Part 91: Taiwan time...
The cheapest flight I could find to Taipei was at 1:40am. Some people are not that into night flights based on the conversations I've had with other travellers - personally, I prefer them. For starters, aside from being cheaper, there is less traffic on the roads at the very least, and the airport is usually less crowded too. I'm saying usually because this is Manila we are talking about here - nothing is ever that straightforward.
Also, now I was travelling with Luciano, my Italian friend, and Troells from Denmark - two cool guys I'd met at the hostel. It would now mean some of the cost of transport etc would be shared, plus we all got on famously well too which always an added bonus - I could tell this trip was going to be a good one.
On the way to the airport we were discussing what we were going to do once we arrived in Taiwan. But the only information I had heard up to now, although I don't necessarily think is a bad thing, was that the food there from the famous night markets had to be amongst the most unique in Asia - that alone got me excited enough. As I've mentioned many times before in my blog, nearly all of the places I have visited, came from talking with either locals or other travellers, or just finding my way as I go along. It's not done me any harm up to now.
We checked in ok and made our way to the departure lounge, but first you have to pay an exit tax of 500 pesos, then through to join the line for Immigration. Once there the officer took my passport and seemed to be looking at it for a long time, which always makes me a bit nervous. He looked up at me then back down again before bluntly informing me my visa had expired!!
'I cannot let you on the plane sir' he told me.
'Huh? What you mean' I replied.
But before he answered I was led to an office where they questioned me further - it was a very unnerving moment waiting there and listening to them talk in Tagalog.
Well, as I turned out my visa had expired; by 20 lousy minutes!!!!!
It was 12.20am and I got my days mixed up - It expired at midnight! Challenging them was proving completely futile as they repeated to me the only way I would be allowed to board the flight, that was now less than an hour away, was to pay a fine of 5500 pesos! (£80) - the full price for a visa extension!!!
I was really quite upset, and hoped they would let me through, but sadly for me they were not in the least bit interested in what I had to say. The guys were already waiting in the departure lounge and would have been wondering what the problem was, but I had no choice but to pay up. Yet another incident to add to my ever growing list of airport headaches!
When we eventually boarded the plane, and still reeling from that harsh fine, I was seated next to a Canadian guy who gave me heaps of recommendations and places of interest in Taiwan, so I took plenty of notes.
On arrival at Taoyuan international airport I was surprised how small in size it actually was - there weren't a huge amount of people there either, then after filling in an immigration form we continued on to baggage reclaim. But not before a mad panic after momentarily losing my passport! - it was a horrible feeling and I thought my legendary airport bad luck had struck again. Luckily for me, and much to my relief, it was on the floor about 20 meters behind me where I had somehow managed to drop it - talk about close shave!! Anyway once we all got our luggage back, we quickly realised that there was no public transport service to the center of Taipei until the first bus in 6 hours time. Taxi's were ridiculously expensive and not really an option for us, therefore we decided to sit tight and wait in the freezing cold airport waiting room.
Apart from a couple of taxi drivers who didn't speak a word of English, and were buzzing their faces off on beetle nuts, me and the guys were the only people around. We amused ourselves trying to make conversation with them, helping to kill some time, but in truth it was a long, cold 6 hour wait for the bus.
Finally the bus arrived and it took us directly to the center of Taipei - which was still like a ghost town at this early hour.
Me and the guys where really hungry as there were no cafes open at the airport so we found a small coffee shop to grab whatever food we could find. The guy there was really friendly and happy to see us, even though he spoke no English, he handed us a free egg each boiled in tea, it didn't look very appetising, and had this unsavoury brown stained colour but was surprisingly tasty.
Luciano then took the responsibility of navigator and led us using his trusty Google maps directly to the hostel which was about an hours walk away.
My first impressions of Taipei were that it was more of a modern metropolis surrounded by the beautiful Xueshan mountains, but on closer examination you notice how creative it is. I learned the government sponsor many art projects here. Converting old derelict warehouses and buildings purely for artistic and creative purposes. Like a hub for sculptors, street artists and performers.
Taipei with its 6 million population is not quite as congested as say Hong Kong but quite similar architecturally. By the time we reached the hostel in the Zhongshan district I collapsed into bed for much needed sleep. Jean the super friendly proprietor gave us a huge list of places to visit, foods to sample, and a heap of information on must see sites - now we were in business.
Armed with our increasing list of travel tips we headed out. First stop was to try the famous Taiwanese steamed dumplings.
We found a modest looking place that was no more than a small kitchen with a few tables and chairs. Behind the counter were three smiling elderly ladies who had a little production line going on preparing the dumplings. There was no menu. Just 3 flavours. Spring onion, corn or cabbage. Indicating to them that we wanted to try all three before taking a seat in this small family run establishment. Once they arrived the freshly made dumplings tasted great.
The smiling ladies were eagerly awaiting our responses and judging by the looks on our faces, and after fighting over the last one, I think they fully got that we thoroughly enjoyed them.
The hostel was in the thick of a local district full of street vendors and cafes - we definitely struck gold with the location here. It was close to Taipei's oldest Chinese temple too.
Our next stop would be to see the famous viewpoint at Elephant mountain, and the best way to get there was by using the city's subway.
The trains were quick, extremely clean and not so crowded like in other big Asian cities - eating and drinking is strictly not allowed. We took the line to Xinyi, Taipei's modern district where the famous 101 sky scraper was located, which until a few years ago it was the tallest in the world. Almost resembling a giant bamboo poking into the sky, it was an impressive sight. We walked for about 3 blocks right past the 101 building until we reached the gateway to elephant mountain.
This is the most famous and easily the most accessible of the five surrounding mountains of Taipei being so close to the city not only means easy access but the views I'm told were well worth the steep walk too. While it was a relatively short hike to the top it wasn't necessarily an easy one having to navigate hundreds of steep steps. Although there are several viewing platforms to take a breather, including some huge boulders along the way which I climbed on to take in even more of the impressive view.
Once at the top it gives you a wide panoramic view of the entire city and the huge 101 building. I've been quite lucky in timing a lot of these hikes to coincide with the sunset, and this was another of those instances. Watching the sun lower to the north ducking behind the mountains was perfect.
You can continue the trail of the five mountains if you want as it stretches for quite some distance but we chose to stay put and take in the city lights coming to life as the night bore down on us. I could have happily sat there all evening, but we eventually headed back down to the gate, then the metro station for the short trip back to the hostel.
It had been a great first day In Taipei and based on what we had seen so far this was already one of my favourite Asian capitals. I was looking forward exploring more.
Next stop, Jiufen....