having learned something and, usually, with a different stride due to some preconceived perception blown to bits (or a new one made). We ate all the potato salad, coleslaw, and meat (steak and pork) we could eat, drank Taiwan Beer, Scotch, and smoked cigars. Dessert was tomatoes from the neighbors. So...good...and so much food.

The next day we lounged about, scooted about...the water was too rough to snorkel. We watched a lunar eclipse from our common living space overlooking the ocean. The second day we did snorkel - wooooooow. Close call at the first place we tried, the ocean was not so mellow, but the second place we tried had water so calm kids were out there. So beautiful!!! I could easily do that all day without thought of thirst or hunger, especially in the wet suit so we didn't even have to worry about sun burn. Which we definitely got. That night was the hot springs overlooking the ocean. Ahhhhh...so nice

The ferry back to the main island was much better than the first. The train back to Taipei got into town frustratingly late, but what can you do?

Green Island (Part I)

Our train was due to arrive back in Tapei at 10:30pm, which was late enough as it was, but proceeded to be an hour and a half longer. So it's now 1am, we've just returned from lunch/dinner at 7 Eleven (aside from some bun snacks and snickers, we've only eaten breakfast until now), and now we're going to bed. The end.

Dulan

This town's pretty sweet. An old sugar factory has been turned into artist and crafts(wo)men studios, a gallery, and outdoor stage with awesome driftwood mosaic in the background. The whole place feels very laid back, and more bars/restaurants seem to be more themed or individualized than in other towns. Unique. No rushing here, nothing to rush to. We walked to the beach this morning - aside from it being so hot at 9am, it was great. Sadly it had lots of trash, but what can you expect from the Pacific, I guess? Lots of young people (out age) around as well. Great town.

Today we head back to Taitung and ferry to Green Island. Every person we've talked to has emphasized taking motion sickness pills for the ride, so that could be interesting, especially for the guys who feel woozy after a bus or cab ride. The way people have talked about it, I'm even a little concerned and I don't think I've ever been motion sick from any of the traveling (including many ferries) I've done.

Walami Trail (Part II) (written Thursday on train from Yuli to Taitung)

Two main landscapes on the train from Hualien to Yuli was rice field, high rise mountain, or ocean, highway, mountain. That part of the country is where most of the farming is, especially rice.

We didn't end up staying at the bar, but at a hostel a 10 minute walk away. It had cats...3 that ran in and out and, when in, all over everything. Not my favorite (the nicest way I can put that). It was a relatively dirty place, mostly just from the cats, an the shower was a hose out of the wall in the same space as the toilet, no separation, so house shoes were especially appreciated here.

A common custom is to leave your shoes at the door then wear house shoes (sandals or flip flops) inside.

Our hike yesterday was an adventure and physical feat. We took a taxi to the national park info center, and our driver helped is complete the permit paperwork, even offering his cell as our emergency contact. Then he took us to the police station where we verified and completed our permit. Then he drove us the 6km up to the trail head, which we had originally planned to walk (that would have been awful - blacktop, in the heat, uphill). By the time we were 1/4 up the trail, I had large blisters on each heal and was walking with the backs of my shoes folded forward slip-on style. We saw several monkeys!!! Seeing them in the wild made me feel very different about zoos...And we walked several suspension bridges, so by the return trip they were by so freaky. No black bears or poisonous snakes so that was great. They had enough warning signs that we were all a bit timid about it. One, about the bears, told you what to do if one approached you. The English translation of the last step was, "Do not give up! Struggle to live!" The trail was beautiful, scenery dreamy, and the weather was perfect. Total, we hiked 20.5 miles in 9 hours. That includes a decent amount of picture taking, but only a couple 15 minute breaks. By the time we reached Walami (our turn around point) we were all dehydrated. But we made it! The last 6km was that blacktop mentioned above and, when we reached it, the first thing I did was take off my shoes and walk barefoot. It felt soooo nice. After about 2km of that I slid my shoes back on and it felt like I was walking on pillows. We finished the last couple km in the dark, and reached the police station at 7pm. They gave us water and called a cab back to town for us.

Today I'm surprised I'm not sore or stiff. Coming down the mountain it took a lot of mental effort to keep my mind off my feet (I'd put them on all the way for the descent) and my hips. Today we all feel well.

Yuli is in a valley surrounded by mountains. Today we train south and to the coast to Taitung and bus a bit north to the artsy-music-surfing town of Dulan.

