The hidden Gem, Taiwan!
Taiwan’s capital city Taipei is absolutely stunning, full of fantastic people, restaurants and bars. This city is quite unique as you can find delicious slash crazy restaurants, picturesque landscapes, surreal temples, and get a your dose of history and culture.
The streets are wide, the coffee shops are great chilling areas, the night markets are full of anything you could possibly need, and the food is to die for–especially the mexican (not that you fly all the way to Taiwan for Mexican…)!
There are many weird on wonderful things to try while in Taipei, we would suggest giving the snake pallet a go if you can stomach it. It consists of 6 shots that are all liquids from snake, followed with a bowl of snake soup. You may be thinking why you anyone want to do such a thing? Well you get these opportunities once in a lifetime, so take them as they come!
Things To Do
ONE – Taipei 101
Obviously you have to see the cities largest tower ‘Taipei 101″ which was once the tallest building in the world.
TWO – Hot Springs
Visit the hot springs north of the city and sit in a 53 degree celsius pool.
THREE – Eat
Dine out at some fantastic restaurants, my favourite was Woolloomooloo.
FOUR – The peak
There is a fantastic peak that overlooks the city, it has a great view of Taipei 101. Perfect spot for a great photo of the city.
FIVE – Shop
Shop until you drop in some pretty crazy shopping plazas.
SIX – Sneak blood shots
Take some snake blood shots and eat snake in Taipei’s Snake Alley. Jack took some of these shots and said it tasted like dirt but well worth the experience!
Visa
Taiwan is a fairly lax destination to visit for most tourists / travelers! Most countries get a 90 day visa on arrival, here are the most popular (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A). Here is the full list and further information about obtaining the visa. Or you can get these guys to organize everything for you. They are amazing and make everything super easy and straightforward!
Unfortunately Malaysia and Singapore citizens can only obtain a 30 day visa.
What to Eat
Street food all the way! There are high end restaurants but well overpriced and not exactly the countries speciality.
Where to Stay
We stayed at a hostel called JV’s, which was right next to the biggest night market in Taipei, Tonghua night market, that sold a variety of foods, clothing, souvenirs, and handmade goods. The staff there are incredibly friendly and pointed out the top 10 things to do during our stay. We booked through Hostelbookers.com.
Weather
Visited:
We visited the Taiwan around the end of March.
Weather:
The weather was a very constant 24 degrees and pretty sunny every day. The only time it did rain was a tropical downpour for about 35min.
Taiwan Rating
- Overall Rating
- Sightseeing
- Partying
- Relaxing