Walking The Streets of Taipei

Last weekend I headed up to Taipei. Most people in Taiwan think thedistance to Taipei is insurmountable, especially on a weekend trip. Idid, however, overcome the obstacle of distance and make it there viathe overnight bus. The trip itself is about 500 kilometres or less andtook no more than five hours with the bus stopping about six times topick-up/drop-off passengers along the way. The bus can only bedescribed as luxurious. For about $20, you received a lazy-boy likeseat that seemed to recline endlessly and would massage you at will.You had your own personal TV complete with the ability to play videogames plus a bus attendant with a call button who would bring you acookie or tea at any time. I would say this bus ride was the bestbargain I have found in Taiwan to date.

Feeling a little homesick, I opted out of the traditional hostel routeand decided to splurge on my last trip on the island and get a nicehotel room. I found a five-star hotel with a sweet last-minute deal.It was heaven. I arrived and was greeted with warm, friendly,English-speaking individuals!! This was probably the single mostexciting part of being there – locals who spoke perfect English. I wasable to ask them how to get around, what the good places to see wereand even where to get good food. The other very exciting part of thishotel was the shower head was actually above my head. In my apartmentand at every other hostel I have stayed at since I began my trip toAsia, the shower heads have come no higher than my shoulders. This mayseem like a small thing, but given the amount of time I have spentducking in the showers of Asia, it was heaven. I stayed in the hotelfor one night and I had four showers. Perhaps that will give you anindication of how exciting it was for me!!

Moving beyond my hotel room, I did actually go out and see the city ofTaipei. I decided to travel the city the good old fashioned way – onfoot! In some cases, I did hop on the MRT (their subway system) to getto the places that were really far away. My immediate impressions ofTaipei were that the city itself was very similar to Kaohsiung, thecity where I have been living. They are both big cities with lots ofscooters and lots of people. Taipei does, of course, have some verycool attractions that Kaohsiung does not – foremost among them: Taipei101.
Taipei 101 is modeled after a bamboo tree and stands, yes, 101 storiestall. It is new, modern and currently the tallest building in theworld. The bottom six levels comprise a modern, high-end mall that mybrother Jason would love! The upper floors are office buildings withthe 89th floor reserved for tourists to see. I was a tourist, so Iwent up the fastest elevator on earth to the 89th floor. It was prettycool!

After that I walked to the world trade center and around the downtowncore for a while. The department stores were flush with Christmasdecorations in an attempt to boost December sales in a culture that,for the most part, does not celebrate Christmas.
After much walking, I became fatigued and was just ready to relax. Istumbled upon a Starbucks, sat down and read my book for about 45minutes. Feeling refreshed, I made my way over to the biggest nightmarket in Taiwan.

I took the MRT and once I got off, my personal space was immediatelyinvaded. The night market was about six blocks long and four blockswide. The entire expanse of the night market was littered with people.It took me an hour and a half to walk down one street and up the other– a total of 12 blocks. There were more people packed into this onenight market than I have ever seen in my life. Couple this with theweird smells and I was fully ready to go by the time I had walked my12 blocks.

I then made the journey home, stopped at Pizza Hut to get some pizzaand headed back to my hotel room. I had another shower and went tobed. I slept in, had another shower, ate my complimentary breakfastand walked around a little more. Shortly after my walk, I took anotherone of those fantastic buses back to my home in Kaohsiung. All inall, it was a very fun trip – perhaps the most fun was the bus ride and the hotel room!!!