Taiwanted more time.

The stupid thing about getting into Taiwan is that you have to buy a flight out before they'll let you in. This means you better have a good idea of how long you want to stay before touching ground in Taipei. I did not.

So 6 days it was. That's not near enough time to go all the way around the island and specifically, get some beach time in the far south in Kenting. All the backpackers and people teaching English in Asia were headed that way and I felt left out of the cool kids club.

Oh well, I still had a great time.

So here's the breakdown:

3 nights in Taipei, 2 nights in Hualien, and one final night in Taipei.

Taipei is something easily forgotten by the western world but it's truly coming into it's own. It's a great home base for day trips up to the northern coasts and the nightlife is something to be seen. The night markets are especially fantastic. My hostel was located in the middle of one and the 5 lbs. I probably gained was well worth it. The fermented tofu was not well worth it but glad I didn't vomit. It's probably one of my greatest accomplishments of all time.

After Taipei, my new Spanish traveling friend, Jorge, and I headed down to Hualien. It's in the middle of the east coast. Basically no one lives on the east coast of Taiwan so it's perfect for getting out of the city and into some mind-blowing scenery. Hualien was probably the worst city in the world except for the dumpling place I had to visit two nights in a row. It's used as a base for exploration of nature and nothing more.

EXPLORATION!!! We (Jorge, Joe from Northern Cali, and I) headed up to the Taroko national park on the first full day there. It has an absolutely massive marble gorge that is awe-inspiring. The pictures are crappy so forgive me.

The gorge was great but the best part was hiking the Shakadang trail. Yes, I love saying Shakadang trail. Imagine the clearest/bluest, most beautiful water you've ever seen and multiply that times 50. All the signs saying NO SWIMMING meant we had to take a dip. Don't call me a brash American for swimming in most sacred river in Taiwan. I heard it's done regularly. That's what I'm telling myself at least.

Check out the photos. The greatest swim of my life is what I kept saying.

So we finished the trail and realized we only had 30 minutes to hike the 4kms back to the bus stop. Best solution: run. And run we did. 4 km in 25 mins with backpacks on. It felt great. We probably have done it anyway but I'm happy the bus schedule provoked it.

On day two Jorge and I rented bikes and rode around Yilu lake outside Hualien. It was a major couples place so we did our best to manly it up by riding around it in half the time it should take and taking photos of holding the bikes above our heads. Again, see the photos.

After that it was back to Taipei since I had to fly out the next day.

So here I am in Malaysia eagerly anticipating all Southeast Asia has to offer. Beaches and cheapness abound.

Kuala Lampur is a city. That's about it. Next up: Singapore then Thailand (Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, and Bangkok). I met up with my friend Ryan whom I met in Uruguay and we (me, Ryan, and two of his friends) will be destroying the next few cities together. It's nice to have a crew and 4 is a great number for traveling.

That's all for now. Here are some of the Taiwan photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269799&id=20601126&l=880a724907

On the docket today is an attempt to buy all new clothes for crazy cheap in Chinatown in KL. I heart negotiating.