Taiwan layovers

Auckland! At last!

Getting on and off the plane, waiting at the airport and not being able to sleep or shower was destroying me. I was at Ljubljana Airport on an early Sunday morning. Boarded the plane and left the foggy weather behind. Frankfurt only served as a brief stop and before I knew it I was already on a plane to Taipei, Taiwan.

China Airlines surprised me in many ways. The negative was the seating, as I've never been more uncomfortable on a plane. And I was sitting in the middle of the row, which meant limited visits to the toilet. On the positive side Air China is graced by the competent and kind staff that makes you feel quite welcome. AC also provides complimentary slippers, eye mask and tooth brush at their flights, which gave them extra bonus points. Would fly again.

I end up in Taipei on an early Monday morning. My biorhythm is completely jacked and I'm feeling dizzy, sleepy and overfed. Luckily my mind is occupied with finding the free tour of Taipei, which is offered to all the passengers with 7h+ layover.

Our tour guide is a nice young man named Arthur. I still can't get over Chinese people giving themselves European names only to support our inherent laziness. Please guys, force Europeans to remember your names. And yes, we will pronounce them funnily, but trust me you're not pronouncing my name correctly either. And it's ok. Otherwise I'll start calling myself Lin Shi. (Btw, in Australia one girl called be Idby. Not kidding.)

The tour took us to Sanxia district where we saw Zushi temple. The ornate architecture and peaceful spirituality of the place really inspired me. The temple is Daoist, which is the main religion in Taiwan. The basic concept of this religion is to be a good person. Short, simple and wonderful. I subscribe to this idea completely.

We made the second stop in Yingge, which is an old street dedicated to pottery and ceramics. Interesting, but not overly exciting. What really got me there was the market place, or should I say small stalls along the streets. Bustling markets were always my thing, but this one offered me some classic Chino-Taiwanese sights. Lots of unrecognizable food, kitsch, noodles galore and scooters whizzing in all directions. My gourmet self couldn't miss the opportunity to try some noodles, but after gigantic language barrier and a nice lady that finally offered to translate for us, my vegetarian self realized it won't be so easy finding pork- or fish-free dishes.

At the tour I met a German girl Christina, who was also going to NZ for Working Holiday. She quickly became my travel buddy and together we decided to make the best out of those 9 hours we had left. We took a bus to the city center and walked around for the rest of the day.

The route took us from Taipei main station to the Red Theater,

Presidential Place,

gardens,

Chang Kai-Shek memorial park with National Theater and National Concert Hall,

And finally to Taipei 101 (used to be the highest building in the world).

Basically we saw A LOT in those few hours. Taipei is a pleasant city with sufficient amount of green surfaces, more or less manageable traffic, and all the modern commodities of a capital. Prices are quite low in general, just stay away from the fancy hipster cafes. We got a tall chai latte for NT$55 (around 1.2€). I got really inspired by this city and I definitely wouldn't mind coming here again. The only negative point is the inability of most Taiwanese to speak English. Fortunately, people are extremely helpful and will approach you if you are in a need of translation. Also street signs are written both in Chinese and Latin characters. (p.s.: Learn to say 'thank you' - shie shie).

We concluded the day with a visit to 7 Eleven store where you can also sit down and eat your food. NT$ 38 (less than a euro) for a selection of vegetables with a dipping sauce and NT$40 for a local beer.

Now it's New Zealand until Thursday morning, when I'm off to my dream island. See you there! ;)

Yours truly,

Ajda