Taipei a okoli (Taipei and around)
For English translation please have a look below.
Taiwan je ostrov o rozloze podobne nasi republice. Hlavni mesto je Taipei a nachazi se na severu ostrova. Taipei je asi dvakrat vetsi nez Praha a asi nejvetsi zajimavosti je nejvyssi (nebo dnes uz asi druha nejvyssi budova, po novem rekordu v Dubaii) budova sveta, ktera se jmenuje 101, one o one, nebo po nasem proste stojednicka.
101 je vysoka pres pul kilometru a ma tvar bambusoveho kmene. Je rozdelena do osmi casti a kazda z teto casti ma osm pater. Cislo osm je v cinske spolecnosti vyjimecne, magicke a stastne.
Do Taipeie jsme dorazili v obdobi destu a nebylo moc dni, kdyby byla jasna obloha (nejsem si uplne jistej, jestli to je tema destma nebo smogem…). Kdyz jsme k ni prisli, tak se spicka norila do mraku. Nemelo tedy smysl platit spoustu penez, abychom se podivali az nahoru.
Tak tohle je ona
Dalsi z dominantou a hlavni pamatkou je Chiang Kai Shkuv memorial. Velike prostranstvi pred memorialem se meni podle politicke garnitury. Jakmile vladl Chiang Kai Shkuv Kuomintag, tak se namesti jmenovalo po nem, jakmile byla u kormidla opozice, tak ho prejmenovala na Namesti miru a momentalne je u moci opet Kuomintag, tak se bude opet prejmenovavat :-).
Byli jsme moc radi, ze jsme mohli byt s Cate (nasi italskou kamaradkou, kterou jsme poznali na koncertu na Novem Zelandu ve Franz Josefu), protoze nejen ze jsme mohli spat v jejim obrovskem byte v centru mesta, ale take proto ze nam sama ukazala spoustu zajimavych mist v Taipei vcetne trhu s kvetinami, jadeity, nocni trhy s jidlem, kde nam pomohla zorientovat v cinske kuchyni a vysvetlila nam co je co a spoustu jidla jsme tak ochutnali.
Cate nas seznamila s jejimi taiwanskymi kamarady, coz bylo pro nas opravdu zajimave, protoze jsme meli moznost si s nimi promluvit o jejich zemi, historii, zpusobu zivota a cestovani.
Nezapomenutelny pro nas byl i Alessandro, Caterinin spolubydlici, take Ital a dokonce Riman (jeste neco horsi nez Prazak.. 😉 ). Alessandro je opravdu sverazny typ cloveka. Je to vedec, ktery je posledly sexem a nahaneni vseho mozneho – hlavne zenskych, ale i komaru :-). Je s nim velka sranda a kdyz nam Cate vypravela jeho zazitky a pribehy, tak jsme se trhali smichy :-).
Musime zminit i dalsi Catinu kamaradku Maggie, ktera byla moc mila, seznamila nas s dalsimi jejimi kamarady, ukazala spoustu zajimavych mist a poradila, kde cestovat na Taiwanu. Navic je posedla cestovanim v Evrope (hlavne tedy v Italii), ale doufame, ze nas navstivi v Cechach.
Zpatky do Taipei. Ta je asi jako kazdy jiny mesto. Je tu par zajimavych mist, ale vic je jedno a vicedennim dosahu z mesta. Podivali jsme se do Maokongu a lanovkou se nechali vyvezt do blizkych kopcu.
Na tomto miste se ale musim rozepsat a napsat o nasich kamaradech Martine a Martinovi. Nejdriv jsme se potkali v Christchurchi v hostelu, kde jsme vsichni vyrizovali stejne veci a hlavne shaneli auto. Dobre jsme si popovidla a hlavne si predali spoustu informaci. Nez jsme vyrazili, tak jsme si vymenili mistni telefonni cisla s tim, ze se treba nekde muzeme potkat.
