Republic of China

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Today was a great day. A big cup of coffee did wonders for me. Suddenly the jet lag fog cleared and poof...

I must have walked at least 10 miles today, all of it on concrete. This is a walkers paradise. Many tiny shops, many tiny food stalls. Most of the streets in the urban core (vast area) are arcaded, providing shade and shelter for the merchants as well as parking spaces for the (seemingly) 200,000 scooters that clog the streets. To seem them bunched at red lights is an amazing site. The drivers here generally obey the signs, don't speed (no room to), and are not mean spirited. In fact, I have not seen any mean-spiritedness here - a vast change from LA.

I've seem maybe 10 non-chinese people (2 were sitting next to me here at this 24-internet shop; they were Israeli and were checking their hotmail accounts). My hotel, the Senator, is located near the train station, and the neighborhood is definitely not a tourist area. The hotel is slightly tawdry (mirror opposite the end of the bed and a pair of tooth brushes and a razor as part of the amentiy package) but it is quiet and clean. Nearby food stalls along narrow alleys offer wonderfully fresh (and hot) foods at bargain prices. I graze all day long.

I bought several packets of beautiful yellow paper with gold leaf squares; my intention being to use them for note cards and sketch paper. After buying them, I went into a stationery store to find envelopes. The owner recoiled at seeing the paper. Later I was in a bookstore and said 'excuse me' to a young woman as I eased past here, she responded in english so I asked her about the beautiful papers - she told me they are dead money - they burn them at funerals so the dead will have enough money in the afterlife. She said personally she wouldn't write on them. So I tossed all but a couple which I will keep as souvenirs.

Some hip young women are wearing extraordinarily pointed, low-heeled, long slip-on shoes. Pretty cool...look for them to come your way...

During my walk today, I went into several old buddist temples. One was celebrating one of the buddas' birthdays. Throngs of people burning incense and praying. Much bright red lacquered wood, gold leaf, and much polychromed wood. Something to see. At another one, a woman gave me a tour of this three-story temple. Buddas on every floor. Bythe way, Budda won't come and answer your prayers unless you burn incense.

Taiwan is a sub-tropical country and the weather is comparable to Los Angeles' weather - right now - 50's and 60's during the day and a little cooler at night. The air quality leaves a lot to be desired but apparently the government has made a committment to clean the air.

Tomorrow I board a morning train for Taroko Gorge, Taiwan's first and most popular national park. The highlights are cascading waterfalls and marble canyons. The train follows the east coast which is wonderfully scenic. After a few days of wandering around the east coast of Taiwan, I'm back in Taipei for a Saturday flight to Delhi, via Bangkok.