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‘Well this kind of sucks,’ I thought to myself as I stood outside the locked front door of the building that held my new hostel. The doorbell didn’t seem to work, the telephone number didn’t connect, and here I was at 12pm with a giant pack on my back and nowhere to go. The breakfast of noodles I had eaten a couple of hours previous seemed further and further away as I stood there wondering what to do. You see, hostels in Taiwan like to keep their doors looked, all of them. It’s really commendable practice but it can be pretty frustrating on occasion.
It had all started at around 6am when my eyes opened on my first full day in Taiwan. After a few minutes of deep soul searching they closed backup again. Morning would have to wait until I was a bit better rested.
So let me try this again.
It all started around 8am that morning when after a full night of restful sleep I awoke refreshed and ready to go. The first order of the day was coffee, a bad habit I picked up when traveling around Japan. After that, food.
Luckily there was a convenience store around the corner and a small noodle stand on our street so both requirements for a good morning were quickly met.
My next goal was information. I had heard something about a rail pass for Taiwan and I was eager to learn more. For six years I’d been denied one in Japan and if there was a chance of getting a rail pass here I wasn’t going to miss it.
The help desk at Taipei Station was a fountain of useful information and with my buddy Tomoharu in tow I picked their brains. The fruits of my labor, a stack of maps, timetables for buses/trains, and a general plan for the Taiwan leg of my trip.
About halfway through my inquisition Tomoharu headed off with another one of my new friends, Shuho, who was staying at another place. They invited me along but I felt that our trips lay on two separate path and politely refused.
That brings me up to the locked door and my problem of getting in to the building. While I stood there pondering what to do resident stepped out giving me a moment of opportunity that I didn’t miss. The only thing was that once I got to the front door of the hostel inside the building it was, you guessed it, locked.
However, once again waiting worked and within a few minutes another guest stepped out giving me access to the inner sanctuary. The next issue, no staff was on hand to check me in but at least I could wait in AC this time.
With my housing finally in order about an hour later I figured it was time to do some sightseeing…after a bit of lunch that is.
The corner noodle shop and its customers must have been pretty surprised when I stuck my big white face in nbut my desire to eat was easily understood. I had no idea what they said to me but with a bit of pointing and hand gestures an understanding was had. A hot broth with this square noodles and friend pork was set in front of me once I got a seat in the crowded restaurant.
The C.K.S Memorial was, how can I describe it, amazing. The scale of the buildings were immense and the architecture stunning. The monument itself sat like the Taj Mahal at the end of a long cement tile mall. The entrance way to the grounds was a giant gateway reminiscent of ancient China. I won’t say it was a moving experience as I strolled around but it was stunning.
There was of course a museum to honor Chan Kai Shek but the real treat was the art show hidden in one corner of the building that I stumbled upon. The painting sI saw there were not just beautiful but moving as well. In all my years of traveling I had never seen such awesome work, not even as replicas in souvenir shops. As I wander through the galleries the thick scent of multitudes of flowers followed me. ( A custom in Asia is to give a large bouquet of flowers to a person/company when they open up a restaurant, have a show, start a business, etc.)
With a couple hundred pictures safely tucked away on my memory card I was off in search of new boots. As I browsed a series of stores with hiking gear near Taipei station I was surprised by how similar the prices were to the US. Anything with a brand name was well out of my budget, or rather everything unnecessary to my trip was out of my price range.
The next couple of hours until the night markets opened up passed quite quickly as I sat in front of Taipei station enjoying some milk tea while scribbling away in my notebook. I was only bothered once and it was by two quite attractive women. The only thing was that they were trying to sell me a piece of useless plastic trash for a steep sum. After ten minutes of trying to get through to me in Chinese they finally gave up and left me to myself. I watched them for quite a while as they made their rounds to the various people sitting around.
I stood up and stretched. It was time to head off in search of the infamous Snake Alley night market where they handled and served cobras as snacks. Snake blood, bile, venom, meat, you name it was served fresh in stalls along the street and there was no way I was going to miss that. Whether or not I was going to try any was another story all together.
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Hey Mike,
Ill be in Taiwan next week for only 2 whole days – whats on your “most highly recommended places to see in taipei on a budget” list?
been readn some of your stories and avoiding having a shave seems plausable.
I would recommend Juifen, it’s only an hour and a half from Taipei, or if you have a little more time Taroko Gorge in Hualien. After that, there’s a lot to do in Taipei in the way of night markets and culture.