Made in Taiwan

22/12/2018 - 09/01/2019

After being on the road for 5 months and the Christmas period lingering closer, we knew it would be a hard time being away from friends and family back home and all the alcohol filled joyous festivities that comes along with celebrating Christmas in Ireland. But thankfully for us, an old college friend by the name of Fearghal (Hi Fearghal!) with his life now settled in Taiwan welcomed two slightly disheveled backpackers into his home with his only request that we have showers before we arrive!.... (I think we could manage that!). So off we headed, sad to leave our epic adventures in Vietnam behind but happy to have the opportunity to spend the festivities with a familiar face and of course the opportunity to tick another country off the bucket list.

Most people probably only know this little island from the ‘made in Taiwan’ stamp at the back of plastic toys and electronic gadgets but after spending two weeks here, I can assure you that there’s so much more on offer than the grey industrial hub that one might expect. Between the green landscape, vibrant cities, friendly people, wide variety (and sometimes questionable) food, blue waters and white sandy beaches you will be amazed at how much awesome can be packed into this tiny island.

Our visit to Taiwan began with Fearghal meeting us at Hsinchu train station with his daughter Darcy. She was clearly weary of us at first (I don't blame her really as we have been looking kind of scary lately!) and me awkward around her because quite frankly I'm useless around children but by the end of our few days together we had sussed each other out and realised neither of us were as scary as we first envisioned and actually grew to be two great little buddies. The next few days were spent reminiscing on old times gone by at college, some heated debates, drinking wine, eating copious amounts of food, playing with an endless supply of girly toys and of course lots of cuddles with their gorgeous dog and two rather 'large' cats!

Instead of the usual trimmings for Christmas dinner, we were generously treated to a monumental buffet dinner in a 5 star hotel where we swapped turkey, ham and brussel sprouts for all kinds of succulent steaks, Indian curries, sushi and an incredible spread of mouth watering deserts (a big step up form the rice and smash we have just consumed over the past four days camping in the Patagonian wilderness!). Certainly a feast set for a king rather than two backpackers and most definitely a lovely treat (Thanks again guys!).

After spending a few days doing not much else other than gaining a few pounds and trying to get our shit together for the remainder of our Taiwan trip, we sadly said goodbye to Fearghal and his family and made our way to the buzzing city of Taipei. Unfortunately for us, the weather gods were not on our side during our entire trip in Taiwan which wasn’t too surprising seen as we were there during winter season meaning more often than not the skies were grey with rain (Not good for getting those important instagram worthy photos!) but none the less it didn’t stop us exploring all that was on offer. To get to know more about the history of Taiwan we paid a visit to the Chiang-kai Shek memorial hall, dedicated to the first president of Taiwan. Not only are the enormous squares and memorial hall quite impressive where you can see the changing of the guards ceremony, the exhibit itself depicting the history of Taiwan was really very interesting and best of all for us, no entrance fee! Later that day we hiked up the never ending steps of elephant mountain offering sweeping views of Taipei 101 tower and its impressive surrounding skyline. Even though the day was dull, the city views were pretty special so we enjoyed some time at the top cooling down from the free step aerobics class we had just endured.

Food is kind of a big deal in Taiwan so when you go to Taipei, you can’t leave without visiting one of the many chaotic night markets offering an abundance of tasty comfort food (and sometimes not so tasty stuff!). We visited the buzzing Shihlin night market and one food that sticks out in my mind for all the wrong reasons was stinky tofu and YES, the clue is in the name. But you see it’s a thing to try new things when in new countries so we decided we would give it a try, it couldn't be that bad right? Well actually it kind of was. It STINKS. Smells like rotten eggs and it tastes just as bad as it sounds. The worst part though was that everywhere else we visited in Taiwan had the same smell wafting through the air because for some bizzare reason it seems to be a popular dish in these parts so we unfortunately couldn’t escape the stench.