Random cultural note of the day:
- When on an escalator, standing folks stay to the right, walking folks move ahead on the left, and people take that very seriously. There are no crowds to get on. Folks are very particular about lines, and make very neat ones to do everything. Get on the escalator, get noodles, wait for the bus, wait for the train, etc.Type A Angela really enjoys that. No crowds, no mess - which reminds me!

Second random cultural note of the day:
- All public places are so CLEAN. Far cleaner than US (yes, even Duluth) or Europe. From Taipei to small communities, from dark allies to the lowest level of the train stations, there is minimal, usually no, trash. People are constantly sweeping (even in the parks) and washing. I really didn't expect it. Type A me loves that at well.

My only hesitation in coming to Asia was the crowds of people but, in Taipei, a city of 8 million, it was less stressful than walking down the street during Duluth's downtown side walk sales. I also feel the safest everywhere we've been, so far, than anywhere else I've ever been. Ever.

I've heard that the cleanliness and friendliness is very much a Taiwan thing, China much less so.

Walami Trail (Part I)

Hike...so long...will write more later. Must sleep now.

Yuli

Made it to Yuli! Just under 6 hours on the train with a transfer in Hualien. Now sitting in the cafe/bar attached to where we'll be staying tonight, playing cards, waiting for the host to come back from the post office. I reeeaaally like it here...definitely the most rustic place I think I've been in, short of the slums in Istanbul. Add friendly cats, a 4-seater bar and a table made from glass laid over a bathtub on a concrete patio open up to trees, birds and clouds. The buildings are allow worn wood, as are the tables and chairs where we sit. It's pretty raw, but somehow it feels soooo cozy. Love it, so far.

Tomorrow is Walami Trail (Google it!). I just want monkeys and a freaky suspension bridge. The guys want to hike 24 miles, half of that straight up a mountain. Will report back if we make it the whole way.

Taipei 101 & Hot Pot

Yesterday we checked out Taipei 101, the 6th tallest building in the world. Yeah, it was pretty big.

For dinner we had all you can eat hot pot which was crazy tasty. Reed and I cook it at home, but the variety of things to cook in the broth here was really impressive. 3-4 root vegetables, 4-6 types of mushrooms, 4-6 types of greens, 6-8 other types of veggies, 4-6 different types of fish, crab, squid, shrimp, clams, mussels, octopus, 4-6 different types of noodles, 6-8 types of dumplings, 4-6 types of wantons,  15-20 things I couldn't recognize, 6-8 types of tofu, and I'm probably forgetting half of it. At the end of the buffet there were 10-15 seasoning mixes, spices, peppers, garlic and sauces to flavor you pot. We each had our own pot embedded in the table on an induction burner, filled with broth. You season it, bring it to a boil, and cook any of the above in the broth. Dessert was a whole other buffet of fruit. And a display case of tarts and cakes which we didn't even get to. Back at the hostel we played Texas Hold Em and had a beer from 7 Eleven.

Today we check out and head to Yuli as mentioned in last post. Internet might be more challenging in the next couple days, but maybe not. Most hostels, coffee shops, and 7 elevens seem to have wi-fi.

Wulai

No river tracing yesterday, but we did hike and swim around Wulai, up in the mountains around Taipei. It took a 35 minute bus ride, standing room only, 75-80 degrees, through switch back after switch back. I did ok aside from my shoulder being jostled so much trying to hang on. Others struggled more with the heat and motion. We took a cab back to town. The river water was cold, but not Lake Superior cold, so we jumped right in and started a little trend for the other tourists. There were many beautiful waterfalls along the way. One lady stopped us on the trail asking, "American?!American?!" Then proceeded to sing a song and chat a bit praising Obama and asking us to re-elect him for a third term. Or so the guys said - I could not understand her accent. Due to the language barrier we didn't explain how unlikely (unconstitutional, as Harrion pointed out) it would be to make her wish come true.

Food of the day included boar bacon wrapped around peppers, mushrooms and mixed with onions. Good stuff. Also a variety of sausages and some kind of bird...I couldn't tell you what it was but it was the whole bird, gutted, but eyes and beak remained. I think it was duck. All was good.

That night we wandered a few blocks before deciding on a restaurant next door to our hostel - HUGE ramen and rice bowls, definitely my favorite meal here so far. It was so much food, and Harrison was nearly done with his when they came and poored more broth into his bowl. It was one of the funnier moments of the trip so far, the look on his face, and Tyler and I stopped eating ours before they filled ours up again. Reed had the rice bowl - everything was really tasty.

