I wanted to make sure I'd make all of my connections into Norway, so I booked my tickets to leave an overnight in London, hopefully giving me a chance to see a few things. My trip was not without its complications. I fell asleep before my plane even took off from China and I awoke hours later in the middle of the meal service. Everyone seemed to be finishing up, so I went right back to sleep, waking just before landing in Moscow. I sleepily went through customs and hunted down a cup of coffee and walked around admiring the beauty of Russian women. My gate was on the opposite end of the airport, but I didn't know that until shortly before my flight boarded. Right as I was entering the gate area, I had one of my strange anxiety moments where something didn't seem right. I mostly fight these checking obsessions, but this time, I really thought my backpack felt too light. So I stripped it off and realized that my laptop was not there. I could have only left at the x-ray machine. Therefore, I had to run all the way back across the airport (couldn't you just get a shuttle service Moscow airport) and found my customs entry point. Thankfully, the woman had set it aside for me. I was so happy, I forgot to say “thank you” for one-second, which the customs lady pointed out. “Thank you!” I yelled and ran all the way back, just making the boarding.
The second flight was nearly as long as the first, but I stayed awake for the duration; I had to conform to Europe time. I landed at noon and easily found the subway system, purchasing an “Oyster Card” a frequent rider program which paid for itself on my ride to the hostel. It was located in the Northeast part of the city. I noticed right away that every building looked the same, just an endless row of town houses as far as I could see. It was oddly charming though.
My hostel didn't take cards, so I hunted down a money exchange for my Norwegian kroner. What I got was just enough to pay for my room that night, hardly enough for food or anything else. And no place cheap enough for my budget took cards. So I stayed on a constant hunt for card only establishments. I was knackered when I arrived, but I ignored this, dropped my bag and caught a subway to the main part of town. I didn't even take a shower; there was no time. I had to see everything that day.
I don't know why I always adopt these mindsets, this never works out for me, but somehow in London it worked. Everything was so expensive, I could only see the sights from the outside. Very few thing are worth thirty dollar admission. My first stop was Buckingham Palace, where I jumped a fence, slipped and fell over. I could hear Elisabeth laughing. There was a lovely park on the way to Westminster Abbey. The cathedral itself was quite incredible; I would have loved to see the inside. The parliament house was also pompous and beautiful, but Big Ben was a letdown; it was so much smaller than I expected. The London Eye just across the river was not a draw since I couldn't afford to ride it, but the view from that side of the river was great. The bridge was packed shoulder to shoulder with sausage and caramel corn vendors; the parliament member must love these snacks. Sadly, they only accepted cash.
I continued walking along the river, admiring all the sight.s. London is a very characterful city. I loved how such old buildings sat with all the new. Like a western version of Kolkata. I walked all the way to the tower bridge, passing Christopher Wren's great St. Paul's cathedral and other popular sights. I got some decent photos and saw most of the things on the postcards that afternoon, so that was nice. It was obvious that I was not just burned out on Asia, but tourism in general.
I headed home around the same time as the city was leaving work. The subway was packed with quiet, tired people, strung out from work. The women wore a mask of makeup and didn't know where to stop with the eyeliner. Most of the people were fat and lifeless; they seemed so dead compared to the Chinese, who can be quite cold and lifeless themselves sometimes.
I had a traditional London dinner of Polish food, the only restaurant in the area that took cards. It was lovely but pricey. This is only a lead-up to the outrageously expensive Norway. There were no more dollar dinners in my future.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Cities in China
I doubt that many people who have never been to China can comprehend the sheer population of the country (outside those in maybe India.) In China has a population of 1.3 billion, four times that of the United States, in roughly the same land area. Just keeping people busy or housed in itself is a major job for the country. Despite their attempts to curb growth with the one-child policy, the population still grows too fast. Plus, given the citizens' preference of men, many females have been aborted since this policy came into effect. The government will lift the one-child policy soon, but this will not undo the damage emotionally and mentally by such practices. The population may actually go down, since millions of men all of China cannot find wives, due to the over population of men.
