Well.... February was a whirlwind
of a month, and over these past two weeks, many amazing things have happened!!
My sister and cousin came to Taiwan; we explored Taiwan and then headed off to
Southeast Asia to explore Thailand. When my cousin and sister first arrived, we
saw all of the "touristy" sites one needs to see when they come to
Taiwan. While site seeing, we decided to go up the Taipei 101, which was a
first for everyone, including myself. (I have been here for 6 months and had
yet to go up).
**Quick fact: Did you
know that the Taipei 101 is the second tallest building in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai? **
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| On the 88th floor in the 101 |
When we went up the 101,
there was a whole show that happened inside the elevator. The lights dimmed and
a video screen appeared showing the people inside the elevator, how fast we
were going and how many seconds it took to get to the top. If you would like to
know, it took 34 seconds to get to the 89 floor. pretty incredible. So as we
arrived at the top, you could see all of Taipei. There was a audio tour that
told you what you were looking at as you stood on each side of the building,
well not so much an "audio tour" but a promotional tour of Taiwan and
all of the many ways people can spend their money doing touristy things around
Taiwan. Great, thanks, like we really need to spend more money!
The next day, we headed
off to the most famous museum in Taiwan. The National Palace Museum. The
National Palace Museum holds some of Taiwan's most prized items. It holds a lot
of the artifacts that were taken from the Taiwanese who fled from Mainland
China and that were never taken back. We ended up taking a long, I mean long, free-guided
tour and I am pretty sure I learned enough about bronze artifacts to last a lifetime!
I tried to take an interest in it! The only bronze I am interested in, is when
your skin gets it from the sun, hah! But as the day progressed we headed out
and explored the city a little more.
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| On our way to Toroko Gorge |
The following I had taken
off work and we all decided it would be a perfect day to head down to Hualien
where the famous Toroko Gorge is. Although, I have already visited this place,
you can't come to Taiwan and not see the beautiful landscapes, mountains and
rivers it has to offer. So as we arrived in the town of Hualien, we all rented
our own scooters and took off. I think it was really enjoyable for the girls to
ride them and to see a different part of Taiwan, other than the hustle and bustle of
the city. After a good 3 hours of exploring the gorge, we decided it was time
to head back into the town because it looked like rain.... oh and we were
right. As we headed back into town, it started to sprinkle, and then drizzle
and finally it was pouring. Me, being the smarty that I am, decided to stop in
7/11 and get a poncho, but poor Natalie and Maria, they didn't get one and
ended up getting soaked. Let me just say, it wasn't a pleasant train 3 hour
train ride back to the city!!
But we couldn't get too
down, because the next day we were leaving for.... Thailand!!!!!
**BANGKOK**
I was so excited; this
would be my first trip outside of Taiwan since I have been here. (Can you
believe its already been 6 months? wow). So that morning, we packed up
our things and boarded our flight to Bangkok. As we arrived in Bangkok, I could
immediately tell the weather was going to be hot. It was 7:00 pm at night when
we arrived and we were already sweating as we waited for our cab.
**Quick fact #2** Taipei
city has 7 million people (and I thought that was a lot). Bangkok city has 12
million people and I believe it is about the size or a little larger than
Taipei, so you can imagine how much more crazy and frustrating it can be at
times.
I am telling you this fact, because as we arrived in Bangkok, we not only had to stand in line sweating, while waiting for a cab, but we had to wait for about a good 40 minutes while just to get one. So I knew could get very frustrating and complicated at times. But nevertheless, we were in Thailand! As we rode into town, and as we looked out the window driving into Bangkok, we could easily tell that this city, although extremely large, was definitely not as advanced as Taipei. Thailand is definitely still a developing country, but I believe it is moving and advancing quite fast. That night we headed to our fancy hotel and just crashed, as we were all so tired from traveling.
