Third day: Sun Moon lake and Formosan aboriginal culture village

Today I woke up around 9 AM and afer 1 hour my hostfamily brought me to Sun Moon lake which is in Nantou county-not so far away from our place. The sun was shining all the way to Sun Moon lake and after 1 hour drive we reached this one of the major tourist attraction objects in Taiwan.

We bought the tickets and we took a lift on one of the Sun Moon lake's tourist yachts and from that was a beautiful scenery to thid lake and the mountains nearby. We had a stopover in the opposite side of the lake where we saw a beautiful temple and after that we tried the Sun moon lake's delicacy: an egg which was boiled in a tea which was very tasty. My hostsister told that such eggs you can eat in all over Taiwan but Sun Moon lake's eggs are the most popular. After a little dinner we went by the yacht to the next stopover where we went trough a kind of tropical jungle to the cable car ropeway. The view from the cable car was stunning and at the end of ropeway we entered in Formosas aboriginal culture village. We were so lucky that after entering in this village we managed to see a performance by the aboriginals and it was my first time to see the aboriginals.

After the perforance we saw the prototypes of the houses and lifestyle and the artifacts of the ancient aboriginals and it was great that the current aboriginals also did the handicfrafts in front of our eyes so here is also not only an exhibition but also a live performance and working habits by these aboriginals. After that we went to an amusent park where I felt like in a childhood because we tried several attractions but actually in one I was a bit scared and it was obviously seen a picture which was taken by that attraction's automatic camera. Then we went back with the cable car and the tourist yacht and then we were heading back home. But at the way back we attented the most beautiful and the biggest temple which I have seen so far during my stay in Taiwan. In conclusion I can say that this trip was really great and I appreciated a time which I spent with my nice and kind hostfamily and I'm looking forward to going in the next trips in Taiwan. :)

Taiwan-a paradise of food

 I arrived in Taiwan only in this Friday but I have tried so much new food and beverages in those 3 days what in comparision I have tried only in a one year in my homecountry. I'm so grateful that my hostfamily is so eager to introduce me with a Taiwanese food not only in the restaurants or at their home where we had a dinner but also in the food market and night market which we attended yesterday in Changhua city.

When I travel I try to attend at least one local food market because I think the real life of any society happens there and also the best and most healthy food you can only find there. And that's why I was really happy that my hostfamily brought me to the local food market in their neighborhood where I saw a lot of vegetables and fruits the first time in my life. In the night market which we attended yesterday's evening in Changhua I tried the new food and substances, too and I was amazed by a huge choice of the attractions for the kids and youngsters. So I see that in the night markets in Taiwan not only sell and buy a food but it is connected with an entertainment. I hope that I will be able to attend the food market or night market one more time but if not then anyway I'm pleased about this experience which I can share with my dear ones in Latvia.

Arrival in Taiwan 12.08.2011

After a 1 day long journey from Riga to Taipei (Taoyuan airport) I arrived in Taiwan. An environment in the airport already gave me an image that this country is highly developed, colorful and its people are extremely kind. In the airport were a lot of SayTaiwan volunteers who were so helpful and helped us with the directions: how to get to the High Speed railway station and how to reach a city where a assigned hostfamily will wait for us.

I didn't know in which hostfamily I was supposed to live before arrival in Taiwan and that's why I was kind of worried. But when I arrived in Taichung railway station and when I saw a artistic poster with my name and gift then all my worries disappeared. My intuition said that I'm in the good hands.

When they picked up me then we drove to the local Taiwanese restaurant from which was a great view to all over of Changhua city and in the background was my favorite music style-classic jazz.:) My family ordered so much food that I wasn't able to eat it all but anyway I appreciated to try a authentic Taiwanese food as I'm a lover of the delicacies and gastronomy surprises ( of course in a positive way). After dinner my family took me in a little excursion around Changhua although it was dark but even in a night Changhua's major tourist attraction object- the Great Buddha statue was stunning and marvellous. After this excursion we went home where we made an itinerary for the rest of a time which I will be in their family. So I'm looking forward discovering Taiwan! :)

A flight schedule

Finally today I received a pre-booking reference in which I had to confirm that my name, a city of departure and a city of  arrival is correct and after my confirmation an e-ticket will be shortly issued. 

I will fly with two airlines: Finnair and Eva Airways which is Taiwan's airline company and it takes the 2nd place behind China airlines in a target of Asia. I will depart on 11th of August  and arrive back in Riga on 26th of August and I'm going to have 2 stopovers in Helsinki and Hong Kong. I recognized in the schedule that the flight from Helsinki to Honk Kong will take 9 hours and 45 min. so I will see how can entertain myself for almost 10 hours. :)

I know that  upcoming trip will be quite soon but I anyway I cannot wait to go to Taiwan and to gain an experience there.