A city of a million plus doesn't even blip on the radar of people. Most provincial capitols are at least 5 million or so, not to mention the large number of multimillion population cities all over the country. I was very surprised by the number of huge cities I'd never even heard of before. Take Shenzhen for example, the second largest city in China. I and many travelers had never heard of it before, even though it has a population of 15 million, nearly a million more than Los Angeles. Here's a little exercise, I'll list China's ten largest cities, with its population and a city in the world that is about the same size. I'd be surprised if an American could recognize more than four of these.
1. Shanghai 18.6 million, about the same size as Mexico City
2. Shenzhen 15.3 million, just a bit bigger than LA.
3. Beijing 14.3 million, just smaller than L.A.
4. Dongguan 12.2 million, just bigger than Rio De Janiero
5. Guangzhou 11.9 million, the same size as Rio
6. Hong Kong 7 million, nearly the size of Bangkok
7. Tianjin 7 million
8. Chongqing 7 million
9. Wuhan 5.5 million about the size of Dallas/Fort Worth
10. Shenyang 5.3 million, about the size of Philadelphia
Of course this list is a bit controversial, given the many ways of listing population. Chongqing has been considered the largest city the world, with over 30 million (if you count the whole province as Chongqing). Once you get to the last 5, many of these are interchangeable. All in all, China has about 20 cities with a population larger than five million! So, keep this in perspective when considering China. 1.3 billion is A LOT of people.
A city of a million plus doesn't even blip on the radar of people. Most provincial capitols are at least 5 million or so, not to mention the large number of multimillion population cities all over the country. I was very surprised by the number of huge cities I'd never even heard of before. Take Shenzhen for example, the second largest city in China. I and many travelers had never heard of it before, even though it has a population of 15 million, nearly a million more than Los Angeles. Here's a little exercise, I'll list China's ten largest cities, with its population and a city in the world that is about the same size. I'd be surprised if an American could recognize more than four of these.
1. Shanghai 18.6 million, about the same size as Mexico City
2. Shenzhen 15.3 million, just a bit bigger than LA.
3. Beijing 14.3 million, just smaller than L.A.
4. Dongguan 12.2 million, just bigger than Rio De Janiero
5. Guangzhou 11.9 million, the same size as Rio
6. Hong Kong 7 million, nearly the size of Bangkok
7. Tianjin 7 million
8. Chongqing 7 million
9. Wuhan 5.5 million about the size of Dallas/Fort Worth
10. Shenyang 5.3 million, about the size of Philadelphia
Of course this list is a bit controversial, given the many ways of listing population. Chongqing has been considered the largest city the world, with over 30 million (if you count the whole province as Chongqing). Once you get to the last 5, many of these are interchangeable. All in all, China has about 20 cities with a population larger than five million! So, keep this in perspective when considering China. 1.3 billion is A LOT of people.
Shanghai
My last day in Asia was spent in the megacity of Shanghai, on the central coast of China. Essentially serving as the financial capital of the country, it has been growing bigger, and taller steadily for hundreds of years. Standing at the point where the Yangzhe meets the Pacific, it is an obvious strategic point, leading to it division by foreign powers in the mid-1800's and eventually, most of Europe and the US controlled a portion of the city. This foreign control led to it being the most modern, westernized city in China (outside of Hong Kong of course).
