Taipei to Taichung

9/26/2010:  I had the best night’s sleep of my trip last night, and woke up feeling great at about 8 AM.  I took off for the 228 Peace Memorial Park and had a fruit pack for breakfast there.
National Taiwan Museum, near the 228 Peace Park

228 Peace Park

228 Peace Monument, with the Presidential Office Building on the right

I returned to the hostel, showered, checked out, then walked to the Taipei bus station.  I bought a ticket to Taichung for only 210 Taiwan dollars, or about 6.5 USD.  It was a comfortable 2 hour drive, with air conditioning and a showing of Night at the Museum.  The scenery on the way down consisted mainly of hills, factories, and a couple of very wide and stony river beds. There was also a nice Chinese cemetery, consisting of what looked like ether large gravestones or small mausoleums.

I arrived in Taichung and walked about 30 minutes to my hostel, which I surprisingly found with a single wrong turn.  I settled in then walked to a busy section of town.  I managed to walk through an area with hundreds of people out with their dogs, which I guess is the thing to do on Sunday evenings.  There are some very wealthy areas in the city, with high end restaurants and stores, but that wasn’t what I came here for.  I eventually found a roadside stand with a bunch of different items a guy will fry for you.  I chose my foods, paid the guy 90 TWD, and he gave me the fried food in a plastic bag along with a paper plate and a couple pairs of chopsticks.  I was ready to eat, so I started to make my way back to the hostel.  Two hours late, I finally made it!  I was seriously disorientated, without the sun or Taipei 101 to use as a reference.  I also never picked up a decent map of the city, but now I know the area well enough not to get that lost again.

Taichung

Taichung

Dinner in my room.  I only finished half of it!  It wasn’t that bad, but I couldn’t have finished it unless I went out and bought some more tea.