Par dnu na to jsme od Martiny s Martinem dostali smsku, ze nasli dobrou praci v mestecku Franz Josef a jak pojedeme okolo, tak se mame zastavit. Po dvou mesicich cestovani jsme dorazili k Franz Josefu. Dopredu jsme napat nemohli, protoze na zapadnim pobrezi nebyl zadny signal a byli jsme na nekolika trecich v horach.
Lilo jako z konve a melo dalsi 3 dny, tak jsme chteli Franz Josefem jen projet. Zavolali jsme ale Martine s Martinem a ti nam nabidli, ze muzeme zustat u nich v pronajatem dome. Vypraveli nam o Franz Josefu tak poutave, ze jsme se rozhodli, ze tu chvili zustaneme. Podarila se nam najit prace a po nejake dobe se nam tam opravdu libilo.
Za Martinou a Martinem jsme obcas zasli do restaurace, kde pracovali, a kdyz se nedivali nadrizeni, tak jsme dostali i pivo zdarma. 🙂
S nimi jsme taky radne oslavili narozeni Vykoukalovic Klarky 🙂
Nicmene jsme se po mesici rozjeli dal a stejne tak i Martina s Martinem skoncili praci a zacali cestovat. Pak uz se nam ale nepodarilo se potkat na Zelandu. Napsali jsme si chvili pred odjezdem ze Zelandu, ze Martina s Martinem na konci kvetna budou odlitat a pak budou tyden cestovat na Taiwanu. My jsme v tu dobu nevedeli, jestli se nam podari na Taiwanu zustat dyl nebo ne, ale nas plan byl odlitat 30. kvetna.
No, nakonec se stalo to, ze jsme se vsichni potkali na letisti a leteli stejnym letadlem do Taipeie. 🙂
Domlouvali jsme se, ze bychom se mohli potakat a nekam se spolecne podivat. Prvni dny se to nedarilo. Martina s Martinem meli svuj program a stejne tak i my s Cate. Nabidli jsme se, ze bychom se mohli zajit na jeden nocni trh, ale tam uz Martina s Martinem byli den pred nama. Pak nam napsali, ze ve stredu uvazuji zajet na okraj Taipeie, do kopcu zvanych Maokong. Uvazovali jsme, ze bychom tam taky jeli. Nicme jsme se nedomlouvali na tom, kde a kdy se potkame a k nasemu prekvapeni jsme se potkali v dolni stanici lanovky :-). Uzili jsme si spoledne Maokong a domluvili se, ze druhy den se potkame na hlavnim nadrazi na informacich. Bohuzel jsme cekali na jinych nez oni… Clovek ty setkani s nima asi nema planovat ;-). Doufame, ze se nam bud planovane nebo neplanovane podari s nima potkat v Cechach. Psali jsme si, ze se pomalu vraceji do starych koleji v Roznove pod Radhostem.
Tady jsme na Maokongu
At Maokong with Martina and Martin
Druhy den jsme si udelali vylet do Yangminshan parku a vylezli na horu Cising, odkud byl krasny vyhled na Taipei a jeji okoli.
Another daytrip to Yangminshan national park where we walked up the Cising mountain. The view on Taipei was amazing.
Pred nasim odjezdem z Taiwanu jsme stravili jest par dni v Taipei a podivali se do vesnice v horach, kde pestuji jejich vyhlaseny polozeleny caj Oolong. Prosli jsme se okolo reky a uzasnymi plantazemi caje a podivali se do nejvetsiho muzea caje.
Before we left Taiwan we went to a village in close moutains, where we walked along a river and walked through tea plantations of thei famous Oolong tea. We visited also the biggest tea museum in the world.
Cajove plantaze v Pinglinu
Tea plantations in Pinglin
Jeste jsme si neodpustili se nalozit v horkych pramenech v Beitou. I v tom horku to bylo moc prijemny :-).