The first thing I noticed was the smog, reminding me the wonderful skies of Beijing. I had sadly gotten used to the sight of skies above 10 million+ cities. My first stop was a hostel where I stored my bag for the day. I'd planned to spend a night in Shanghai, but due to my inability to find a bus out of Xiamen the day earlier, I had only a quick 22 hours. The hostel was right near the bund, the old financial district of the city, along the river, facing the ultra-modern skyscrapers of Pudong. I headed here after a quick and delicious breakfast dish, not unlike the egg rolls of Kolkatta. Walking the bund is the main tourist draw of the city. It is actually quite neat to be sandwiched between the 19th century Victorian style pomp and some of the highest skyscrapers in the world, representing our current trend of projecting wealth. Since I had arrived before the sun, I chose to witness the area at sunrise, sadly, the smog and fog were too thick to see much. Thankfully though, I had one last chance to witness one of my favorite quirks of Asian culture. Throughout most of China and SE Asia, it is common for groups to congregate in open public squares for tai chi or aerobics to projected music during both sunrise and sunset. I couldn't help but feel a strong fondness for this sight, one I'd no longer see when I left. Other ushered the sun with kite flying. The white expats just jogged.
I crossed the river by ferry to see the three iconic skyscrapers of Shanghai up close. The most famous is the 460m Pearl Tower, a tripod with little balls that is the most common representation of the city. The other two, the 420m Jinmao bulding and the Shanghai World Financial center, a giant bottle opener, 492m tall (and the third tallest building in the world) were so tall, it was ridiculous, the only purpose for such height is showing off. The craziest part of this is the construction of another tower, The Shanghai Tower, which will be 630 meters, making it the second tallest building in the world. The city features more building over 400m than any other in the world. I thought Hong Kong was tall.
The bund side was less focused on size than intricacy, showcasing some of the best art deco buildings in the world. This seemed more like something I'd expect in the New York or Chicago, but little touches made it seem more Chinese than western. I can't say as I found Shanghai to be pretty (it just lacked the charm of Hong Kong), it was definitely impressive.
As the temperature was hitting 100, I decided to hunt down an internet cafe and waste a few hours; there was not that much I wanted to see in China's largest city. I had little luck as every net cafe in the book that was in the area had been shut down. I did find an assortment of dumplings and other munchables, that I found to be too sweet for my taste.
I figured that I'd take shelter in the air-conditioned Shanghai Museum, one of the most regarded collections of Chinese art in the country, and free. I was impressed with much of it. I learned oodles about porcelain and other local crafts. It was quite interesting, though, I only walked through the collections of calligraphy and rubber stamps.
Next, I stopped by Shanghai Number 1 food store on Nanjing Road for some random food court fun. I settled on a soup, but quickly realized I was not eating the right thing. Everyone was chowing on these fried dumplings, sprinkled with sesame seeds that looked fantastic. So I figured, since it is my last day, I can pig out on two lunches in one sitting. It was well worth the uncomfortable level of full. They were stuffed with semisweet port filling and fried in a thin layer of oil, they covered so the top and insides get steamed by the moisture and the bottoms get crispy. It was a medley of textures and flavors that tasted great in chili and vinegar. I knew I'd have to come back.
According to the book, there was an internet cafe in the French Concession, an area of the city I wished to see. I'm glad I made the trip. The neighborhood was green, relaxing, and beautiful with many cafes and beauty salons. I stopped at one of the latter for a great, professional level haircut for back alley barber prices. Eventually, I reached the location of the internet cafe, but the building had been leveled. Thankfully, there was a shopping center with a netcafe just down the road. I hid out there until sunset, then headed back to Nanjing Road for my farewell meal or more fried dumplings. Shanghai is one of the culinary centers of all of Asia, but I decided to bid goodbye to China with the simplest of food court dishes. It was a fine sendoff.
My last stop was to grab a few quick photos of Pudong at night. The bund was packed with masses of tourists and it took much too long to get my shots. I picked up my bag and jumped on the subway to the airport. I did not realize that the trains to the airport ended at 9pm, so I had to catch a taxi for 20 miles to get there. I then hunkered down for the long wait until my 2AM flight left. While sitting outside, being mobbed by mosquitoes, a young Chinese man and his Persian friend showed up with a stack of beers, offering me a couple. So we sat outside and drank beers while chatting for a few hours before I headed off to my flight. I'm glad my last moments were enjoying the special kindness of the Chinese.
