Tamsui and Shilin night market
Tamsui is a historical city near to the coast with a nice harbor. It was very interestimg to visit. I took the ferry across the river and walked around a bit. Unfortunately it was to dark. Otherwise I would have rent a bike, because they have a really old cycling path next to the coast. Back in Tamsui I visited some shops and took back the MRT to Shilin where I visited the largest night market in Taipei. A lot of food and crazy stuff there. I think the pictures describes best:
Yangmingshan National Park
This park is so amazing and multifaceted. Although today was more a cloudy experience, it was very nice.
I started my tour by getting lost. If you take the bus, this is easy because they never give you a translation. Worth the experience. Next time I will do better. Maybe ask someone before getting out of the bus.
After that nice start I started my tour from the tourist center. The people there were very nice and speak English very well. They explained the area, suggested and recommended places and routes. They gave me a map and drew the route including Chinese words to show to locals, if I get lost. At that point I really love this country and the people here. I am not sure if you would experience something like this in Germany.
My route took me up to Mt. Qixing, the highest mountain in Taipei with 1120 meters. Down again on the other side through an area shaped by a volcano. Very stinky, because of the high amount of sulfur but also very fascinating due to hot steams streaming out of the earth. From there, by shuttle bus, to a nice grassland and heading on to local waterfalls. The pictures below will describe better.
Survive in Taiwan:
This is one of the most common problems for foreigners. Order food without language skills. How do you solve this problem?
Within my first weeks I discovered many ways to order food. At the beginning it was very difficult to get the local food. Sometimes I just pointed randomly on something but that is not a long term solution. Fortunately many diners provide English menus. But I want to experience more. I want to experience the cup food from the backstreets. So I simply asked someone from the hostel to write down "pork with fried rice" in Chinese and teach me. I just tried it and it worked perfectly.
Another way to order food is by using pictures. If you are spontaneous and don't want to prepare for every meal you just can order by pointing at pictures in the diner. I do that very often but if they don't provide pictures, I just start to talk in English. Even if they don't understand what I am saying exactly, most of them kind of know what I want. Underlining this with body language they understand me most times.
Aside of all the hints the most important hint: Just try! There is no perfect way to order food. Try different ways and discover what works best. Even though the language barrier exists.
That’s it for today. Hope you enjoyed this entry. Feel free to leave a comment below :)
Lukas
Tamsui is a historical city near to the coast with a nice harbor. It was very interestimg to visit. I took the ferry across the river and walked around a bit. Unfortunately it was to dark. Otherwise I would have rent a bike, because they have a really old cycling path next to the coast. Back in Tamsui I visited some shops and took back the MRT to Shilin where I visited the largest night market in Taipei. A lot of food and crazy stuff there. I think the pictures describes best:
 |  |  |
| A historical temple in middle of Tamsui, surrounded by high bulidings this Temple is a beautiful place to calm down. | The view from Tamsui to Bail. | Crazy jewelry. Would never buy that. |
 |  |  |
| In this building I visited a dessert factory. Very delicious | A presbyterian church in Tamsui. | Berliner Landbrot?? Germany influences Taiwan. |
 |  | |
| Germany influences Taiwan part 2 | After the long day I took a foot massage. Very nice. I slept well. | |
Yangmingshan National Park
This park is so amazing and multifaceted. Although today was more a cloudy experience, it was very nice.
I started my tour by getting lost. If you take the bus, this is easy because they never give you a translation. Worth the experience. Next time I will do better. Maybe ask someone before getting out of the bus.
After that nice start I started my tour from the tourist center. The people there were very nice and speak English very well. They explained the area, suggested and recommended places and routes. They gave me a map and drew the route including Chinese words to show to locals, if I get lost. At that point I really love this country and the people here. I am not sure if you would experience something like this in Germany.
My route took me up to Mt. Qixing, the highest mountain in Taipei with 1120 meters. Down again on the other side through an area shaped by a volcano. Very stinky, because of the high amount of sulfur but also very fascinating due to hot steams streaming out of the earth. From there, by shuttle bus, to a nice grassland and heading on to local waterfalls. The pictures below will describe better.
 |  |  |
| The map I got with my route. | Stairs….. more and more | |
 |  |  |
| Yes it was a little bit spooky up there. | ||
 |  |  |
| Sulphur and volcano rocks | Lunch in the clouds | |
 |  |  |
| Humidity at 99 percent… cold and wet, not a good match. | The nice grasslands in the national park. |
Survive in Taiwan:
This is one of the most common problems for foreigners. Order food without language skills. How do you solve this problem?
Within my first weeks I discovered many ways to order food. At the beginning it was very difficult to get the local food. Sometimes I just pointed randomly on something but that is not a long term solution. Fortunately many diners provide English menus. But I want to experience more. I want to experience the cup food from the backstreets. So I simply asked someone from the hostel to write down "pork with fried rice" in Chinese and teach me. I just tried it and it worked perfectly.
Another way to order food is by using pictures. If you are spontaneous and don't want to prepare for every meal you just can order by pointing at pictures in the diner. I do that very often but if they don't provide pictures, I just start to talk in English. Even if they don't understand what I am saying exactly, most of them kind of know what I want. Underlining this with body language they understand me most times.
Aside of all the hints the most important hint: Just try! There is no perfect way to order food. Try different ways and discover what works best. Even though the language barrier exists.
That’s it for today. Hope you enjoyed this entry. Feel free to leave a comment below :)
Lukas
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