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| Temple along the river |
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| The Big Budda |
The next morning, we
headed down to the all you can eat buffet at the Marriott hotel and shoved our
faces with food. YUM! (Well, there go my plans to eat healthy!!) So we headed
out down to the Chap Phraya River. This river is the main river that runs throughout
the city of Bangkok. This river is the main waterway and transportation way for
many boats and touring companies. It is a great way to see the sights of
Thailand while enjoying time outside on the water. So that is exactly what
Natalie, Maria and myself did. We headed onto a long boat and enjoyed a cruise
down the river, looking at all of the other boats passing us by, temples along
the river and cool architecture of the city. As we arrived at our next
destination, we were disappointed that it wasn't open for another
hour, so what did we do!? Well, we did what any other normal foreign tourist
would do, we were convinced to take a ride in one of the FAMOUS TUK TUKS in
Thailand to see the other surrounding sights. If you don't know what a Tuk Tuk
is, well let me just tell you it is pretty much a tricycle on wheels and it is
definitely not made for 3 people to sit it, definitely not 3 American people!!!
hah. So after being on the Tuk Tuk, we found out it was some sort of "National
Tuk Tuk day" and there was a special deal going on (which we didn't know
about until we had agreed to take a ride) that if you paid ONLY 40 BAHT (which
is like 1 US dollar) you could get driven around to all the sights you wanted
to see. So as we were driving to the "Big Budda Temple" and all of
the other fascinating sights, out Tuk Tuk driver made us stop at many of the
government owned shops to promote Thailand and get the tourists in Thailand to
try and buy things. So the first stop we made, was to a Travel agency, he had
us go in and we instantly left! We were so confused, hah, why were we being
brought to all of these weird places?? Well.....I will tell you. If the Tuk Tuk
driver brought us these shops, we would be reimbursed for the money he spent on
gas!!! OF COURSE he is going to do it then! So then after that stop he brought
us to a place where they tailor and make "beautiful silk" suits, when
we were in there, we saw other foreigners who had been conned into this process...we
instantly left again and told him, NO MORE STOPS, otherwise we are leaving. It
is quite hilarious to think about it now, but at the time we just wanted to get
the heck out of that Tuk Tuk. Just think about it, 3 fairly tall American girls
squished in the back on this Tuk Tuk when it was 95 degrees outside....yuck!
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| Our Tuk Tuk driver! |
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| At the Wat Phra Kaew Temple |
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| Wat Phra Kaew Temple |
So, we FINALLY arrived at the Wat Phra Kaew. This temple is the
MOST important temple in all of Bangkok, maybe even all of Thailand. This
temple is very strict, so any person cannot wear anything that shows their
legs, any tight pants or short sleeves. So Natalie, Maria and I all had to rent
out sarongs and shirts just to enter the temple. The Wat Phra Kaew is famous
for its Emerald Budda, which was carved out of just one piece of jade
stone. The temples in Thailand are nothing like the ones in Taiwan. The statues
and structures are dripping with gold and different shining colors. This temple
is exceptionally beautiful as it has many different areas to walk around in and
it so large. It really was one of the greatest sights that I have seen while
being in Asia. One I recommend seeing. After spending a few hours there, we
decided to head out and do some more exploring. We headed to KhaoSan Road,
where it is famous for having "knock-off" things and great food to
eat. So, of course we had to try some famous Pad Thai that was being cooked on
the street. I was a little hesitant to eat it, but once I did, there was no
turning back. It was delicious!!! So the day was coming to a close and we
headed back to the hotel to get ready before dinner. We hailed a cab and let me
just say, this is where the thing about too many people living in Bangkok comes
in, we could have walked fast home. I think we sat in that cab in the same spot
for 20 minutes and after that we couldn't take it anymore and decided to walk.
I am telling you....too many people!!!
After arriving at the hotel and taking some much need R&R by the pool with a pina
colada in hand, it was time to get ready and head out for a authentic Thai
meal....sorry 'Ha Long Bay', it put you to shame! (inside joke). The
restaurant we ate at that night was honestly incredible. Not only for its
food, but for its service, and authenticity. All of the servers were wearing
traditional Thai clothing and the food was served in very creative, festive
ways. Then in the latter part of the meal a traditional Thai dancer came out
to perform for all of the people eating. It really was magical and made me
really start to love the Thai culture. But, it was time to see other parts of
Thailand....The wolf pack was headed out of Bangkok and down to the beautiful
island of Phuket.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 of 2!!!
KUP KUN KA (Thank you in Thai)
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