Following our first full day of exploring Taipei, my expectations of the city had been blown away. It was so much more beautiful and mesmerizing than I could have ever imagined. As we woke up on our third day in the city we had two main goals for the day: hot springs and Old Jiufen Street, which was supposed to be the Santorini of Taiwan.
We moseyed around that morning, watching a bit of Single Dad Seeking and Say Yes to the Dress on TLC UK. How could you resist? At some point, we finally we gathered ourselves together and made our way out from under the plush bedspread. We were on our way to Beitou Thermal Valley.
After a couple of subway transfers we got to our stop and followed the crowds to help lead us to our destination. Once we saw the mystical white clouds of steam rising from the water we knew we were in the right place. A stone pathway allowed us to walk right over the crystal clear cyan water, getting just close enough to feel the heat and lean over for a quick steam facial. We were lucky in the fact that it wasn’t terribly busy for a holiday weekend and we were able to peacefully enjoy the hot spring. I’ll chalk that up to the Lunar New Year and so many people being out of town to visit their families.
On our way out we came across a small ceramics shop and decide to pop in for a quick look. In each country I visit I try to leave with some sort of decorative souvenir that I will be able to keep in my someday home. In many countries it has ended up being a locally made dish.
We strolled through the shop in between hundreds of hand painted dishes and pieces of art work before I set my eyes on a pretty little scalloped edge pedestal bowl the color of which matched the beautiful greenish-blue water of the hot springs. The artist told me a little bit about the piece and then carefully wrapped it so that it would survive the journey back to South Korea.
Now it was time to journey out to visit Jiufen. We’d come across this day excursion via a couple of blog posts which had compared the small Taiwanese town to Santorini as it too sits cozily on a mountain next to the water. We spent the next few hours exploring all of the back roads of this small mountain village, trying different foods, popping into different shops and wandering a temple. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon out of the hustle and bustle of Taipei. We explored just long enough to catch the sun setting behind the mountain and see the blue sky fade from yellow to red to black, at which time the city began to light up. I couldn’t have asked for a better day in Taiwan.
The next day would be our last in Taipei. We had just enough time to pack up our bags, grab a quick brunch, and make our way to the airport for our late afternoon flight. It was a lovely way to spend the Lunar New Year, and I absolutely hope to find myself back in Taiwan sometime soon.
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The weekend started off with a great flight from Korea to Taiwan and an easy bus ride from the airport to the hostel that my friend and I would be staying at for the weekend. After arriving in the center of town we ventured off for a quick dinner and explored our new surroundings into the evening. Something that Taiwan and 
Once we had our fill of the square we decided it was time for lunch. Something we weren’t expecting about traveling during the main weekend of the Lunar New Year was that most of the city had gone back to their hometowns to be with their family. This meant that the city was unimaginably peaceful, but it also meant that a lot of storefronts and restaurants were closed for the week. Luckily for us we found an incredible restaurant tucked away on a little side street that served absolutely delicious dim sum.
As the evening of day two was approaching we wanted to explore one of the markets that we’d researched. A lovely taxi driver dropped us off at Raohe Night Market which was supposed to be where any locals were likely to be on New Year’s. In theme with the weekend, we were surprised to see just how calm the market was. Nonetheless, we did a bit of shopping and grabbed some street food as we started to find our way to the subway to head home.
As we exited the temple we found ourselves moving with the crowd into the main strip of the Raohe Night Market. We crawled along with the thousands of other visitors slowly taking in all of the shops and stalls along the market until we found a crêpe stand that we couldn’t pass up. We hopped out of the shuffle where we were handed our strawberry Nutella crepes and reluctantly decided it was time to head back home for the night. in preparation for the following day.
As our trip to Tokyo was coming to a close the Asakusa Sensoji Temple was at the top of our list for our last day in the city, and we began our venture to the other side of Tokyo.
One of the most memorable parts of visiting the temple was a small area to get your fortune. This was especially exciting to see as it was the start of the Chinese New Year. They had instructions set out in English and the process began.
bbm travels 