Harrison earned bonus points for the team when he was able to mime for a to-go container for his extra filling of soup. Well done, Sir.

We finished the night at a bar/restaurant/bakery that the guys found the night before, when I went to bed early. They serve Belgian beers on tap, one of which is a tasty brown sour.

Today's a rest day. Much needed. I looked up the yoga studio down the block - they teach Bikram which is what a lot of folks in the states call "hot yoga." Not sure if I'll go for that or not. A foot massage sounds a lot more restful to me...

We also plan to solidify our itinerary for the next 3 days, as we left them open. Right we're leaning toward taking a train to Yuli for two nights to hike some of the Walami trail through mountain jungle - yes, JUNGLE, with MONKEYS. :) Then maybe a night in Dulan, a seaside artsy town with a black sand beach, before arriving in Taitung for our ferry to Green Island, our next base camp. We'll see what works out.

Tea Mountains & Dumplings

Yesterday we took a slow morning, trying to readjust from this jet lag. We met Harrison for lunch then trained out to a gondola (no glass bottom) and rode it to the top to where they grow tea. Had some street food snacks (grilled chicken with green onion and stinky tofu both seasoned with wasabi) and hiked further up the mountain. Great views of the city from up there - interesting to see how laced it is through the mountains. Shortly before sunset we picked a random Tea House, one that wasn't playing American ballads from the 90s and seemed less catered to westerners. Of course, in those types of places the language gap is more of a barrier, but they knew "tea" in English and that's all we needed. We went with Oolong, paid what the lady wrote down and followed her up to a deck which had to have been the best city view of any of the tea houses up there. She brought us a tray of porcelin cups that held about 2 tablespoons, a clay tea pot the size of a small fist, a clay pitcher the size of the tea pot, metal strainer, wooden scoop and wooden tongs. Then she wheeled over a cart with a propane tank on the bottom and a single burned on the top, with a kettle of water to boil. Apparently we bought a whole canister of Oolong as well. We all stared at the whole set-up a little while before I put the strainer in the tea pot and some Oolong leaf balls in the strainer like at home, right? No. She came back to check on us, looked at what I'd done, shook her head and said something that had to have been the equivalent of, "what on earth...no,no,no,no." She poured the few leaf balls I'd put in the strainer into the tea pot then added two large scoops with the wooden spoon. She put the strainer in the pitcher and, when the water boiled, poured it all over the outside of the teapot and filled it.  Almost instantly she turned the teapot spout down and set it in the strainer. She took it out, set it aside, and rinsed our cups with the tea. She repeated it, this time leaving the tea in our cups to drink. Has anyone seem the Sherlock show, the British version? It's on Netflix, and if not you should watch it. There's an episode which explains all of this, and apparently it's accurate. With each fill of the tea pot, the water poured on the outside keeps the clay from drying and cracking. Eventually, she even brought us an explanation sheet in English explained that the first dump is to make sure the leaves are clean and to warm the cups. We shared pot after pot and watched the sun set and city lights pop on. It was dark when we left for the city and dinner. Awesome day.

Dinner was dumplings. A common way to order food here is to look at a menu then put the number of desired items next to their name listed on a sheet of paper. Last night, the menu had English on it, but the sheet we ordered with did not. It took us a bit to compare the Chinese characters from the menu to the order sheet to make sure we ordered the right things but it worked out. We got fried pork dumplings (pot stickers, so far the most authentic Chinese food at home), and steamed pork, beef and crab dumplings. Yum. Yum. I do have to say though...The food's not what I expected so far. I expected a lot more vegetables and flavor. So far the majority of what we've had is steamed meat and bread so we'll see if we can mix it up a little bit.

Afterward I hit the jet lag wall again, this time with a pretty decent headache, so I went back to the hostel and the guys stayed out.

This morning I woke at 5, and though I try to sleep in to readjust to the time, I'm usually too excited. Today I stayed up and walked to the Memorial Hall park for t'ai chi. I found large groups of people excercising in ways that looked like warm-ups for it, but no t'ai chi. I joined one for a while then came back to the hostel. Reed was awake this morning too so he went for a run in Daan Park, kind of like a Central Park with a running track around the outer edge. Maybe I'll check there for t'ai chi tomorrow.

