Taiwan: Day One

Day One started out with a hike at Monkey Mountain and the name does not mislead nor disappoint. The monkeys on this hike are not shy, either. Actually, in some cases they were outright aggressive with one nearly attacking us for our coffee (apparently they're big fans), which we willingly gave up to avoid an incident, and another attacking someone else for her plastic bag (which they must know usually carries food but in this instance only had a hairbrush). The hike was moderately difficult but perfect for a couple of people who had just spent 1.5 days sitting in tight quarters. Additionally, it allowed for instant immersion into our new location by providing us with exposure to the local flora and fauna all while offering amazing views of Kaohsiung City.

Afterwards, we headed into Kaohsiung City for some lunch and then off to Cijin Island for our first street market experience.

Street markets and night markets are part of the culture of Taiwan but without Chad & May's guidance we probably would've been too intimidated by the language barrier to have fully experienced them to the degree that we did. For this we are extremely grateful to Chad & May. They were amazing tour guides and hosts and our experience was exponentially better thanks to them. Plus, they're a ton of fun and their company was thoroughly enjoyed.

After Cijin Island we headed to a night market, different from the street market because it doesn't really get going until the evening hours whereas the street markets appeared to be an all day operation.

At this night market we did something only tourists do: we drank viper blood. Chad helped us immensely with this one by knowing where to go and talking with the shop keeper once we got there. For $1000 NTD we bought the rights to watch a snake be beaten, killed, drained of it's blood, and then we got to drink that blood, mixed with the gall bladder bile and some Everclear type alcohol. The experience was awesome and exciting but a bit sad. The snake put up a good fight though, biting the shop keeper before she beat it's head against the floor and wall. We're glad we had this experience, and probably would've chosen to do it even knowing all of that beforehand, but we won't ever do it again. We still feel guilty.

After such a busy day, by the time we got back to Chad & May's we were ready to relax, putting in a movie to help wind us down. But, before we could relax too much the earth began to shake. We were having an earthquake. According to BBC News our earthquake hit off the coast of Hualien at about a 6.4 but by the time it hit Kaohsiung, on the southwest coast, it was only at about a 3.4. There was no damage to Chad & May's and we were all fine. It wasn't even too frightening and nothing like the fierce shaking we experienced back in Feb 2001 here in Seattle. During that quake there were several historic brick buildings in the Pioneer Square area that were damaged and power lines all over the city were downed. But, in Kaohsiung, this quake didn't even cause Chad & May to pause the movie.