This one has been on my list for a while, and with cheap flights from Manila, and Taiwan pulling out of winter, it was time! Welcome to Taipei! I got in at around 1am. To be honest, I really didn’t know much about Taiwan going in. I know some of their history with China, I know it’s generally considered a nicer, cleaner, better English speaking version of China, and I know that people have told me that the foods in the night markets are great. That’s about it! As I’ve spent a decent amount of time in China so I guess it’s a bit surprising I’ve never been to Taiwan before, but here we are…
I went straight to a nearby travel hotel and crashed, and then took the high speed rail (HSR) into Taipei the next morning. Emerging from the main station I wasn’t totally sure what to expect, but definitely strong China vibes! An old lady selling steaming buns right next to the exit, the way the billboards are attached to the buildings vertically, and mainly the style of the buildings themselves – they have this distinctive tiling, always seemingly slightly worn out and gritty, and windows with cages where people put potted plants and hang laundry. And the weather was gray and cloudy, which was the usual weather when I taught English in Guizhou.
A bustling weekend flea market in the old town
The area next to the station was an older part of town, which is great because I love the older parts of town. But the streets were wide and clean and on the ground level of these worn out looking buildings were all very nice, brightly lit, glass windowed shops. My guesthouse was next to a Patagonia store. My accommodation was a cube style dorm room, but like Japan and Korea, these dorms are really nothing like any backpacker dormitory you’d find in SouthEast Asia or Europe. It’s mostly Taiwanese guests, most are younger, but many are businessmen. Everyone is extremely quiet, nobody talks in the room. Each bed is it’s own small living space, with enough room for some luggage, a bit of shelving, a little lockbox, lights, and of course power outlets with multiple types of plug ins. Bathroom slippers, toiletries, towel and robe also provided. And the bathrooms are spotless.
Seeing normal middle aged people staying in these types of shared living environments made me think of how difficult and expensive it is to travel around the US solo. Outside of few major cities, hostels are virtually non-existent, and even then more geared to a young international traveler. If you are traveling in the US for business, like I often do, the options for a solo person on a reasonable budget are pretty abysmal. Any decently rated hotel is generally well over $100. The cheapest options (which aren’t even that cheap!) are always shitty motels outside the city on the highway, and those are often not very nice places, run down, with some less desirable tenants, with many people just forced to live there semi-permanently because they can’t find anywhere else to live. Hell I consider myself a pretty desirable tenant, can pass a background check, a credit check, have money in the bank, and I’m pretty sure I would still struggle a lot to sign a lease at a nice place without proof of employment or a strong rental history in the US with recommendations. So I can’t even imagine what it’s like for some of these other people. motel. Nice shared accommodation in the heart of a city >>>>>>>>>>> run down motel outside the city on the highway.
The entrance to my hostel/guesthouse in Tainan
Shared kitchen
6 person room
I don’t need this
In Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, it’s incredibly normal for a business traveler to stay in these cube style dormitories. And why not? Just like in the US, hotels in major metros are expensive. Not everyone can afford hotels like this, and even if you can, for many people, myself included, it just feels like a waste of money. I just need somewhere halfway decent to sleep. It is so nice to have an alternative! I mean even if hotels in the US had some smaller rooms, priced for one person that would be amazing. In Japan they have hotels with tiny rooms, a twin bed, bathroom and that’s basically it. But even though they’re small they’re nice, they have flat screen TVs, coffeemakers, fridge, modern bathrooms, nice towels. It’d be spectacular to have options like this. It feels so incredibly wasteful and inefficient when I’m in a big room with two queens beds. Do I need all of this extra space? Absolutely not.
Anyway, back to Taiwan, the place I was staying at would certainly provide me with a good nights sleep, although meeting other international travelers, probably not so much! I set out into the drizzle to get a SIM card, and from there it seemed like a pretty good museum day. Taiwan actually has a great museum with very old and rare Chinese antiquities. They were brought to Taiwan by the retreating Nationalist armies in the 40’s and thus were able to escape the fate of most ancient artifacts in China – getting destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Although lots of the most important things are old books, scrolls and the precise calligraphy used in them. As people who write with the roman alphabet, it’s quite hard to fathom how important Chinese writing and each individual character is to Chinese culture and how fundamentally intertwined they are. Pretty fascinating.
Next it was on to the Chiang Kai Shek monument, one of the most recognizable places in Taipei. The drizzle had stopped but dark clouds still loomed, which felt fitting. From there I wandered my way over to the Longshan Temple, the most important religious site in the city, which is also in one the oldest parts of town, and I love just walking around the little alleyways.
Dinner was my first night market. The one closest wasn’t one of the bigger more famous ones in the city, and being a wet weekday night it wasn’t crowded, which was fine because I’ve heard the lines at night markets get crazy sometimes. First ting I saw was scallion pancake, delicious, then I stopped in the most popular looking place and ordered myself a tea egg, some fried tofu dish, and braised pork belly on rice. Oh man, what a good choice. That pork belly was just to die for, the sauce was so rich, it just melted in your mouth. Damn. Welcome to Taiwan indeed!