After breakfast we're meeting Harrison for river tracing (hiking up river, through the river). Should be good :)

First Day in Taipei

City noise woke me up Friday morning. I'm not used to cars, ambulances, scooters, construction, etc. outside my window. One thing I do love about city living is the balconies where you can create your own little nook of green space, which there is a lot of here. Nearly every balcony has plants, many rooftops have full sized trees, and the amount of trees along the roads is unexpected for a city with the population of New York City in 1/3 the space. Yesterday we walked through three parks which were pretty amazing. Some of the smaller parks squeezed in between the high rise buildings have massage rollers and exercise equipment.

There is a Hatha Yoga studio one block down...so that will have to happen. In one of the parks we walked through yesterday (Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall - google pictures of that!), there is early morning t'ai chi. That will also have to happen as it's only 2 blocks from our hostel. Across the street is a 7 Eleven, which seem to be every two blocks. They're like the general store - food, liqour, clothes and wifi. I tried some dumplings and I-don't-know-what's. I believe they were pork, shrimp and tofu. One was wrapped in cabbage - nothing crazy there. Except what's in the 'global' section of grocery stores (wasabi peas, shredded squid, etc.) are common snacks. We are liking the steamed buns with fillings ranging from red bean paste, sesame, pork, veggies, etc. Yesterday Harrison took us walking and on the train all around Teipei. Lunch was stirfry similar to hibachi but without all the show.

There are many things here similar to home. White lights strung up the trunks of trees among the roads, moms chasing kids running at the street, lots of cars... But there is also a lot that is so different - shops sell a strange combination of things (like the one that sells dogs and tires), food, language/characters of mandarin spoken and written everywhere, many people wearing face masks,  and flocks of scooters on the roads. The differences make the familiar things seem so out of place...
Like hearing a Rhianna song on the radio or a yellow lab at a repair shop.

In the evening we saw the school where Harrison works, his apartment, then went to a night market. Looooots of food vendors and some selling clothes. Harrison had us try a Vietnamese sandwich, Bhan-mi? I forgot what it's called...French bread with pork, pickled veggies and cilantro - so good! I also had BBQ bee sliced thin, wrapped around huge green onions and grilled. After THAT we tried out two bars. Something Ales sells craft beers and at Roxy Rocker you sift through shelves and shelves of vinyl records which the DJ will play. Seems to be popular with 'foreigners' which include mostly Americans, Britians, Chinese and South Afrians. We did end up leaving after just one drink because we were all struggling to stay awake. Maybe we can make it a bit longer tonight.

One thing we have noticed is with the humidity and temperature, dried cracks (even bloody ones) in our skin from Minnesota winter have pretty much completely healed after one day here. Relief!

I think our plan today is to take a gondola up a mountain. I heard it has a glass floor so we'll see howi do with that...I'm sure the two climbers (Reed and Tyler) won't have an issue with it.

For folks who don't know these names I'm throwing around, Reed's my husband, Tyler's one of his closest friends, and Harrison married us. We all know each other through a tangle of years and people.

The great thing about traveling the way we are (everything in one back back, bare essentials only, staying at a hostel, etc.) is the way it forces (allows) a person to live. If you only bring so many items of clothing (laundry's 10 cents a load, including detergent) and a few to no electronics, your choices are limited, so you have more time to experience the place. You have fewer excuses for distraction to live more presently. I think this is why it is such a relief to take trips like these - I can loose the materialism of our culture to live more simply and therefore more fully. Something I don't always have the self-discipline to do when padded in the comforts of home. Food for thought.

Taipei

Made it to Taipei..though it was more like 24-26 hours of travel...aside from that, Harrison picked us up at the airport and welcomed us to Taiwan with a beer in the cab on our way to our hostel (yes, it's legal here..)

Haven't been able to see much since it's midnight and have only had the cab ride, but we're excited to hit the town and start exploring in the morning. Apparently our hostel is on a street known for breakfast options, so we'll start with that.

Good night!

Tokyo Airport

Sitting in the Tokyo airport, waiting for our final flight of this 20 hour travel day, I have the following to say...mostly in an attempt to stay awake.

1) Let it be known that the female traveler in this bunch has the least amount of luggage - thank you very much.

2) Ecomony Comfort is worth every penny of the extra $150.

3) Interstellar and The Imitation Game are both two thumbs up.

4) The toilet seats in this airport are heated. In fact, they have more buttons and controls on them than  my car's dashboard.

5) We are all very tired...

-A

Countdown

In 36 hours we'll be on our way!