A Few Days In Taipei, and Starting Day 1, The Long Walk South In Taiwan

 

A Few Days In Taipei, and Starting Day 1, The Long Walk South In Taiwan

Arriving in Taipei from Manila felt like a big change.
Manila is crowded and busy, and I used to think of Taipei as a big and busy city as well, but as we landed, I could see the mountains surrounding the city from all directions, the air seemed cleaner and the city so well organized and much cleaner than I remembered.

We had a few errands we wanted to do while in Taipei.
I needed to buy some things for my underwater photography gear and Jules wanted to buy some reading glasses.
He is a bit particular about the style of his glasses, and it is not easy to find cool styles of glasses, even among the brand names.

At the Sogo mall in the center of the city, he found two pairs of air-frames, glasses that are flexible and less likely to break, and the shop checked his vision and cut the lenses, all in less than an hour.

We were in awe at how quickly and efficiently things can get done here.
In Colorado where we live, we called around to all the vision places, only to hear that either they were not taking on new clients, or that they had no appointments available for many weeks.
We finally were able to book an eye exam for him in Denver, while we serviced our new car, because an eye exam was required to renew his driver’s license.

I couldn’t help but think how clumsy, expensive and inefficient things are in the USA, the richest country in the world and the country with the most innovative spirit, where so much technology was invented and developed…

Another reason that I love Taipei is the huge availability of vegan restaurants where you have many finger-licking yummy vegetarian food options.
The city is full of vegan choices, ranging from gourmet restaurants where you can eat seasonal ingredients prepared by skilled chefs, to inexpensive eateries that serve healthy, seasonal meals.

We could have feasted, if only our appetites would have allowed us to enjoy the food more. But in reality, the high heat had curbed our appetites, and besides, it was the end of the Moon festival, and we could not even get a table at some of the gourmet restaurants.

We really enjoyed the city.
We visited some hiking stores and I bought some hiking shirts and tried to get used to the idea of walking long distances again.

In retrospect, spending a month diving on a small island before starting a long pilgrimage was not the best idea.
On the island we were in the water often, but we hardly walked all month long.
Now, even walking 16 km felt like a lot.

Because of the heat and our need to start getting comfortable with being on our feet and walking all day long again, we decided to start walking south from Taipei along the pilgrimage route before we’re to leave Taipei.

This way, we can start walking without our backpacks and get adjusted to the heat and to walking again, and return to the city at the end of the day.
Our hotel in Taipei has a lovely hot springs bath, and we could relax and loosen our muscles.

We started the morning with a light breakfast, just a roasted sweet potato, which are in season now, a tea in Starbucks and an Onigiri rice ball with a plant based tuna filling.

We walked for an hour until we saw a simple barber and hair cutting salon, and decided to stop in to get Jules a much-needed haircut.
The friendly man did an excellent job and we were happy to enjoy the time we were in his air conditioned shop.
We walked on the shady side of the streets, but there was no escaping the heat.

We walked slower than normal and felt more fatigued.
We took another break at a small vegan restaurant that was a combination of a haircutting salon and vegan restaurant.
I ate their red noodles made from seaweed with vegetables, and Jules had a vegetarian bacon burger.

Lunch was delicious and the small portions felt light, which made us happy because we didn’t feel too full to continue our walk.
The walk was along big streets with many buses and scooters.
We reached our destination, a large outdoor clothing and gear store, where I bought new hiking shirts and cooling hiking towels.

From there, we walked a few more hours to the subway station, which was our destination goal for the day.
Right across the street from the station, there is a famous vegan buffet restaurant.
Since it was already evening, we decided to eat dinner there before we returned to the hotel.
We knew that if we returned to the hotel to shower or soak in the hot springs, there would be no chance that we would go out again to eat.

Besides, these vegan buffet restaurants are an opportunity to eat some of the local dishes in a vegan version.
The restaurant is huge with big tables and it could probably seat 500 people.
It was packed almost to capacity, but the food was fresh, delicious and impressive.
They had sushi and sashimi made from plants that had the same colors and even the texture of fish.
There were very many other good things to try, including healthy desserts and vinegar drinks, and the price for two people was only about $35, which is what we pay at home in Colorado for just two Matcha lattes and a bagel with avocado.

Then we took a subway back to our hotel, cleaned up and collapsed into bed.
I looked at Jules and myself with disappointment.
I am starting this pilgrimage wondering how did we gained so much weight…

This year, I am starting the pilgrimage almost twenty pounds heavier than normal.
I am not sure how I gained so much weight in only four months.
I didn’t deviate from my normal diet that much, but I decided that I shouldn’t beat myself up over it, just do my very best every day to eat less and get back into shape.

Tomorrow we will return to the same subway station and continue our walk south.
I really hope that this heat wave will lift soon…

With love and blessings,
Tali

Today’s Stats:
Steps - 23,433
Daily Distance - 16 km.