At the end here you can get acquainted with the flight schedule:

Departure:

11/08 13:50 Riga airport-11/08 14:50 Helsinki Vantaa intl airport
11/08 16:40  Helsinki Vantaa intl airport-12/08 07:25 Hong Kong intl airport
12/08 11:10  Hong Kong intl airport-12/08 12:50 Taipei (Taoyuan) airport

Arrival: 
25/08 16:40 Taipei (Taoyuan) airport-25/08 18:20 Hong Kong intl airport
26/08 00:25  Hong Kong intl airport-26/08 06:05 Helsinki Vantaa intl airport
26/08 09:45  Helsinki Vantaa intl airport-26/08 10:40 Riga airport

My hostfamily in Taiwan

Yesterday I finally received an e-mail from Alice Lin who is our contact person from the Secretariat of Round table PCO. In this letter were mentioned the contacts and a place of my hostfamily. I hope to get in touch with my hostfamily before I'll arrive in Taiwan but it's good that at least I know where I'm going to stay.I found out that my hostfamily will be in Changhua county which situates in a Central western part of Taiwan and I'm happy that I'm not in a hostfamily in a north or south side of Taiwan so that I can travel around easily.In the group "SayTaiwan: People going for the Centennial Homestay" in Facebook I recognized that we've split all over the island but I hope that I could travel together with the people from the neighbour counties not only with my hostfamily.As I'm a tourism specialist and I have a deep passion for traveling and tourism then I've already checked in a map where does Changhua county locate.

Here you can see Changhua county which is highlighted with a red colour:

So I assume that Changhua county is in a good location and is it not far away from the major touristic attractions such as: Tainan city, Taichung city, Alishan national recreation area, Lugang's historical and cultural site and others.

I've already checked what is most appealing and by what is most known in Changhua city and I found out that Changhua is a home of The greatest and tallest Buddha statue in Taiwan! It is iconic 92m-tall (!!!) statue and The Great Buddha sits on a 22m-high lotus flower base on top of Baguashan, or Eight Trigram Mountain. The statue is hollow and actually it's possible to go inside to see colorful dioramas that depict the Buddha's life. Behind the statue, it's also possible to find the massive Great Buddha Temple. The third floor is a favorite spot to watch the sunset over the city.

Here you can see a picture of The Great Buddha statue:

When I saw this picture even in this moment it looks superb but I suppose when I'm going to see in a real life it will be more fascinating.

I found out as well that Changhua was largely settled by immigrants from the Chinese Provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. They brought along their unique customs and culture, providing many of the colorful historical sites found throughout the county, such as the Lugang Longshan Temple, Lugang Old Street, and Nine-Turns Lanes.So I'll have a chance to see also some of the historical, religious and cultural sites bu the Chinese ancestors.

As I'm a big lover of different kinds of the culinary specialities then I'm happy to know that Changhua has the local food specialities which you'll not find so much in the other parts of Taiwan.

So they have the local culinary delicacies such as: the Taiwanese meatballs (which you eat them hot), the Cat mouse noodles and Oyster omeletes.

Here is the picture of some Changhua's delicacies:

This is all what I got so far but surely I'm going to do a little more research what's more worth to see around the county where I'm going to stay during my trip in Taiwan.

Have a great day and stay tuned! :)

On the way to Taiwan

I chose a famous author Mark Twain's quote : "So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." as my blog's title because the upcoming trip to Taiwan confirms that this quote works in my life which encourages the people  to see the unlimited borders of discovery and fulfillment of the dreams. How did it all start that I'm going to Taiwan?

A whole story begins with the two e-mails which I received in the mid-April when I returned back from a tourism development project "Tajik tour" in Tajikistan organized by NGO AIESEC LC Dushanbe. The first e-mail was forwarded to all AIESEC LC Riga members and the second e-mail was forwarded from my project mate Mei Chi Yun a.k.a Maggie who was together with me in Tajikistan.If they wouldn't forwarded these e-mails then I don't think so that I would know about this opportunity.

And what was written in these e-mails? Let's reveal: The Council for Cultural Affairs Republic of China (Taiwan) was organizing an international competition for the young and active people aged from 18 to 40 from all over the world to apply for the event "International Youth Week-Centennial Homestay". This event's aim is to celebrate together with the selected participants- international guests Taiwan's Centennial anniversary since its establishment. All what I had to do was to fill in an application form, add the recommendation letters and other documents which showed my previous achievements and a participation in the different kinds of activities. I did it immediately and I had to wait for 1 month and half...Waiting was quite a nerve racking because I knew that a price is tremendously great- if I would be chosen as a participant then the government of Taiwan would cover all the costs to get and to be in Taiwan: travel costs, accommodation, travel insurance and participation in the mandatory events of the celebration.

Finally in the official site of  the Council for Cultural affairs of ROC (Taiwan) on 31st of  May was published a list of the selected participants. I went trough the list quickly and finally I found my name between the selected 250 participants from around 125 countries... I don't know by which criterias they choose the participants but I'm grateful to God who has given me such a great gift. I desired to go to the exotic and unknown country however I've been in 24 countries so far and right now I have this chance to widen my traveling experience. In this moment I can only guess or desire what will happen when I will be in Taiwan but I already have a great joy in my heart knowing that I will visit and experience Taiwan only after one month...

So my dear friends and visitors the next posts are going to be published soon so I will keep updating...