The first thing I noticed was the smog, reminding me the wonderful skies of Beijing. I had sadly gotten used to the sight of skies above 10 million+ cities. My first stop was a hostel where I stored my bag for the day. I'd planned to spend a night in Shanghai, but due to my inability to find a bus out of Xiamen the day earlier, I had only a quick 22 hours. The hostel was right near the bund, the old financial district of the city, along the river, facing the ultra-modern skyscrapers of Pudong. I headed here after a quick and delicious breakfast dish, not unlike the egg rolls of Kolkatta. Walking the bund is the main tourist draw of the city. It is actually quite neat to be sandwiched between the 19th century Victorian style pomp and some of the highest skyscrapers in the world, representing our current trend of projecting wealth. Since I had arrived before the sun, I chose to witness the area at sunrise, sadly, the smog and fog were too thick to see much. Thankfully though, I had one last chance to witness one of my favorite quirks of Asian culture. Throughout most of China and SE Asia, it is common for groups to congregate in open public squares for tai chi or aerobics to projected music during both sunrise and sunset. I couldn't help but feel a strong fondness for this sight, one I'd no longer see when I left. Other ushered the sun with kite flying. The white expats just jogged.
I crossed the river by ferry to see the three iconic skyscrapers of Shanghai up close. The most famous is the 460m Pearl Tower, a tripod with little balls that is the most common representation of the city. The other two, the 420m Jinmao bulding and the Shanghai World Financial center, a giant bottle opener, 492m tall (and the third tallest building in the world) were so tall, it was ridiculous, the only purpose for such height is showing off. The craziest part of this is the construction of another tower, The Shanghai Tower, which will be 630 meters, making it the second tallest building in the world. The city features more building over 400m than any other in the world. I thought Hong Kong was tall.
The bund side was less focused on size than intricacy, showcasing some of the best art deco buildings in the world. This seemed more like something I'd expect in the New York or Chicago, but little touches made it seem more Chinese than western. I can't say as I found Shanghai to be pretty (it just lacked the charm of Hong Kong), it was definitely impressive.
As the temperature was hitting 100, I decided to hunt down an internet cafe and waste a few hours; there was not that much I wanted to see in China's largest city. I had little luck as every net cafe in the book that was in the area had been shut down. I did find an assortment of dumplings and other munchables, that I found to be too sweet for my taste.
I figured that I'd take shelter in the air-conditioned Shanghai Museum, one of the most regarded collections of Chinese art in the country, and free. I was impressed with much of it. I learned oodles about porcelain and other local crafts. It was quite interesting, though, I only walked through the collections of calligraphy and rubber stamps.
Next, I stopped by Shanghai Number 1 food store on Nanjing Road for some random food court fun. I settled on a soup, but quickly realized I was not eating the right thing. Everyone was chowing on these fried dumplings, sprinkled with sesame seeds that looked fantastic. So I figured, since it is my last day, I can pig out on two lunches in one sitting. It was well worth the uncomfortable level of full. They were stuffed with semisweet port filling and fried in a thin layer of oil, they covered so the top and insides get steamed by the moisture and the bottoms get crispy. It was a medley of textures and flavors that tasted great in chili and vinegar. I knew I'd have to come back.
According to the book, there was an internet cafe in the French Concession, an area of the city I wished to see. I'm glad I made the trip. The neighborhood was green, relaxing, and beautiful with many cafes and beauty salons. I stopped at one of the latter for a great, professional level haircut for back alley barber prices. Eventually, I reached the location of the internet cafe, but the building had been leveled. Thankfully, there was a shopping center with a netcafe just down the road. I hid out there until sunset, then headed back to Nanjing Road for my farewell meal or more fried dumplings. Shanghai is one of the culinary centers of all of Asia, but I decided to bid goodbye to China with the simplest of food court dishes. It was a fine sendoff.
