Taipei, Taiwan

 Notes from the journal:

6/1
• Caught the last train from the airport into Taipei and got to our Airbnb late at night
6/2
• Slept in due to late night and I woke up with a sore throat so we lazed around a bit
• Walked through the rain to an American/Taiwanese/Japanese breakfast place for Tyler and I tried some tea which was AMAZING (Taiwan had the best tea out of any country we visited by far - especially oolong tea)
• Went to a Michelin recommended beef noodle place for my meal (Tyler has a gluten allergy but I really wanted to try this dish in Taipei so that’s why we went to two places). We luckily got there when it opened so we didn’t have to wait too long and the beef tendon and beef cuts were sooooo yummy and the broth was perfect.
• Took a bus to Elephant mountain, walked through cute streets with lots of greenery, and climbed up for a view of the city and Taipei 101 in the fog
• On the way down we saw two giant snails mating and Tyler thought it was the best thing ever (throwback to the no-context Instagram story with the caption “snail love”๐Ÿ˜ญ)
• Went to a weekend flower market with lots of Orchids, fountains, and figurines
• Went next door to the jade market, which was very intense and expensive
• Went to Ningxia Market which was good! I had grilled skewers, fried spring rolls, and the best scallion pancake of my life.
• Stopped by Taipei Main Station to buy our high speed rail (HSR) tickets for our last day in Taiwan and walked back to the Airbnb, which was especially cozy considering that we were very wet and cold.
6/3
• Went to a Hello Kitty themed 7/11 for breakfast and train snacks and took a commuter train to Ruifang where we hopped on a super nice 4 hour train along the eastern coast down to Taitung

**back in Taipei on the last day in Taiwan

6/8
• Went to a cool local place for lunch with barley soup and duck legs (with veggies, rice, tofu)
• Went to Longshan Temple - very beautiful!
• Went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (memorial for leader of Taiwanese independence), which has a very cool building and giant statue and beautiful gardens
• Headed to the airport where our flight got delayed for many hours


Read if I referred you to this post:

• Michelin recommended beef noodle place in ximending: Niu Dian Beef Noodles ็‰›ๅบ—็ฒพ็‡‰็‰›่‚‰้บต
• The EasyCard can be purchased and loaded at the airport and can be used for public transit all around the country!
• The buses in Taipei are very affordable on a western salary and they go a lot of places!
• Would recommend Elephant mountain, Ningxia Night Market, Longshan Temple
• Things we didn’t get to do but that have been highly recommended include other night markets and going up to Tamsui for sunset








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