Taiwan Day 1 - Taipei arrival

I just got back from 8 days in Taiwan. Most people stay in Taipei a couple nights to see a few monuments, eat at the night market, then head back home. That's not good enough for me. When I travel I want to get a feel for the place; get to know the culture.

I was worried that the major holiday called "Tomb Sweep" was the weekend smack in the middle of my trip. I had planned to make my way down to the southern part of the country stopping in towns along the way, so as soon as I arrived I checked on train schedules. The holiday didn't affect my travel schedule much, and in fact Tomb Sweep made my vacation so much better. "Tomb Sweep" is a major cultural holiday where everyone goes home to worship their ancestors and spend time with their families, and because it's a holiday there was so much energy in the air with a ton of events going on. But we'll see more of that later. For now let me tell you about my interesting first day.

The Hostel in Taipei
For some reason my reservation at the hostel had been cancelled. I'd reserved for two nights through an on-line website then received confirmation from the owner, Raul, a Mexican who had moved to Taiwan 6 years ago. He wasn't there when I arrived, so his Taiwanese wife called him to figure out what to do. There was space in the other hostel that he runs so I went there.

I thought about what had happened. The website charged 15% of the fee for my two-night reservation to my credit card, and I was supposed to pay the rest upon arrival. The website probably takes the 15% as a cut for introducing their hostel, so by saying that my reservations were cancelled they can ask me for the full amount directly. I only lost out about $6 so it wasn't worth making a fuss over.

The place had character. It was on the top floor of a 9-story building, and set up like a small apartment with lots of tiny bedrooms coming off of a central, dirty living room. The living room was partly lit by a dim light bulb and the lack of light made the place feel like a hovel. The toilet was in the kitchen, separated by a curtain. The shower was in a plastic box on the balcony.

In the photo you can see a covering, but that's on the building next door. It was raining and sopping wet out there. The view from the balcony was simply ugly.There was a patch of hairy mould on the bed sheet. I didn't intend on spending much time there anyway and on the plus side it was close to the center of the city, but it was the perfect example of "you get what you pay for".

Hostels are usually full of young travellers eager to share their experiences, but the guys staying there were older than me and had been there for a while. It was a cheap place to live while they looked for jobs. I didn't feel like talking with any of them much, and only came back to the hostel to sleep.

Weather - cold and rainy
I thought it would be hot in Taiwan. I'd brought shorts and short-sleeved shirts, and the only warm clothes I had were what I'd been wearing when I left Japan. I ended up spending my first night shopping for clothes cheap enough that it wouldn't bother me if I never wore them again. Department stores were too expensive so I wandered alleys and popped into small shops until I found some long-sleeved t-shirts that I could layer under the t-shirts I'd brought. I wasn't too thrilled thinking about having to wear the same pair of pants for 8 days, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

And that's how my adventures in Taiwan began.