After a wonderfully delightful day of exploring and relaxing yesterday, Jen and I set out for one last full day of exploration in Taiwan. We began our day by hitting up a giant weekend market. Technically, we explored three separate markets but they all kind of continued into one another (over several city blocks).
The first one we explored was an “artist’s market.” Much of what we saw here was similar to things we have already seen but some artists had unique displays. My favourite was one that used marbleized stone as a backdrop (mountains and water, for example) and little figures fishing or in the mountains are included. While they were affordable, they were heavy and I wasn’t especially keen on the framing. It was a neat idea, though.
Further into the market, we came across a painter’s booth we really enjoyed. He had one painting that may have been the best painting I have ever seen; it was almost glowing and looked like the sun was shining right on the mountainside (it was of a famous mountain featured on one of their bills). We spent a long time there and after a bit we finally realized that the artist was deaf. He was extremely excited about us being there and his wife, who was also deaf, sought out a young market volunteer who knew sign language and could translate for us. Before we left, the artist asked to get a couple of pictures with us. It was pretty cute
The first one we explored was an “artist’s market.” Much of what we saw here was similar to things we have already seen but some artists had unique displays. My favourite was one that used marbleized stone as a backdrop (mountains and water, for example) and little figures fishing or in the mountains are included. While they were affordable, they were heavy and I wasn’t especially keen on the framing. It was a neat idea, though.
Further into the market, we came across a painter’s booth we really enjoyed. He had one painting that may have been the best painting I have ever seen; it was almost glowing and looked like the sun was shining right on the mountainside (it was of a famous mountain featured on one of their bills). We spent a long time there and after a bit we finally realized that the artist was deaf. He was extremely excited about us being there and his wife, who was also deaf, sought out a young market volunteer who knew sign language and could translate for us. Before we left, the artist asked to get a couple of pictures with us. It was pretty cute
From the Artist’s Market, we walked through a MASSIVE Flower Market then through to the Jade Market. While there was some nice jewellery there, it was very hard to tell the real jade from the fake jade and, to be honest, we weren’t sure of what a fair price would be.
As an aside, have I mentioned how disappointed I am about prices here? In China, I felt pretty darn wealthy. Unfortunately, things here are almost identically priced to things at home which is especially unfortunate when shopping in tourist areas. Additionally, prices seldom will drop below 90% (10% off) when you try to bargain. This is a far cry from markets on the mainland where I can buy something for as low as 30% of the original price! It takes the fun out of shopping! Haha As well, there is less unique artifacts here in Taipei. I feel like you need to head into the country to find the neat stuff and handicrafts. What can you take from all this? Don’t expect much in the way of souvenirs! haha
After the market and some lunch, we made our way to a 4-story handicraft market. It was neat to see what they had but most was similar to what we had seen and anything really worth getting was very expensive but we were glad we checked it out.
From there we headed to a street that had a brand new tourist attraction. During Typhoon Soudelor, two mailboxes were bent sideways but somehow managed to hang onto their stands. People love these things! They are all over the internet so we headed to check ‘em out. We got very lucky when we guessed the general direction of them! When we got there, though, we died laughing. There was a big line behind rope that was put there for this purpose. There was also a cop standing guard and tracking the number of visitors and a man selling little desk-top replicas of the mailboxes. Taiwan has decided to keep the boxes (and they will continue to be used) and a plaque will be placed there to commemorate the event. They survived Typhoon Soudelor and so did we!
As an aside, have I mentioned how disappointed I am about prices here? In China, I felt pretty darn wealthy. Unfortunately, things here are almost identically priced to things at home which is especially unfortunate when shopping in tourist areas. Additionally, prices seldom will drop below 90% (10% off) when you try to bargain. This is a far cry from markets on the mainland where I can buy something for as low as 30% of the original price! It takes the fun out of shopping! Haha As well, there is less unique artifacts here in Taipei. I feel like you need to head into the country to find the neat stuff and handicrafts. What can you take from all this? Don’t expect much in the way of souvenirs! haha
After the market and some lunch, we made our way to a 4-story handicraft market. It was neat to see what they had but most was similar to what we had seen and anything really worth getting was very expensive but we were glad we checked it out.
From there we headed to a street that had a brand new tourist attraction. During Typhoon Soudelor, two mailboxes were bent sideways but somehow managed to hang onto their stands. People love these things! They are all over the internet so we headed to check ‘em out. We got very lucky when we guessed the general direction of them! When we got there, though, we died laughing. There was a big line behind rope that was put there for this purpose. There was also a cop standing guard and tracking the number of visitors and a man selling little desk-top replicas of the mailboxes. Taiwan has decided to keep the boxes (and they will continue to be used) and a plaque will be placed there to commemorate the event. They survived Typhoon Soudelor and so did we!
From there, we headed to Elephant Mountain to catch the sunset. Elephant Mountain has been ranked the number one thing to do in Taipei on Trip Advisor and I would have to agree. We hiked just shy of 1000 steps (900 something) to a set of giant rocks that we could sit on and see all of Taipei spread out below us. Taipei 101 was only about a kilometer away or so making it the perfect view. To one side, we could see the mountains. It was well well worth the buckets of sweat we shed on the way up (to give perspective, I think I could have run these stairs in more humane weather)! We sat at the top for an hour or so and soaked in the city before heading down to get supper at Din Tai Fug once more (soooo good).
It’s sad to say this was our last free day in Taiwan but there are more adventures around the corner! Stay tuned!
P.S. Again, need time to finish editing the pictures. Sorry for the second half of this batch below; just didn't get time to go through them yet but wanted to update while I had a chance :)
It’s sad to say this was our last free day in Taiwan but there are more adventures around the corner! Stay tuned!
P.S. Again, need time to finish editing the pictures. Sorry for the second half of this batch below; just didn't get time to go through them yet but wanted to update while I had a chance :)