Taipei, Taiwan

My friend Stephanie had Taipei on her list of places to visit before she heads back to the states. When she asked me to join this girls trip, I knew nothing about Taipei and I'll admit I had to look it up on the map. It's not far from Japan at all, only about a 2 hour flight from the west coast. Even though I knew nothing prior to visiting, I left Taipei being throughly impressed by the country itself and all it had to offer... although I could have done without ever smelling "stinky tofu", a local delicacy! I now know that every country has a distinct smell, and for Taiwan, this is definitely it!

We stayed at a capsule hotel, which at first thought sounds pretty weird. But it was such a fun experience! It was like a girls sleepover! Because there were 6 of us and 6 capsules to a room, we were able to have our own room. We each had a little pod to ourselves with sliding doors to close you in. They featured your own TV, mood lighting and all the power outlets you need. We used a big locker room for showering and getting ready which was super helpful to have so much room when you have 6 girls together! One of the first things noticed about Taipei was how lush and tropical the island is. The second thing would be... mopeds! Scooters are the number one way locals travel around, there are definitely more scooters than cars! The island looks so tropical for a reason, it rains and mists quite a lot! We were so lucky to have a break in the rain at the most perfect time every day.

Taking advantage of the break in the rain, we ventured off first to Shifen Waterfall. It is called "Little Niagara" and was located in the middle of lush, green, tropical forests. We wandered around and found a few cable bridges and stopped in a cute little place for some lunch- just as the rain started again! Taiwanese food is so fresh, full of veggies and every kind of dumpling you could imagine.

After checking out the waterfall, we decided to take advantage of being so close to Shifen Old Street, which is known for setting off lanterns into the sky and an old train that runs right through the heart of the action. There was definitely a lot of action! Even though it is touristy, there are people from all over the world writing good luck wishes on their lanterns and setting them off into the sky. With tons of people, some wind and rain, it was truly an interesting spectacle!

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After getting back to our hotel, we decided to find dinner in one of the local night markets. It was still drizzling, which added to the ambience of the evening. The Raohe street market was set up through out quite a few streets, alleys and around the Ciyou Temple. The smoke from the street food stands cooking, the glow of the lanterns and the mist of the rain made for an effect I won't soon forget. Nor will I forget the Michelin star rated food stand we ate at! It was some sort of sausage in a rice filled bun. So tasty and unique.

The next day we headed to the northwest, to Jiufen, which is an old mining town built into the hillside. We were definitely not prepared for the amount of wind all the way up on top of the hill. Luckily the town is a bunch of narrow alleyways with tea houses, art, crafts and of course, food! We stopped in a traditional tea house to warm up a bit and left feeling a bit under the influence of their strong teas. Not sure what they put in them, but we were all feeling it! It would be easy to get lost up here and spend the whole day trying various food, tea and taking in the hilltop views. Maybe next time I will be brave enough to try the stinky tofu :)

Now that the weather was better, we decided to try to find a less crowded area to release our lanterns. Lucky for us, there were only a handful of other people at Ping Xi, which is where the world famous annual lantern festival is held.

To wrap up our amazing Taipei girls trip, we wanted to see the city lit up at night from the gondola. After almost getting stuck, taxi-less, in Ping Xu where you can't call cabs, we crammed into (literally, I sat on Abby's lap) ONE cab. Pretty sure everyone got over any kind of car sickness they may have had after that winding ride! We had a good laugh afterwards thats for sure. The view from the top of the mountain was worth it! Taipei, I will be back.

To see more photos from our trip, click here!