Taiwan Day Five

The last day of our vacation dawned warm and clear. It was a free morning, we had to meet back at the hotel at 1 pm in order to head to the airport for our return flight. We decided to head out on the subway to check out a few temples and the Chiang Kai Sheck memorial hall. Our first stop was the Confucius temple. On a side note every city, town and village in Taiwan and China as a whole will have a Confucius temple because his teachings are so widely worshiped. The one in Taipei city was under construction, it was very large and even through the rubble of the construction it was beautiful. We went next door to Bao An temple which was open and we were able to explore. The temple is set up with many deities in individual worshiping areas around the outer ring of the temple. There were large alters in the front and the middle which are dedicated to the most powerful of the gods. I can't tell you which they were because there were no signs in English. This particular temple had a gift shop where people could buy offerings as well as trinkets of their gods. It was a beautiful temple and the smell of incense followed us all the way down the street.

Our next stop was the Chiang Kai Sheck memorial hall which not surprisingly has it's own subway stop. It's located in between the National concert hall and opera house. It's a beautiful blue and white pagoda like building surrounded by a lovely garden. There are 150 steps to climb to get to the top of the hall. As you walk into the rotunda there is a huge statue of Chiang Kai Sheck that was a little reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. We were there in time for the changing of the guards, which made 3 times we'd seen their elaborate changing ceremony. There was a bank of elevators off to the side and as we made our way down to the third floor we realized that the memorial hall wasn't just a statue and some guards. Instead the hall boasts a large collection of local paintings, some statues, an animatronic dinosaur exhibit as well as a very interesting collection of memorabilia from Chiang Kai Sheck's life. As we walked through the exhibit rooms we were able to get a better idea, through the photos and small descriptions of events, of who this leader was. It was a beautiful exhibition of his life and I came away knowing a bit more about this iconic historical figure. After our history lesson we headed back to the hotel where we doggedly searched for something to eat.

We were back on the bus at 1 and arrived at the airport before 2. This gave us plenty of time to check in and grab a bite to eat before we loaded onto the plane. Our last meal in Taiwan was a plate of dumplings from the airport food court. Although not as good as the ones from the other night, they were still delicious. All and all we arrived back at our car unscathed and no worse for wear by 8pm. It was a very fun trip and I look forward to taking a few more before our time here is over.