Who doesn't love winters? specially one where lowest temperature are in teens. Taipei seemed to fit the mould perfectly with a bit of twist. It rains in Taipei in winters and it was an unknown for us till a night before travel. But then that is what travel is about, diving into uncharted territory with bag full of clothes.
Touchdown Taipei and its a refreshing new feeling. Pleasantly cold with mist in the air, driver on the left hand side, and phone as good as brick we headed to hotel in Ximending, a street popular with youths. The plan was to head to Taipei 101 and get a birds eye view of city. But a hungry mind cannot think so food first and we were in the centre of Ximending night market. Mee Sua, Sa long paw, ... and I dare say, beef cubes. To cap it off, as they say when in Rome be a roman but when in Taipei, drink bubble tea (i made it up, haha).
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| Wet and Shiny |
Taipei 101 is structural engineer's dream. A 500 meter high building constructed in seismically active zone, and with wind reaching speed as high as 75 km/h, this one is an engineering marvel. I was standing right in front of it, trying to strike a conversation. But as shy it was, decided to hide behind the clouds for the first look.
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| Taipei 101 is so big that even clouds are in lower atmosphere. |
We can't see the top right now but may be we will be able to see the bottom from top. With that hope, we took the amazingly fast lift.
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| Oh well, it is amazing from up here, isn't it |
Now the mass tuned damper, this is the little thing that keeps the 101 upright. Not easy to believe.
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| Tuned Mass Damper |
Fast forward another evening, and we are out to admire Taipei 101 in day light and somewhere away.
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| In to the thin air |
Skycrappers are like mountains, if you have to see them as a whole you have to go far away. And Taipei surrounded by high mountains, its easy to get to any one of them and have a view. One such easy peak is elephant mountain. In 20 minutes of walk, one can get the best view of the city.
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| For me, the view is multiplied |
At one moment the view seems like apocalyptic concrete garden and in another it seems like a trophy of human excellence. Either way, it is easy to spend hours here.
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| With the nightfall |
It is easy to get get lost in Taipei 101 and all the amazing foods of Taipei, specially the street food. And that is the reason why people come to Taipei. But there is more to it, just in the city. Knowing a bit of history of a city makes a better travel always. One such place is Chaing kai shek memorial, in the memory of taiwan's political leader from 1925-75. The structure gives a commanding look. probably true reflection of it leader.
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| Chiang Kai-Shek memorial |
Taipei is difficult city for short trip. The city itself is so lively but when you compare it with suburbs of taipei, it falls short. The concrete garden of Taipei converts into beautiful mountains booming with water falls in an hour of train ride from taipei.
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| The train rides are experience in itself |
We decided to spend a day in Shifun. A touristy village with an amazing waterfall.
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| Shifen waterfall |
Like this waterfall, the calmness in life will be punctuated by turbulence of moments. Sometimes it will bring sorrow and sometimes immense happiness.
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| I want to live again |
We will hit the road soon again, till then chao :)
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