Date of arrival: Friday 4th May 07, 11.30 PM | Visa: 30 days | Trips: Taipei , Kaohsiung , Liu Chiu Island, Tainan
Info: This is the country where I’ve seen the major number of motorbikes so far. Almost every member of a family , own a personal 50-150cc vehicle . When you drive in the city , there is a specially dedicated lane for scooters! Taiwan is really packed with Millions and millions of bikes zipping all over the places. It seems that the north and the south of Taiwan are very different regarding the lifestyle and the weather: the northern part is industrialized and workaholic coming along with very bad weather characterized by very frequent rains and cold. The south instead is all year round very worm and people’s lifestyle is more relaxing ; many of them are just working part time to enjoy a more laid back day. Taiwan is also a country where you can find nice mountains , spectacular trekking, lakes and beaches. People speak much more English than the Chinese, they are more respectful of the foreign cultures , more available and open minded. The place is clean and a bit more in order than china. Not only accordingly to its location , I was thinking that Tw could be considered the middle way between China and Japan which in fact I discovered to be truth when I paid a visit to the museum of Taiwanese history and find out the country was influenced by both cultures , Chinese and Japanese.
Photogallery
![[Nosham.com] - Taipei children's chorus](http://nosham.com/wp-content/uploads/travels/taiwan07/Nosham.com_-Taipei-childrens-chorus_0001.jpg "[Nosham.com] - Taipei children's chorus")
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- The most ancient temple in Taiwan
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- A sweet kiss between two young lovers, proving that Taiwan is not yet taken off by the deadly flux of the industrialization
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- The smallest entrance , the passage is barely enough large for me to slew in.
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- I’ve also found a dedicated room collecting many old toys of the past , like some metal brainteasers , old comics , chinese dolls, etc.
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- A typical view of what you can find in a taiwanese house: working from home assembling electrical parts, tv, ventilator always on and a small reproduction of a buddhist temple.
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- I found an almost secret beach in Kaohsiung near the university of marine science.
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- Probably one of the most ancient hostels in the world: 1683 dc , where the warriors were gathering together to rest and defense.
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- Selina (Kaohsiung) Wow, what a nice family! I was in a small paradise: her parents work at the market, the mother selling vegetables and the father selling fruits! Every day I had the pleasure to eat copious exotic and tasty mangos following a diet rich of vitamins, rice and fish! Yes they also live very close to the beach. Their house , is not an house but a mansion. They took really good care of me. Selina is a sport trainer with a pair of nice shoulders.
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- Selina’s tattoo
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- The scooter that was given to me by Selina’s family was my little jaguar , small , fast reliable , 15 years old, 50cc engine , with 63.000 km !!!! Wow , in europe you would never see a 60.000 km 50cc, and sometimes not even bigger motorcycles!! But here , it seems they take good care of vehicles. I’ve asked myself many times why in the western countries , cars and motorbikes are usually to be thrown away or to be demolished earlier than necessary. I’ve ended up with few possible choices: 1) Our gasoline is shit , 2) Our mechanics are taking a fool of us.
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- I’ve spent an entire and great morning at the museum of Kaohsiung history , where I read stories over the colonization , influences and cultures in Taiwan.
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- The man who fought the Dutch and freed up the area after 38 years of domination
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- Ming (Taipei) I surfed her couch for just one night, because I was already tired of being in the usual crowded and busy city. But she helped me out with many tips on how and where to travel in Taiwan. Her room mates are very boring people. There is a nice pool table at the ground floor of her building. She has been very kind picking me up and accompanying to various places.
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- After it was told me that there was a high hill where I could have seen some monkeys at their wild state , feed them and perhaps be able to touch them , I immediately set an alarm for the early next morning, packed a half liter of water my digital camera and I ran up to the mountain. The monkeys were most of the times attracted by people because apparently many humans were giving them food so they were used to get close. I didn’t bring any ration with me , then I rarely had a chance to take nice shot of me and those animals. I was alone, there were no people passing by so I had to use rocks , wooden sticks , or trees to place the camera and use auto-shooting function. It was really messy… Passing through a path were dozen of alley dogs were lying on my way it was a bit scary, having multiple eyes starring at you not knowing their intentions… anyway it was truly joyful experience as I had seen those animals only in zoos before.
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- Cool view of Kaohsioung city