My last stop was to grab a few quick photos of Pudong at night. The bund was packed with masses of tourists and it took much too long to get my shots. I picked up my bag and jumped on the subway to the airport. I did not realize that the trains to the airport ended at 9pm, so I had to catch a taxi for 20 miles to get there. I then hunkered down for the long wait until my 2AM flight left. While sitting outside, being mobbed by mosquitoes, a young Chinese man and his Persian friend showed up with a stack of beers, offering me a couple. So we sat outside and drank beers while chatting for a few hours before I headed off to my flight. I'm glad my last moments were enjoying the special kindness of the Chinese.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Taiwan
I arrived, as was becoming the norm in China, early, and in the middle of the night in a random place in a strange city. I had no clue where I was since it wasn't even a bus station. It was merely an urban street, lined with taxi drivers ready to take me anywhere. I was already starting to question if visiting Ray was worth it. It was not a part of my grand plan, but before he left for home, Ray used the magic of the sad Asian face to coax a promise from me. In the end I could only spare five days in Taiwan, since my plane was leaving from Shanghai in seven.
Getting to Taiwan is a bit of a pain. For some reason, well, for a very obvious reason, flights from China to Taiwan are stupidly expensive, despite its close proximity and legal status as a part of China. The Peoples' Republic of China is a bit bitter about the civil war and their fights for independence, their open market which makes them quite rich, and other grievances, so they make transport between the mainland and the island expensive to keep people from going to Taiwan. A flight from Fuzhou, just 100 miles away is $300, one way. There is however a very cheap loophole; simply take a boat from Xiamen to Jinmen Island, owned by Taiwan. From here, one can catch a much cheaper domestic flight to Taipei.
So I found myself in Xiamen, which was much bigger than I had original though. It used to be a major port city known in the west as Amoy. Now, it is still an important port, but not quite up to its original prominence. Tourism has taken over as a major industry, as well as general industry. It was not a place I wanted to linger, but I didn't really know how to leave.
I spent the night ride learning the how to ask in Chinese, “Boat, Jinmen.” None of the taxi drivers could help. Some of course offered to take me there for an inflated, off-meter price. In the end, I just asked to be taken to the train station, a typical 24 hour, lighted public place where I could reorient myself. The train station was closed, but KFC was not. So I had a coffee and found an internet cafe a block away; they are always open all night. For many, hotels and apartments are not quite as comfortable as sleep in an office chair, playing the Chinese version of World of Warcraft.
Only a couple miles away was a passenger boat port, so I strapped on once the sun came up and began my walk. I was hoping to hail a taxi, but some reason, despite the hundreds of taxis on the road, not one was vacant. It was a a long hot walk. I entered the ferry terminal and looked around until I saw the symbols for Jinmen. I went to the office, but even though the sign said both boat and Jinmen, the boat was not going to Jinmen. Nobody spoke English; the man just pointed out the door, along the waterfront. So I walked for a kilometer before I realized there was no other passenger ferry terminal. I asked a police office where I could find the Passenger Ferry Terminal and he gave me directions back to the original building. I asked the desk again for a boat ticket to Jinmen (I was learning a lot of words that morning.). They could not communicate why they could not meet my needs. So they wrote something mysterious on a slip of paper, pointed out the door and said something about a car...I assumed a taxi. Apparently I was in the wrong place. I sat for a moment, trying to decode the symbols at that desk and found one that meant circle...so the boat just went around the island, but not to it. I wanted to just give up, decide that the money and effort was not worth five days in Taiwan, a place I knew nothing about save its history and the giant skyscraper in Taipei. But I pushed on.
I got in a taxi, handed him the slip of paper and hoped he would take me to a helpful place. If not, I was just going someplace else instead. After a ten minute drive, I was dropped off at a giant building on the waterfront with a large English sign “International Ferry Terminal”. There it was.
