The Greatest Hits of ...
Trip Start
Apr 18, 2007
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Trip End
Jun 29, 2007
Taipei, Taiwan
Thursday, June 21, 2007
The weather was a hot and humid 29°C reminiscent of Brisbane, with a downpour around 6pm that cleared the air very effectively. We booked both a city sights tour and a night tour to take in all the standard tourist destinations by minibus. It was a good decision - the streets that appeared to be a simple grid on the map are actually wide boulevards at least 1km apart, and walking would have been exhausting in the heat. There is also a tangle of lanes and alleys between these streets. There is the MTR and an extensive bus system, but not all have English signage with their destination numbers and we do not have the time here to investigate them deeply. Where there are English translations it can be ambiguous, as some are direct translations of the Chinese characters and others are phonetic interpretations!
The city tour covered the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, the National Palace Museum, the Martyrs' Shrine (War Memorial), a traditional souvenirs shop and a local temple. The museum is listed as a must-see as it contains many priceless Chinese antiquities brought to Taiwan for safekeeping but never returned. With only an hour to cover three floors, we could only cruise along exhibits and case after case of pottery soon became tedious without in-depth knowledge or enthusiasm. The other destinations had their points of interest, but more intriguing to me was simply driving along the local streets, watching the Taiwanese amid their neighbourhoods.
Afternoons are rapidly becoming siesta times, especially if night activity is required! The night tour took us to a Mongolian BBQ restaurant for dinner, a stroll through Hwahsi Street Night Market (one of the city's ten night markets), the busy Lungshan temple and Taipei 101 - the world's tallest building.
The night market was quieter than I had expected but contained a fascinating mix of food and merchandise vendors, including those keeping live snakes (including cobras) for slaughter for food and medicinal purposes. The temple air was thick with burning incense and buzzing with worshippers bowing before many shrines within the walls. It was replete with waterfall and gardens, carvings, lights, candles, gift shop and guards. Taipei 101 has an observation deck on the 89th floor (of 101) which is reached in 39 seconds in the world's fastest elevator. Whether the day view is any better with the city's level of smog is uncertain but our view was restricted to the city's night lights. The free audio guide was very informative about the building itself.
On both trips, we were joined by one other traveller. Georgie from Brisbane, on a business trip from her job in Singapore, and Martin from Texas - better known now as Botox Boy - a cosmetic surgeon en route to Vietnam for work who was an interesting blend of knowledge, travel experiences and opinion mixed with a little too much audacity.
He correctly diagnosed betel nut chewing from our guide's teeth and did the 'before' shot like any good cosmetic surgeon would. He told us he never travels with checked-in baggage, only taking carry-on and throwing clothes away after buying fresh ones. After telling us how much he was losing in income being away, he haggled viciously for a tea set - largely for the sport - before walking away, and was convinced he could buy extra time at the museum by offering more money to the guide. In the end, he was underwhelmed and I found him sitting in one area playing games on his mobile. Nevertheless, he did add life to the morning's proceedings!
After asking our morning guide about the road toll in the Taipei traffic - about 60 fatalities a month - I saw my first scooter bingle tonight as a taxi clipped one that went sliding across the road. The motorcyclist appeared OK but the scooter would have suffered.
Not the greatest hit you want to keep in mind...
Comments
Botox too?
Well just curious if you are suitcased out.....potentially interesting souvenir!!! Your sheep have learnt to swim...wear winter woolies when arriving back home....consider snow gear too...its freezing! Tashi likes your pics but too many words!!
Lisa xx