Chuseok in Taiwan

Got back last week from my last minute minute trip to Taiwan! My friend Lauren and I decided we wanted to leave the country over Chuseok. Chuseok is basically the equivalent of our Thanksgiving. Many Koreans travel to see their families and celebrate the good harvest and make traditional food. Therefore, most schools had a five day weekend. Here's a little summary of our trip!

 



Taipei 101

We headed out Saturday morning for Taipei. Taipei felt more asian than Korea does; maybe because everything was in Chinese and I couldn't read anything. They speak Mandarin Chinese there, but many people could understand and speak English. We did some Taiwanese shopping and made sure to see the second tallest building in the WORLD, Taipei 101. A little trivia there for ya. It's 101 stories tall and has one of the fastest ascending elevators at 37 mph which is 52 feet per second. Crazy! I would hate to be the person giving the explanation on the elevator. My ears hurt just from riding it once. It's also build to survive typhoon winds and earthquake tremors. From the top you can see forever. We felt like Taipei was bigger than Seoul. So I looked it up. Seoul is a little over twice the size of Taipei, but has 7.5 million more people. Although, I think it felt like we could see farther because they have less mountains in the area. Anyway, we only stayed one night there and our hostel, JV's Hostel was really great! The people were so friendly and we had real matresses!! Definitely a good nights sleep. Then, Sunday afternoon we packed up and took a train along the east coast to Hualien.



Jici Beach - Just south of Hualien



We arrived in Hualien after dark and thankfully found room in the first hostel we tried. I was nervous becuase everyone we talked to in Taipei told us things will be booked full because it was a holiday weekend in Taiwan. God came through! I was praying like crazy as we approched our stop. Our hostel, Amigos wasn't anything too special, but the people again were awesome! Very helpful and nice, plus it was pretty cheap. Felt a little like summer camp, with a bunch of bunkbeds in one room. We met some cool people and it turned out to be a great place to stay! On Monday, we took a bus to the beach and chilled along the Phillipine Sea I believe. It was a little rocky for swimming, but a good day to reflect and relax. We went back to Hualien for dinner and exploring and a little shopping of course. Taiwan was many night markets that have some cool things. We picked up a couple Taiwanese souveniers and ate some delicious dumplings.



Tuesday was our big day. We went to Taroko National Park or the Taroko Gorge. Ohmygosh amazingly beautiful. I guess 'taroko' means magnificent/beautiful/splendid. It definately lives up to its name. The day before we met two girls (also teaching in Korea) that were planning to go see the gorge also. So we decided to go together and split the cost. It was nice to change it up a bit and meet some cool girls! We took a taxi tour to see all the sights and save our legs. Some people backpack through and hike everywhere, but we only had one day. It was nice to have someone to explain what everything was and a little history along the way. We also got to hike some and see gorgeous waterfalls and rocks predominantly marble, the area is known for its marble. I can see why its one of the top attractions in Taiwan.

 

At the entrance to Taroko National Park



Lauren & I at Taroko


I think Lauren and I both learned a lot on this trip. We did a lot of self reflection. We discovered things about ourselves. We also noticed things about each other. I feel like I understand her more. I think she feels the same way about me too. I'm so glad we took a chance on this vacation! God led us the whole way. From the point we purchased our tickets untill we arrived safely back in our apartments in Seoul. It was definitely a trip I will never forget! Here's a couple other fun pics of us :)



Havin' fun at the LOVE sculpture near Taipei 101



"We love Taiwan!"



~Krista~