Driving Miss Karen

A blog about our travel

Lovely Little Taiwan

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Like India, Taiwan was not on our original itinerary. It was a nice stop before Japan and since China was closed to travel, it was our chance to go to a Mandarin speaking country. There are no big famous sights in Taiwan. Taipei 101 is now the 6th tallest building in the world and the island is relatively small and mountainous in the center. In spite the lack of blockbuster sites, we really enjoyed our short stay in Taiwan for much the same reasons we enjoyed Thailand.

Chiang Kai Shek (or CKS to the locals) founded the country in 1949 after losing control of mainland China. He is controversial because like most dictators he ruthlessly persecuted his opposition but managed to keep the country stable and economically prosperous
I did a bike tour which started with a typical Taiwanese breakfast of egg pancakes(left), Turnip Cake (right), and a soy milk chaser. It was pretty good except the turnips
There are many temples and shrines in Taipei. Some big like this one and others small neighborhood shrines
Taiwan is clean and modern and surprisingly liberal. Western dress is the norm and same sex marriage is allowed
Our first full day in Taiwan was very rainy. I still did a tour but it was pretty tough touring weather.
Japanese cistern for fire-fighting
We did a night market tour on the second day
Less crowded than Thailand but the food was very good
Taiwanese are from China but have deep Japanese connections as well. To me it felt like Japan light or less conservative Japan
The temples were so interesting. Very efficient and ritualistic mixed with a lot of superstition. There is no set worship day or priest. You decide when to come and what you need to pray for
I tried the stinky tofu and it was really quite good.
Taipei 101 used to be the tallest building in the world. The area is full of Dior, Rolex, and other high end stores
We visited another temple in-depth before visiting the night market and then finally going to the affluent Taipei 101 area
Fanciest toilet I’ve used. Auto open, auto flush, what is wand clean? I did not find out!
Orderliness! People queuing to get on the subway
Safety! Six warnings on the escalator. My favorite is
“Hold the Handrail and Stand Firm”
Interesting things about Taiwan. Most of which I really liked

Jose

AKA Alfred

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