Taipei – hot, wet and sticky!
Friday, June 2nd, 2006 
I am here…
To be honest, I haven’t got my head around Taipei yet. It seems to be a right mixture – a bit like Japan, a bit of Hong Kong, quite a bit of China, and a hint of India. Japan because it wasn’t that long ago that Taiwan had a 50 year occupation by Japan. Hong Kong because it’s been more open to the West and it’s influences and has a certain freedom to it. China, well because most of the peope here are essentially Chinese in origin and the main langauge is quite Mandarin. And India, a little bit because it is hot, tropical, you can see the similar fauna and you can get bitten by mosquitos all day long!!!
I know, you’ll say – well it is a different place, another country. I know, I know. I haven’t quite got my bearings I think, because I am missing Japan. Because it’s another new place after so many and I am on my own again, travelling alone. Also because I am one stop away from home, almost there.
I have got stuck in though and gone to see some sights. The hostel (which leaves a lot to be desired! Cockroach!!) is not far from the station, so I walked from there to Taipei 101, the tallest building at present in the world, standing 508m! That was a bit of a mistake as a few kilometres in China or Japan is not the same as in Taiwan. The heat, or should I say humidity makes it a lot further. I was guzzling water down and getting tired pretty quick, and I realised that I have to take it a bit slower here to start with. [read on]
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