I bought a ferry ticket and plane ticket in one simple transaction and both were discounted since it was a package. The ladies at the airline were smart, they used google translate and a pictures to ask all the relevant questions instead of getting embarrassed and not trying. They must have been Taiwanese. A bilingual, Taiwanese businessman adopted me on the boat and got me all the way to Taipei with no problems.
Taiwan reminded me of Hong Kong in its near resemblance to China, but with a different culture. Again, people lived with order, followed rules, and kept their bodily functions to themselves. They also seemed happier and more wealthy. Mostly they did not seem as phobic in the presence of Westerners.
I was met by two of Ray's friends at the airport, which conveniently in the center of the city. Ray was unable to meet me that day, he was off in the South. My timing for my visit was very lucky; Ray and his friends were on a week-long circuit of the island by 100cc scooter and I was invited to join. They were half done by the time I'd arrived, but I would be joining them for what is the most beautiful chunk of the country, the jungled East coast. After a quick lunch, we went to the train station, where I caught a train to Yuli, about 2/3 down the East side of the country.
The train ride was lovely, skirting a small band of land between the central mountains and the Pacific coast. Ray met me and instantly tried to scare me with food; forgetting that I've already spent a year in the country. He succeeded though, serving me a black egg, the only item to have made me horribly sick on the whole trip. I passed on the egg, but ate the tofu served with it. I could tell instantly from seeing Ray's infectious smile that this visit would be well worth the trouble.
We departed the next morning early, one of our group members had an exam in Taipei so I got to man a scooter myself. I'd done plenty of this, but no long-distance travel. It was awesome driving through the open country at 40mph, zipping up and down mountain roads, flying by the sea. This is the way to travel; fast enough to be thrilling and fun, but not so fast as to be scary. We stopped by the beach for a swim in the rough, typhoon fed waves. Ray lost the key to one of the motorbikes in the ocean. Because of some AAA equivalent, this turned out to not be a disaster; it was towed to Hualien that night. Sadly though, this marked the end of my driving for the trip, reserving me to the back for the rest of the way.
We spent the night in Hualien, the largest city of the East coast. The whole group all knew each other from boarding school at this town, so they were able to show me some great views and sights. We visited their school, which was founded by Cheng Yen, founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, one of the most prolific and successful charity foundations in the world. They were very fortunate to attend this prestigious Buddhist High School.
Hualien is one of the top tourist destinations in Taiwan, home of Ocean world, near beaches, but mostly for its proximity to Taiwan's main natural wonder, the Toroko Gorge. We abandoned the coast to go through the gorge to Taichung, a city in the North Center, where Bella was from. The gorge was incredible, but freezing. Ray had not informed me that we would be heading into the mountains, especially not 12,000ft high mountains. It was fine though, he didn't bother informing himself, so we both died in our t-shirt and shorts. I've seen similar landscape, but there was a special quality to the jungle mountains of Taiwan. It may have been the great company.
The rest of the group left in Taichung, but Ray and I continued on for four more hours to his family home. It was the longest ride ever. Something happens to a man's butt and knees when riding on the back of a scooter for ten hours, some of that time spent in a torrential down pour, some of that time spent going up and down the mountains with a speed demon. Ray and I took frequent breaks during the last two hours, ever time disembarking the bike like sufferers of Vitamin D deficiency.
Ray's family was lovely. We were greeted by his cute mother and father who surprised Ray with his English vocabulary. Our dinner of various home cooked Taiwanese dishes was great. The highlight was a sour, ginger flavored organ meat. They were all impressed by my rabid love for this unlikely dish. I fear not offal. Our dessert was coffee at a local cafe, overlooking the city.
Being near a fault, Taipei has some fantastic hot springs. Ray's father took us to one in North of the city. It had been turned into a spa, but was lovely. I spent 2 hours rotating around from the hot pools, the steam room, and sauna, stopping to cool off in the cooler pools. Backpacking and hot springs go together so well, since I spend so much time carrying a 50lb bag, my back loves this treatment.