As we weaved in and out of the hoards of people flowing between the food stalls we saw plenty more weird and wonderful foods on offer including BBQ pork skewers, avocado milk, octopus, oyster mushrooms, snails, duck eggs, beef noodles, dumplings, Baozi’s and of course, the famous Taiwanese invention of bubble tea (Ok, this is probably controversial, but I’v decided I'm really not a fan of bubble tea and it’s weird chewy texture….I know, I know the HORROR!) On a side note, foreign food is great and all but lately I’ve been fantisizing about tucking into a plate of roast potatoes and a tayto crisp sandwich drowned in Kerry Gold butter topped off with a mug of Barry’s tea…you feel me?

Anyways, back on track. Heading away from the bustle of Taipei, we made our way to Taichung city, the industrial epicentre of Taiwan but for me, the unofficial instagrammers dream (and the rain had actually decided to feck off for a while…YAY!). There are many hidden street art pieces and quirky photo spots located throughout the city if you’re willing to take the time to look. We hopped on some fairly crappy bike rentals from our hotel for the day and found some great street graffiti tucked away down some dodgy looking back alley ways. I’m a sucker for a bit of street art so we spent plenty of time looking like a pair of eejits trying to snap some insta worthy photos of the impressive artwork.

For me however, the best part of the day was Rainbow village, a tiny village created by a former soldier who began painting houses in the area in order to save them from demolition. Over the years his colourful artwork has become some what of a star attraction and has spread over the remaining houses in the village. I never quite left the arty crafty side of my childhood so I was wild about the colours of this place and spent a few snap happy hours wandering through the tiny alleyways wide eyed at the electric design which has bled so much colour into a once dismal state of living and to think that it was all done by an 80 something year old man was pretty inspiring.

Still in Taichung, we headed the following day to Sun-moon lake, a little paradise situated at the foothills of Taiwans central mountain range and thankfully the sun was being sound and still shining bright for us. We again rented some questionably functional bikes and decided to cycle around the entire lake. Maybe not the best idea considering the heat and the fact it’s a 3 hour round trip with only chunky mountain bikes with limited gears to get us through but I think it was worth the effort with the mountain view back drop and the intricately designed temples and pagodas we visited along the way.

After such a lovely day at the lake, our arrival back in Taichung was nothing short of ROUGH. That particular weekend we were in Taiwan happened to be a holiday weekend for the entire country and thus with holiday time in any country comes hotels and hostels milking it for all they can by upping up their room prices. So the hotel we had stayed in the previous night went from being about 20 euro for the night to just under 200 euro……like seriously??? So of course we couldn’t afford that and to be honest even if we could we wouldn’t of given them the satisfaction of paying it not only for the fact that the price was outrages but also for the fact the place was a bit of a dump. We were in quite a sticky situation at that point of the day after arriving back at 7 o’clock in the evening with no where to rest our weary heads for the night. However, all was not lost as 7/11 shops became our best friend at that point in Taiwan, thankfully staying open 24 hours a day. In order to try and figure out what the hell we were going to do for the night instead of having to be homeless sleeping rough on the streets we headed there for a few hours, set ourselves up with a pot noodle, two chocolate bars and two cheap Taiwan beers to drown our sorrows and contemplate the desperate plight actual homeless people must find themselves in on a daily basis with nothing much else to do other than, like us in that moment, drink beer! At about 2 in the morning, at this stage barely able to sit up straight with tiredness, we decided in a last ditch attempt to save the remaining of what ever dignity we had left to head back to the hotel we had stayed in the previous night to ask if they would ever so kindly let us sleep on a couch we remembered we had spotted in a back staff room. The lady at reception didn’t understand what on earth we were trying to suggest at first but after a lot of hand gestures and finger pointing she eventually got the idea and let us get a few hours kip before our 6am bus the following morning, probably just wanting us to leave her alone for the night so she could go back to internet browsing. Perfectly fine by us!

