Taipei, Taiwan

Today we were docked in Keelung Taiwan. Keelung is about 30 minute drive from Taipei. We went on a day tour from Alido Travel to Taipei. This was the one port we were not sure about what to do. Brian has a friend who is from Taipei. He was originally planning to be there today visiting his family and offered to show us around the city since our trips happened to line up. Unfortunately he had to reschedule his trip though after changing jobs. We knew about this before we left home, so I had to come up with an alternate plan.



I found Alido Travel online and they had good reviews. However Brian and I were tempted to take the train from Keelung into Taipei and see the city ourselves. The tour offer from Alido Travel was reasonably priced so we opted to go with them. There was another couple that was on the tour with us. I had not communicated with them before today. They were a lovely couple from Portland who had even lived abroad for a few years.

When we disembarked the ship, it was pouring rain. I really hate touring in the rain. There is nothing we could do though but hope for the best. Our tour guide picked us up from the port at 8am. We went to Pao An Temple. As we got into Taipei, the rain began to tamper down. At Pao An Temple, it was one of the god’s birthdays so they were having a special celebration. It was neat to see.



Then we were supposed to go to Confucius Temple, but it closed on Mondays. Instead we went to see the Grand Hotel. The hotel looked like a temple. If we were staying in Taipei, I would recommend the hotel. It seemed very nice. After the hotel visit, we went to a handicraft center. They had a lot of things to buy but we found it rather expensive for our tastes.



We also visited Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. We learned about Chiang and his role in Taiwan’s history. They had a memorial to him and information about his life including relics like his former cars. There were two guards and we got to watch the changing of the guards. It was an elaborate ceremony which lasted about 10 minutes. It was interesting to watch. The size of the statue and memorial building was impressive too.



Our next stop was Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is 101-floor 508 meter high building. It is one of the world’s tallest buildings (claiming to be the tallest completed skyscraper). We did go up into it even though the weather was not the best. There was still some light rain and considerable cloudiness. The cost was 400 NTD (New Taiwan dollars) per person which equates to about $12 USD. Also Taipei 101 has the world’s fastest elevator to the top. It takes only 37 seconds to ascend 89 floors. Once we got to the top, we were disappointed because we could not see anything at all (not even the ground!). After about 5 minutes the clouds started to move and we could see a little bit. They had a headset for free to wear as you walked around and it told you about what you could see (or, in our case, what we could not see). Between breaks in the clouds, we did get to see a bit. The building is so much higher than anything else that it would offer an incredible view on a clear day. It was still nice to see.



Amy on the stairs of the 88th floor

We had about 45 minutes of free time at Taipei 101. It has a shopping mall and food court. We walked around the food court and it was busy. There was a grocery store so we went inside there. We saw durians for sale in the produce section. We first saw these in Singapore. They were banned from the subway. Other cities similarly have banned them from the subway because of their very strong smell, which can be overpowering. The cruise ship also forbids them to be taken on board. We were told that they smell like hell but taste like heaven. The durian had already been cut up and packaged, so we were hoping that the bad smell part would be over and done. This was just wishful thinking since we had no information to suggest this would be true.

To be safe, we took it outside to eat. The fruit was wrapped numerous times in plastic. Apparently this was to contain the smell. Once we got it open, the smell was somewhat powerful. It was not as bad as we had imagined (we were thinking of the radius of a skunk). Still it was probably good that we took it outside. This is what we bought for lunch. Unfortunately, we both took one bite and realized we did not like it. The smell was weird, but it was really the consistency that turned us off to it. The taste was unique. It was sweet and you could see how people would like it. The fruit was very rubbery in consistency. It did not seem like fruit at all. The consistency and feel of it was more like raw meat or bread pudding. It was a bit disturbing and too different for us. The after taste was not very good either, and that sealed the deal for us. One bite was enough. We put the rest in a box and mailed it to our least favorite relative.

Then we went to Martyrs’ Shine. We got to see changing of the guards there. The buildings look so “Asian”. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was similar in style to the Forbidden City in Beijing. They buildings were beautiful. Since Brian is taller than most people here, he can easily get pictures even from several rows back. This will be good for my scrapbook!



We ended our day at the Palace Museum. The Palace museum a collection of Chinese historical artifacts. We heard that it is one of the top museums in the world. It was neat to see however neither Brian nor I are really museum type people so we probably did not appreciate it as much as many people would. It was still unique to see.