On my last day, Ray went with me to Taipei, where I had the local style of beef noodles, which was great. Before catching my flight, we rode out to Taipei 101, which is stupidly tall at 509 meters. It was the tallest building in the world from 2004 until 2010, when the 828m tall Burj Khalifa opened (this is like adding an Eiffel Tower to the top of of Taipei 101). The rest of the city looked tiny compared to the monster. When flying out of the country, I could see the symbol of Taiwan sticking out for miles, standing as tall as mountains, until it disappeared with the horizon. This trip was very much worth it, mostly for the company.
Getting to Taiwan is a bit of a pain. For some reason, well, for a very obvious reason, flights from China to Taiwan are stupidly expensive, despite its close proximity and legal status as a part of China. The Peoples' Republic of China is a bit bitter about the civil war and their fights for independence, their open market which makes them quite rich, and other grievances, so they make transport between the mainland and the island expensive to keep people from going to Taiwan. A flight from Fuzhou, just 100 miles away is $300, one way. There is however a very cheap loophole; simply take a boat from Xiamen to Jinmen Island, owned by Taiwan. From here, one can catch a much cheaper domestic flight to Taipei.
So I found myself in Xiamen, which was much bigger than I had original though. It used to be a major port city known in the west as Amoy. Now, it is still an important port, but not quite up to its original prominence. Tourism has taken over as a major industry, as well as general industry. It was not a place I wanted to linger, but I didn't really know how to leave.
I spent the night ride learning the how to ask in Chinese, “Boat, Jinmen.” None of the taxi drivers could help. Some of course offered to take me there for an inflated, off-meter price. In the end, I just asked to be taken to the train station, a typical 24 hour, lighted public place where I could reorient myself. The train station was closed, but KFC was not. So I had a coffee and found an internet cafe a block away; they are always open all night. For many, hotels and apartments are not quite as comfortable as sleep in an office chair, playing the Chinese version of World of Warcraft.
Only a couple miles away was a passenger boat port, so I strapped on once the sun came up and began my walk. I was hoping to hail a taxi, but some reason, despite the hundreds of taxis on the road, not one was vacant. It was a a long hot walk. I entered the ferry terminal and looked around until I saw the symbols for Jinmen. I went to the office, but even though the sign said both boat and Jinmen, the boat was not going to Jinmen. Nobody spoke English; the man just pointed out the door, along the waterfront. So I walked for a kilometer before I realized there was no other passenger ferry terminal. I asked a police office where I could find the Passenger Ferry Terminal and he gave me directions back to the original building. I asked the desk again for a boat ticket to Jinmen (I was learning a lot of words that morning.). They could not communicate why they could not meet my needs. So they wrote something mysterious on a slip of paper, pointed out the door and said something about a car...I assumed a taxi. Apparently I was in the wrong place. I sat for a moment, trying to decode the symbols at that desk and found one that meant circle...so the boat just went around the island, but not to it. I wanted to just give up, decide that the money and effort was not worth five days in Taiwan, a place I knew nothing about save its history and the giant skyscraper in Taipei. But I pushed on.
I got in a taxi, handed him the slip of paper and hoped he would take me to a helpful place. If not, I was just going someplace else instead. After a ten minute drive, I was dropped off at a giant building on the waterfront with a large English sign “International Ferry Terminal”. There it was.
I bought a ferry ticket and plane ticket in one simple transaction and both were discounted since it was a package. The ladies at the airline were smart, they used google translate and a pictures to ask all the relevant questions instead of getting embarrassed and not trying. They must have been Taiwanese. A bilingual, Taiwanese businessman adopted me on the boat and got me all the way to Taipei with no problems.
Taiwan reminded me of Hong Kong in its near resemblance to China, but with a different culture. Again, people lived with order, followed rules, and kept their bodily functions to themselves. They also seemed happier and more wealthy. Mostly they did not seem as phobic in the presence of Westerners.