Despite the fact we had an awful sleep on the hard leather couch in the staff room of the hotel, it was certainly a hell of a lot better than roughing it on the streets of Taichung. Thankfully we somehow managed to get ourselves together to catch the 6am bus to Tainan the next morning. We usually don't sleep great on buses but seen as we were both exhausted from the past days antics we managed to get a few hours solid sleep. Getting off the bus, feeling like death Paul had the brain wave that we should rock up to a hostel that he had found on google maps conveniently situated beside the train station to ask if we could use their showers. Thankfully hostel workers usually get the backpacking struggles so happily obliged! We had only planned to stay the day in Tainan to visit Anping tree house and move on that night to Hengchun so had nowhere booked to stay in Tainan, hence the reason for us acting like two desperate orphans knocking on hostel doors. After two dreamy hot showers, feeling fresh, we headed off to do some sight seeing.

Located behind an astute looking building lay a gorgeous example of nature reclaiming back its own. Anping tree house is a former warehouse that has become overgrown with banyan tree roots that weave in and out of the existing brick work. Exploring the cavernous overgrown complex was a very different experience, often at times even feeling very eerie. For us, it was worth the side trip!

In Tainan we also paid a quick visit to Yanping old street, seemingly one of the oldest streets in Taiwan as it was the original Dutch settlement in the area. Here you can find a wide variety of small street stalls and alleyways that are packed with vendors and cosy restaurants. Although the area is of great historical significance, for us, it was just a little too busy so we hurriedly left without walking down the entire street. The restaurant worker we spotted at one of the street corners with a long day of dish washing ahead of him made us giggle a little, if not feel very sorry for him!

The next stop on our Taiwan mini adventure was to the town of Hengchun where we would celebrate the end of 2018, looking back, a year that was a pretty good one for us both with the beginning of our year long travel adventure. We found ourselves staying in an old converted hospital which in itself we thought was pretty interesting, if not a little weird at the fact that many people had probably died in our room but ghosts are totally not real, or so I hoped! We weren't quite sure where we would ring in the new year that night but after wondering around the quaint little streets and artisan shops we spotted a large group of Taiwanese lining up outside a hipster looking joint....our kind of place! One friendly girl with excellent English explained to us as we lingered around contemplating if we should go join the queue that for the night there would be free alcohol with an entrance fee that equated to about 20 euro....sign us up we thought! So for the next few hours which turned into an early morning session we had the LOL's with a friendly bunch of Taiwanese. The next morning wasn't so great however as we spent the day sleeping off the self inflicted hangover!

Finally feeling human again after our new years celebrations we made our way to the coastal town of Kenting situated at the southern most tip of the island known for it's white sand beaches, clear blue waters and the mountains of Kenting National Park. Unfortunately the winter weather was in full force meaning it was far too cold to take a dip in the sea and the only photos we could take were hilariously wind swept. I can only imagine how beautiful this place is in the height of summer where the clear blue water is illuminated by the sun and where you're not at risk of nearly being blown over the edge of a cliff by the incredibly strong winds. None the less we enjoyed our few days whizzing around Kenting on our scooter rental visiting the coral reef rocks of shedding park, walking through deep gorges, standing on an endless number of viewing points looking out over the lush green valleys where we were being precariously blown from side to side by the insanely strong winds and paying a visit to the southern most tip of Taiwan. My favourite part of our Kenting mini road trip however was the day we pulled into a little lay by to get a closer look at the blue ocean waters when a super friendly dog and her pup came scurrying up to us in excitement presumably at the prospect of us having some food for them which to my sadness, we didn't. They both kept trying to hop onto the front of our scooter for us to take them away with us. My heart broke a little in the moment at the thought of leaving two beautiful dogs behind to fend for themselves in the cold. As we finally got the chance to drive away without them on the scooter I pestered Paul for the remainder of the day about going back with some dog food. So after our fun filled day of nearly being blown off the side of cliff edges we stopped in a shop to get two tins of dog food which were pretty expensive but I was willing to part with my money in order to sleep soundly at the fact that the two dogs got a decent meal. We made a pretty big detour our way back to the hostel in order to find our two four legged friends but after calling out for the dogs, driving up and down the road like two crazy people, I was slightly heartbroken when they were nowhere to be found. How could they not realise the delicious dinner that awaited them! Then after a few more calls by me, just about to reluctantly give up on the idea, out of the bushes came running in excitement the mother dog. I was elated and so was she as she jumped all over us. Unfortunately her little pup never showed up in the end so we gave the mother the two tins of dog food which she quickly devoured. Again as we tried to leave she hopped onto the front of the bike as if to say 'please take me with you'. To my heartache of course we couldn't take her but as we drove off she jumped off and ran happily back into the bushes with a full belly. Call me crazy, but I often think about her and her pup and hope they are still happily running by the sea and being fed by animal loving strangers!

