The funny thing is that the owner of the hostel (JVS Home) that I stay in is Polish. We started talking in English at first, but we cought on very soon that we're both Polish. The guy had a T-shirt that said "Społem".
Taipei is varied, busy, interesting. There is modern architecture, but you can also find some old houses squeezed between the skyscrapers. There are also temples - they are, in my opinion, is the most picturesque things in Asia. Yesterday I visited Longshan temple and sat at the entrance for a while to look at people praying. I was quite surprised when one old man approached me and started talking to me in quite fluent English - it turned out he was volunteering as a guide and he gave me a detailed tour of the temple. He was also a scholar and a master in I-Ching, so we talked for over an hour which was very educating. He explained basic Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian ideas very clearly and also told me about his interpretation of I-Ching (which, he claimed, is the most difficult and at the same time the easiest book in history). That's what I meant when I wrote that you can meet interesting people when you travel alone...
I also met a girl from Couch surfing, Fanny, who showed me the younger people's Taipei and we had a long walk across the commercial streets in the city centre.
Today I decided to make it "museum day" and visited the National Palace Museum. It is huge and packed with tons and tons of interesting stuff, but unfortunately the crowds that gather there are crazy. I ignored the normal visitor's route and went where I wanted to avoid queues and thousands of people. I think it would be better to go there on a weekday, but right now I didn't have a choice.
The second museum I visited was the National Fine Arts Museum. It is said to be the biggest modern art museum in Asia and I could see why. There are 3 floors packed with good art, so I was in my element. I saw a very interesting exibition "Women Adventures: Five Eras of Taiwanese Art" that showed a few genertions of women's art. I also liked Jen Wei Kuo's "Yi Shan" - paintings that incorporate traditional Chinese art and modern architecture. There was even one Polish detail: I saw one of Paweł Althamer's works in the "Parkett" exhibition.
All in all, the museum is worth a visit if you're into modern art.
My plan for tomorrow: Taipei 101! I don't want to go to the top (it costs 500 Taiwanese Dollars, so - no, thanks), but I read that there's a nice mountain nearby and if you climb it you can have a nice view of the city and of the Taipei 101 itself. We'll see if it's true tomorrow...
Not many pictures today, because it seems that my camera is on strike. I made these with my cell phone which also died along the way, so I apologize for the bad quality and quantity.
First, Longshan temple:
Bez Taipei 101?! Smuteczek ;(.
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