Taiwan - Taipei
Before I left Taiwan I spent some days in the capital Taipei. I stayed at a hostel very close to the central station, which was very convenient and cheap! I had all kinds of public transport in a short walking distance.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
Mr. Chiang Kai-shek.
A nice park.
I also took the subway out to Beitou where you can find hot springs.The water in the little river there is actually warm and I saw some people sitting there soaking their feets in the river. A free SPA treatment!
One thing that you have to do if you are in Taipei is visiting the "big bamboo stick"; Taipei 101. It was the tallest building in the world when it was completed! Today Dubai has the tallest building, but Taipei 101 is still an amazing 509 meters high! The elevator that takes you up to the viewing floor is the fastest elevator in the world. It travels with a speed of 1010 m/min.
The big hanging steel ball inside Taipei 101 which works as a damper and stabilizes the building during earth quakes. (Which are very common in Taiwan).
The Confucius Temple.
Mr. Confucius himself.
On my last day in Taipei I tried the Barbie Café (!) before I went to the airport. They are really crazy about Hello Kitty in Taiwan, but now it seems like even Barbie has entered the town. The café was all pink! The music they played was mostly old hits by the Danish pop group Aqua, like Barbie Girl (of course!), Doctor Jones, Roses are Red, and so on... Oh, wow, that was an odd experience! Haha...
I'm having Barbie Cake and Barbie Macarons at the Barbie Café.
My "Rose Salt Latte".
Taiwan - Sun Moon Lake
My last stop before I returned to Taipei was the Sun Moon Lake. I arrived late in the evening and I had not prebooked a hotel so I just picked one without even knowing exactly where I was. I was lucky! When I opened the curtains the following morning I had a wonderful view of the lake from my balcony. I had breakfast, this time I was not lucky, it was the worst breakfast I have ever had... :-) Luckily they had a Starbucks café not far from the hotel. After the breakfast I was walking along the lake.
A nice view over Sun Moon Lake from my hotel balcony.
Taiwan - Alishan
Early in the morning I took a bus from Chiayi up into the mountains, to the village Alishan. There is a famous railway from Chiayi to Alishan, but unfortunately it was still closed when I was there due to major damages caused by a typhoon that struck the area some years ago.
In Alishan I had a very nice walk in the forest. It was raining when I was there, but that was not a problem. I had both an umbrella and a waterproof jacket with me! So the mist just created a nice atmosphere.
The old train.
A walkway in the magic misty forest.
A nice little pond.
A natural heart.
Taiwan - Chiayi
On the way to the next destination Alishan I did a quick stop in the city of Chiayi. There I found a nice open air train museum.
Taiwan - Kaohsiung
The city of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan was my next destination during my Taiwan tour. I took a flight from beautiful Penghu and landed in a sunny Kaohsiung. The hotel I stayed at was a "Sky Tower Hotel" offering a nice view over the city. I stayed in the 70th floor! I really liked the hotel gym with panorama view!
Kaohsiung, the largest city in southern Taiwan.
View over the harbour city Kaohsiung. Note that they have an IKEA down there!
I made a little excursion when I was in Kaohsiung. I took the train to the Lotus Pond, where I had a nice walk around the pond. The pond is surrounded by lots of cool temples and sculptures.
I also found a very nice bakery selling chocolate and macarons. I just had to by a box of sweets after spending some time in the panorama gym earlier that day.
Taiwan - Penghu
My next destination in Taiwan was Penghu. I had seen some nice photos from there and decided to check out the place. Penghu is a group of islands spread out in a horseshoe shape and linked by bridges.
I stayed two nights in the main town Magong, which was a nice and quiet town. Perfect for a relaxing vacation. Penghu showed out to be a vacation paradise for Taiwanese people, with white beaches and beautiful scenery.
One day I rented a taxi for a day of sightseeing and during that day I saw a lot of the beautiful islands.
Fishing boats.
A fisherman with his catch.
The Trans-ocean bridge linking two of the islands.
An artist is making a nice painting of the Whale Cave.
Traditional Chinese boats.
Erkan Old Residences.
A house at Erkan Old Residences.
Yuwongdao lighthouse.
View towards the town of Magong.
A park with a nice view over Magong.
Fengkuei Cave.
Magong.
There are sculptures of dolphins everywhere in Magong.
More dolphins...
Even the street signs have the shape of dolphins!
The people in Taiwan are generally not so good in English. This makes it a bit hard to travel around in the country, you need lots of patience. One day the girl working at my hotel wanted to explain something for me. It was something that was going to happen that night in Magong, something that I couldn't miss... Unfortunately her English was not enough and she was struggling when she tried to tell me about the event. Then she pointed on a bridge on my map and said: Psssss.... Pom!
Ah, she tried to explain that there were going to be fireworks in town tonight! :-) I went to the place she had pointed out and it showed out to be Penghu Fireworks Festival 2013! That was a nice little festival and the fireworks I saw that night was really something extra!
Live music performed by a young local cover band.
Fireworks over the rainbow bridge.
