Jennie’s already asking when are we having a break, it’s been like bootcamp. We have covered a lot of ground and feel like we are leaving Taipei having experienced the sights, culture, food and weather in 5 short days. The city has been fascinating and enjoyable, we could definitely spend more time in Taipei.

Our initial sightseeing was helped with favourable jet lag, as I had a few hours of reading travel blogs and reviews during the early hours of the first morning. Jet lag also ensured we hit the Taipei streets mid morning after being responsible parents with Molly and Elsie receiving their first Asia-based formal home schooling. Throughout the first day we stayed central (in the Zhongzheng and Daan districts), after the previous day of travelling, the kids needed to burn off some energy, so we walked throughout the day checking off the old city gates, learning about the ‘228 incident‘ in 1947 and walking around the impressive Liberty Square Arch and National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. We also got a pretty good introduction to Taipei bathrooms, as hot weather, a lot of water and little kids’ bladders required numerous pitstops…only 1 small accident to report!

If Day 1 was planned with military precision, Day 2 was the entire opposite. An 11am booking at the world’s highest Starbucks in Taipei 101, the cheapest way to go up the tower, was rendered worthless as the clocked ticked past 11.30am when we woke up! But after 20 years of getting up for work, an oversleep of teenage proportions felt good to us all! The day actually stayed somewhat student style…the kids enjoyed bread with chocolate spread (it hasn’t got palm oil in if the ingredients can’t be read) and fruit we picked up from the street markets, and when we finally arrived at our hastily replanned destination they quickly devoured their first equivalent of a pot noodle (when in Rome). Our day at Beitou, a suburb about 45 mins outside of central Taipei with geothermal pools, felt like true backpacker fun. The arrival of rain didn’t dampen the experience and the kids mixed it with the locals in the 42C degree thermal foot pool, although we couldn’t tell if the locals were smiling in delight of 3 blonde kids or sympathy as we cooked their legs.

I spent a lot of time looking at Taiwan and the route we would take, in particular taking inspiration from Show Them The Globe, but I definitely overlooked the weather. Fortunately we came slightly prepared, as a double whammy of an earthquake and typhoon on a single August day raised Mother Nature’s love for Taiwan in our consciousness. It’s been hot, very hot…but Typhoon Mitag also decided to brush past the coast bringing constant rain on Friday and 20cm+ of rain on Saturday. Friday felt like a bit of a washout, so we focused on schooling and ticked off Longshan the largest temple in Taipei and resorted to the National Taiwan Museum which would have been amazing if not for all but one floor being renovated. 

Outside of Taipei we had read about a number of must see sights, namely Yehliu, Juifen and Shifen. Each of these towns are about 60 minutes apart, so public transport was a non-starter. So we reluctantly booked a package tour handing our itinerary to a lady holding an umbrella in the air. Needless to say we spent insufficient time in the places we liked and wished for the coach while we waited in the torrential rain. Yehliu Geopark was a combination of the Giant Causeway in Ireland and Pinnacles in Western Australia, but not as impressive as either, it was interesting to see but not something we would run back to. Juifen Old Street and the famous A-Mei Teahouse were picturesque even in the rain, but by the time we got to Shifen everyone was irritable and wet, so we took refuge in a teahouse to watch a train travel along Shifen’s main street and floods of poncho-wearing tourists attempting to send lanterns into the sky in the heavy rain.

By Sunday morning we had dried out and the skies had cleared, so returned to Dave’s sightseeing bootcamp to tick off Taipei 101 – the previous tallest building in the world – and walk up Elephant Mountain for a view of the Taipei skyline. Both were absolute highlights. Taipei 101 was memorable for the 30 second journey to the top of the tower (it took longer to climb the stairs to Molly’s room in Berlin), and although Taipei isn’t a particularly high-rise city the views of the surrounding mountains and urban sprawl were impressive, and as I’m always one for a bit of architecture seeing the 5-story high damper on the 89th floor that protects the tower in earthquakes and typhoons was fascinating.

After the tower, Jennie and I divided and conquered, she went to Gap to replace items for Elsie’s wardrobe that had already been ruined (‘Elsie don’t wipe your oily hands down your dress again’), and Molly and me took a midday trek up Elephant Mountain. Upon reaching the top we were greeted with both an amazing view of Taipei, and a group of unfairly bendy yoga enthusiasts capturing instagram poses that would have left me in hospital for the next 6 months.

Beyond the cultural sights, we were also well aware of Taiwan’s amazing culinary reputation. Jennie and I recall our dinner on the first night of our honeymoon in China years ago…no fine dining, instead local delicacies from a street market in Beijing. All these years later, the first night in Taipei we introduced the street market to the 3 kids, and all but one night since the kids have been enjoying xiao long bao dumplings, black pepper buns, beef noodle soup and fresh mango. We’ve ticked off the local Nanya street market and two of the more well known street markets – Raohe (our favourite) and Shilin (the biggest, albeit more difficult to find if you leave from the MRT station of the same name). Even the night we decided to ‘dine out’ in Taipei, we ate in Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese dumpling restaurant first opened in 1958 that now has 120 branches across the world. The kids have quickly developed a liking for the local Bubble Tea, but having just discovered the sugar count and contents of the tapioca balls we are now steering clear.

We are eating a lot of calories, but on the positive side we’re pounding the streets. Molly is fixated by the number of daily steps on her Fitbit (around 15k-20k a day), and taking great pleasure in beating me. I haven’t got the heart to tell her she wakes up with about 500 steps from all the wriggling in her bed overnight. When not walking, it’s been all public transport in Taipei, no private drivers for the Price Family on this trip. 

The MRT (the Taipei underground) is efficient and super clean. People queue (amazing for a Brit to see) and they always get up to give the kids seats. When they subsequently hear our kids they probably wish they hadn’t got up, or perhaps wished they continued walking and moved to a different carriage! On our first day, a guy behind me collapsed, within seconds the alarm had been raised, medics were on the platform to help the passenger from the train and it departed with no delay. No idea if the guy was ok, but I was impressed with the efficiency of the train departing on time (unlike the result of pulling an emergency brake and being stuck in a sweltering London underground tunnel for hours). We’ve even done the local buses…I know there will be a few people reading this post saying ‘Jennie and Dave, you’ve changed’. 

For now we’ve ditched public transport, and over the next couple of weeks we have the luxury of a rental car to discover Taiwan. Next stops Taichung, Sun Moon Lake and Alishan.