I was met by two of Ray's friends at the airport, which conveniently in the center of the city. Ray was unable to meet me that day, he was off in the South. My timing for my visit was very lucky; Ray and his friends were on a week-long circuit of the island by 100cc scooter and I was invited to join. They were half done by the time I'd arrived, but I would be joining them for what is the most beautiful chunk of the country, the jungled East coast. After a quick lunch, we went to the train station, where I caught a train to Yuli, about 2/3 down the East side of the country.
The train ride was lovely, skirting a small band of land between the central mountains and the Pacific coast. Ray met me and instantly tried to scare me with food; forgetting that I've already spent a year in the country. He succeeded though, serving me a black egg, the only item to have made me horribly sick on the whole trip. I passed on the egg, but ate the tofu served with it. I could tell instantly from seeing Ray's infectious smile that this visit would be well worth the trouble.
We departed the next morning early, one of our group members had an exam in Taipei so I got to man a scooter myself. I'd done plenty of this, but no long-distance travel. It was awesome driving through the open country at 40mph, zipping up and down mountain roads, flying by the sea. This is the way to travel; fast enough to be thrilling and fun, but not so fast as to be scary. We stopped by the beach for a swim in the rough, typhoon fed waves. Ray lost the key to one of the motorbikes in the ocean. Because of some AAA equivalent, this turned out to not be a disaster; it was towed to Hualien that night. Sadly though, this marked the end of my driving for the trip, reserving me to the back for the rest of the way.
We spent the night in Hualien, the largest city of the East coast. The whole group all knew each other from boarding school at this town, so they were able to show me some great views and sights. We visited their school, which was founded by Cheng Yen, founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, one of the most prolific and successful charity foundations in the world. They were very fortunate to attend this prestigious Buddhist High School.
Hualien is one of the top tourist destinations in Taiwan, home of Ocean world, near beaches, but mostly for its proximity to Taiwan's main natural wonder, the Toroko Gorge. We abandoned the coast to go through the gorge to Taichung, a city in the North Center, where Bella was from. The gorge was incredible, but freezing. Ray had not informed me that we would be heading into the mountains, especially not 12,000ft high mountains. It was fine though, he didn't bother informing himself, so we both died in our t-shirt and shorts. I've seen similar landscape, but there was a special quality to the jungle mountains of Taiwan. It may have been the great company.
The rest of the group left in Taichung, but Ray and I continued on for four more hours to his family home. It was the longest ride ever. Something happens to a man's butt and knees when riding on the back of a scooter for ten hours, some of that time spent in a torrential down pour, some of that time spent going up and down the mountains with a speed demon. Ray and I took frequent breaks during the last two hours, ever time disembarking the bike like sufferers of Vitamin D deficiency.
Ray's family was lovely. We were greeted by his cute mother and father who surprised Ray with his English vocabulary. Our dinner of various home cooked Taiwanese dishes was great. The highlight was a sour, ginger flavored organ meat. They were all impressed by my rabid love for this unlikely dish. I fear not offal. Our dessert was coffee at a local cafe, overlooking the city.
Being near a fault, Taipei has some fantastic hot springs. Ray's father took us to one in North of the city. It had been turned into a spa, but was lovely. I spent 2 hours rotating around from the hot pools, the steam room, and sauna, stopping to cool off in the cooler pools. Backpacking and hot springs go together so well, since I spend so much time carrying a 50lb bag, my back loves this treatment.
On my last day, Ray went with me to Taipei, where I had the local style of beef noodles, which was great. Before catching my flight, we rode out to Taipei 101, which is stupidly tall at 509 meters. It was the tallest building in the world from 2004 until 2010, when the 828m tall Burj Khalifa opened (this is like adding an Eiffel Tower to the top of of Taipei 101). The rest of the city looked tiny compared to the monster. When flying out of the country, I could see the symbol of Taiwan sticking out for miles, standing as tall as mountains, until it disappeared with the horizon. This trip was very much worth it, mostly for the company.
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