Leaving the adventures of Kenting behind we had heard it was super easy to hitchhike in Taiwan. Always wanting to meet locals on our travels and having hitchhiked to great success in Iran we decided to give it a try and hitch hike to Hualien where we would visit the beautiful Taroko Gorge. After getting a lady in the tourist office to write in Chinese on some cardboard where we wanted to go we made our way out of town to the main road towards Hualien. Luckily within about 5 minutes of sticking the thumb out, a black van pulled up with blackout tinted windows. Not knowing what kind of character would pull down the window for us, to our relief a smiley Taiwan man got out, shook our hand and ushered into the back of his van. With little English and us with absolutely zero Chinese we managed to learn that he was a volleyball couch for a successful Taiwanese team who were playing two games over the coming days. They hadn't lost a game in the previous 13 games they had played so I presume they were a pretty big deal! Throughout our 6 hour car journey I ended up sitting beside a cardboard box on the floor, to my horror full of chirping birds to which he kept apologising for their smell, which I tried to brush off as being non existent but in all honesty it was pretty bad! We learned that the chirps were in fact from baby roosters but that was all we asked as I rathered not think about what they were to be used for or where they were headed! To my shame I can't remember our friendly drivers name but a big shout out to him for insisting on paying for all of our food, coffee and ice-cream for the journey and bringing us safely and his birds to Hualien!

For the next few days we took the time to explore the glorious surroundings of Taroko Gorge on yet another scooter rental. I swear we are keeping bike and scooter rental places in great business on this trip! Taroko Gorge is an impressive 19km long canyon and one of the premier scenic attractions in the country. The best way to admire the beauty of this park is to walk one of the many trails which offer rewarding views of the crystal clear turquoise water laden with large imposing marble boulders. Another must do is to get yourself a set of wheels and feel like you have transported yourself into a Gran Turismo computer game or an episode of Top Gear as you speed through the endless number of tunnels and high valley walls of the gorge. You will find it hard to believe that this place is'nt photoshopped! It was an incredible experience and one of the most memorable from our trip to Taiwan.

One of our final stops before saying goodbye to this glorious little island was a small detour to purridise! Tucked away in the hills of northern Taiwan is a small village that holds a furry surprise. The former coal mining village of Houtong has been taken over by hundreds of cats....what more could an animal lover like me want! The idea formed by a local cat lover who started posting photos of the villages efforts to look after stray cats which attracted visitors, volunteer help and of course more kitties! In little more than two years this little village managed to re-invent itself as a complete cat village where cat themed shops, cafe's and restaurants have emerged catering to the many excited visitors who descend on the feline frontier every day. Black, ginger, white, fat and skinny, there are cats of every wondrous type here and can be found spread out in every crevasse, flower pot and shop shelve and even better, many are delighted to receive rubs and cuddles from all who visit.

Taiwan was an unexpected delight on our travels offering not just an abundance of 'made in Taiwan' gadgets and toys. Instead it offered us so much more in terms of fun with old friends, culinary delights (except for stinky tofu!), wonderfully unique attractions and of course the endless supply of beautiful scenery

Until next time Taiwan!