East Asia – Wangechi Gitahi Travels

Asia

Cultural Wulai

By Wangechi Gitahi

Wulai means hot springs in the Atayal tribe and is a town situated in the mountain area of Taiwan. The area is cool, serene, and very beautiful. I was drawn to it more by the fact that the majority of the residents are the older generation and thus lots of history and culture to learn. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the government offers free bus rides to the senior citizens on specific days of the week to travel to and from Taipei to Wulai. My highlights were: a) The scenery The landscape which is mainly mountainous, is covered in green cover and rained while I visited. I enjoyed walking through the area and watching the descending fog cover the hill tops.This town is famous for their hotsprings but I didn’t get a chance to sample them due to the weather. b) The Delicacies: You have to sample some if…

Asia

Homely Pingtung

By Wangechi Gitahi

After enjoying Taipei for sometime, I chose to venture southwards to Pingtung, that is also referred to as Pingdong. I really liked this place as the people were super warm, the landscape really serene and there was lots to learn about their culture, especially due to the high older generation population. The below is what I got up to, feel free to follow suit. a)Engage with the people I was privileged to have a home stay experience courtesy of my friends Katys grand parents. These two opened their hearts and home to me and I will forever be grateful that I eventually started calling them grand ma and grand pa. It was interesting watching people observe grandma and I conversing with each other, her in Chinese, me in English, yet we completely understood each other.They became my tour guides and showed me all around the town and its outskirts. May…

Asia

Mouth watering Miaoli

By Wangechi Gitahi

Miaoli is located to the West of Taiwan. It is generally a hilly area and thus the weather is conducive for farming and hiking. I got the privilege to visit courtesy of being invited to the Eva Airlines Family funday. I was staying at my friends Katys home and that day I accompanied Mr. Chen, her father. This family truly integrated me as part of the family that I went as part of family and I truly had a sumptuous great day. The following were the highlights: Delicacies: I managed to eat and enjoy all the below delicacies presented to me. Sometimes not knowing what is presented as a delicacy is indeed a plus, as thus one becomes more adventurous on sampling. a) Clam soup: I thought it was vegetable soup, or sea weed soup only to reach the bottom of the bowl to find clam shells. Oh well, you…

Asia

Taiwan 101

By Wangechi Gitahi

1.It is officially called the Republic of China (ROC) but most people refer to it simply as Taiwan. It was previously known as Formosa and its capital city is called Taipei. 2. It is an Island located in East Asia and is bordered by China in the West, Japan to the North East and Philippines to the South. 3. They dominantly speak Chinese and still use traditional Chinese characters in writing. 4. It has 14 recognized aboriginal tribes and a a population of about 23million people . 5.Their dominant religions are Buddhism and Taoism 6. The ladies are afraid of the sun and the rain. When the sun is high, they will have their umbrellas up to reduce exposure to the suns rays and when it rains, even a little, they have to be well covered in ponchos and umbrellas to avoid the effects of (acid) rain. 7.Their trash collection…