Taiwan

Our last Asian island side trip was a twelve day jaunt to Taiwan. Our son Trevor mentioned the idea and it intrigued us. As we were in the general area, the truck had left on its own journey across the ocean to South America, and we had some time, we added it in at the last minute.

Once again we were faced with trip planning without our home on wheels. So we downloaded the Lonely Planet Taiwan guide book and did our best to plan a route by public transportation which hit the highlights. As a side note, we have noticed even just during the last six years of our full time travel a drastically reduced reliance on what had always been our “go to” resource - Lonely Planet travel books. We have replaced it with an increasing reliance on Google, Reddit and general AI recommendations. For a quick trip outline, online resources feel increasingly simpler, faster and more current than diving into a book that may have been written five to ten years prior. But we feel a sense of loyalty to our old friend Lonely Planet and still partially rely on it.

The good news for us in navigating without the truck was that the transportation system in Taiwan is modern, fast (Andy clocked one of our trains at 128mph), inexpensive and easy to use. Dawn booked hotels in advance through Booking.com and Agoda. We stayed in mid range hotels and guest houses which typically ran $40-$50 a night including a hearty cooked breakfast. Accommodations were all spotlessly clean and the hosts welcoming and kind. We found English to be widely spoken and never had to use Google Translate. Public transportation was highly organized. We were amazed at the orderly crowds at the train stations where passengers waited in neat lines between painted guidelines on the floor in front of each gate which then opened when the train arrived, directly into a train carriage door. The total cost for the two of us for our 12 day trip, not including airfare, was $950.

*Friendly, colorful cartoon like characters were a common site in Taiwan*

A full democracy since the death of its authoritarian ruler, Chiang Kai-shek in 1975, Taiwan felt prosperous. We were highly aware of its complex tension with China, with Taiwan claiming its sovereignty but China claiming ownership. We remain hopeful that the Taiwanese people can retain their autonomy. In visiting, we enjoyed the sense of freedom, and a culture which embraced independence and yet was community oriented at the same time.

*Even in the middle of the city, gardens flourished in side alleys.*

Our first stop was the capital, Taipei. The city was a study in contrasts with a sleek urban center with high rise buildings and shopping malls alongside small food stalls selling flavorful noodles and mom and pop grocery stores. The city felt vibrant and artistic.

*A cacophony of colors and products everywhere we looked*

*Dried fungi - a popular street stall item*

We loved the sites and smells of the streetside markets and were convinced that you could buy anything you wanted if you just knew where to go.

*Afternoon walk along the Tamsui River in Taipei*

*Pedestrian shopping area (apparently motor scooters allowed too)*

The city was bustling with life all day and night. We always felt safe, which is rare for a city of almost 2.5 million people.

*Red House Theater Building - built in 1908, now a cultural center*

*Taipei 101 - a 101 floor skyscraper which was once the world’s tallest building until the Burj Khalifa was built in Dubai in 2010*

Chiang Kai Shek ruled China in the 1930’s and 40’s, was instrumental in unifying the country and defeating the Japanese invasion. But in 1949 he lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong's Communists and retreated to Taiwan. There he established a one party state, ruling for 25 years until his death. To this day he remains a controversial figure.

*Leaving on the train from Taipei, a 90 minute ride to our next stop, Jiufen*

Our first stop out of Taipei was Jiufen, a historic mining village which is now a charming tourist destination with narrow streets lined with food and craft shops.

*Ocean views across the rooftops of Jiufen*

*Narrow streets lined with tourists and shops*

*Making our way up the hill to our guesthouse, mosaic representing the early mining days along the way*

*The village is also famous for its tea houses*

*Whimsically decorated Jiufen old town shops*

*Beautifully carved temples in the hills above town*

*Touching a 220kg gold bar currently valued at over $693 million*

*Walking from the gold mining museum into the nearby hills*

*Walking back out of town to the bus, colorful lanterns line the streets*

*Tribute to the area’s gold mining history*

Our next stop was the town of Hualien which we would use as a base to visit the nearby Taroko Gorge National Park.

*Visiting the enormous night market for dinner*

*We opted for delicious pancakes with hot sauce (based on the fact that there was a long line of locals so we assumed it would be good - it was)*

Taroko Gorge National Park is universally acclaimed as a highlight for visiting tourists to Taiwan. Unfortunately, although we could see the potential, our timing was off. A recent earthquake had triggered landslides that meant the main roads were mostly closed. We were allowed to walk in along one road during a timed interval that cars were being let in. But access to hikes was very limited. We enjoyed the enchanting views but definitely did not get the full experience. But it was worth the minimal cost of the roundtrip bus fare from Hualien

*View across the mountains at Taroko Gorge*

Next we hopped on the train to Tainan City. It was a fascinating place with old temples tucked away everywhere. The temples represented a blend of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese folk religion.

*Wandering from temple to temple in Tainan City*

After a couple of days of temple hopping we were satiated and worn out! Tainan felt much older than Taipei which made sense as it was the former capital.

But it was time for us to get back to nature. With his love of forests, Andy was looking forward to visiting the Alishan National Scenic Area. A popular narrow gauge railway takes tourists up the mountain, a hold over from logging days, but we opted for the faster tourist bus.

On the way up the mountain, everyone’s phones started buzzing with national alerts. The first alert was to shelter in place due to a military operation (!). We exchanged looks with other tourists, but none of the locals on the bus were worried at all so we ignored it as they did. It turned out that the Taiwanese government was holding practice drills in case of a Chinese invasion.

*Beautiful huge trees in Alishan National Scenic Area*

*Andy is in his element, it reminded us of the redwood forests where we lived for over 20 years*

*Hiked up to a scenic overlook but the mountain peaks are hiding in the fog*

*In our ultra light packing we neglected to bring rain coats so purchased these fashion statements from the 7-11 for $1 each*

The highest 7-Eleven in the world at over 7,000 feet. As another aside, we loved the 7-Elevens in Asia, they were always cool when it was hot outside, had great inexpensive coffee and drinks and even decent food to go.

Our last stop in Taiwan was Sun Moon Lakes. For some reason we expected remote mountain lakes but they were definitely set up for mass tourism. Boats ferried tourists around and across the lakes, paved bike paths surrounded them, and high rise hotels towered over the lakeshores. But we managed to get away from the crowds on some trails and saw the beauty.

*We based ourselves out of the town of Yuchi, staying in a small native run guest house which was covered in images of the tribal totem - owls.*

*In terms of wildlife, it seems that two of these things are not like the other*

*The color of the lake was beautiful in the sunlight*

*Grabbing our last street food in Taiwan - fried potato on a stick*

*Andy looking forward to our dinner (maybe not the healthiest, but still satisfying)*

Well that concludes our last trip without the truck for a long time! Taiwan was a pleasant surprise, it was an easy place to travel with lots to do and see.

For now, we are looking forward to seeing friends and family at home in Bend then hitting the road again in South America. As always, thank you for reading and coming along with us!

Southeast Asia