Hot springs and pools in Taiwan are really highlight. Here we are in Beitou. Though hot it was very nice :-).
Taiwan is an island of a similar size as our Czech republic. The capital is Taipei which is located in the North of Taiwan and has around 2.4 Million inhabitants. The most interesting site is the highest (or at the moment already the secong highest building after new record in Dubai) building. It is called 101 and is more than half kilometer high and has a shape of a bamboo trunk. It has 8 parts which each has 8 floors. Number 8 is magic and lucky in the Chineese world.
We have been to Taiwan during the wet season and ufortunately we could not clearly see 101. The peak was burried in clouds (we just were not sure if due to the wet season or the smog…)
The other important sight the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Due the continous propaganda he is still praised as the great leader. The adjacent area was long time called Ching Kai Shek square but Kuomintags oposition changed its name to Freedoms square. Kuomintag has won election and it seems it will change the name back again…
We were very glad we could stay with Cate. Not only it was very pleasant to stay in her huge appartment in the downtown of Taipei but we have also very much enjoyed her company while showing us lots of interesting places and sights in Taipei, taking us to the night food markets and explaining what is what and how does it taste and tasting many different and for us very strange food and meals :-). We also very much enjoyed as she introduced us to many of her friends and we had the unique opportunity to talk to the local people about their life and travelling in Taiwan and their history.
We have to mention especially Maggie, who is very nice, also showed us Taipei her way, introduced us to many her Taiwanies friends (her good friend Wendy in Tainan showed us many sights and interesting places in her city) and helped us in any way we needed. She is very keen on travelling (especially in Italy) and we hope she will make it also to Czech republic and Prague.
Cate has an unforgettable flatmate! Alessandro is not only from Italy but he is from Rome which is of course even better :-). Alessandro is a very nice and funny person. He is a scientist. I think it says a lot just itself :-). He loves women and sex and he uses any opportunity to chase them. If he is not chasing them he is chasing mosquitos :-). As Cate was telling us many Alessandro’s stories we were just laughing so much :-).
We would like to thank to all those nice people who took care of us (Cate especially, Maggie, Wendy, Jeffry and many others…), helped us on our journey in Taiwan and made our travelling such a deep and beautiful experiece. I dont want to forget anyone, so please dont feel offended in case I have not put here your name. All of you are in our deep and great memories :-).
Well, Taipei is a city and is same as any other. But there are many more interesting places just in one day trip distance. We have done a few trips. The first one was to Maokong where we have met again with our Czech friends Martina and Martin.
I have to write more about them and us here 🙂
We have met Martina and Martin in New Zealand in Christchurch in a backpacker for the first time. We were after the same things and especialy after buying a reliable and cheap car. We talked to each other, enjoyed each other’s company and exchanged many precious information and our local mobile numbers.
After some time Martina and Martin sent us an sms they had found a good job in Franz Josef and once we would come around we shall see them.
Two months later we were close to Franz Josef but it was pouring rain whole day and it was suppose to rain like this for another 3 days. We were about to pass Franz Josef but we gave a call to them and they offered us to stay in their house. They were speaking very keenly about the township, people and the surrounding wilderness that it made us stay. We found a job and were also very much enjoying it.
After one month we went off to further travelling and Martin with Martina did the same but we did not meet in New Zealand anymore.
Just before we were suppose to leave we exchanged emails that the leave New Zealand at the end of May for Taiwan. We had our ticket already scheduled for 30. May but we did not know if we could stay in Taiwan longer. In the end we met again at the airport :-).
In Taipei we had different plans which did not fit to all of us. We planed a trip to the close hills to Maokong but we did not agree on any meeting. We just knew they wanted to go there on Wednesday. We came to Maokong and we met luckily at gondola :-). We spent the day together and agreed to meet the other day on the main railway station. This station is really huge and we were waiting on a different place, information stand, than them and we did not manage to meet even we planed it. We hope we meet each other again back at home either planned or unplanned :-).
