Taipei in all of its colorful and fragrant  splendor and as a typhoon heads our way we  

escape into a wilder part of the country  to discover something that will blow you  

away can you believe this is Taiwan yes we  cannot wait to show you over the next few  

weeks what this little unassuming island  has to offer and hopefully this series  

will change your mind but what this island  is all about and put it on the map as your  

next budget travel destination exactly they  may not do me a favor and roll that bloody

and I mean downtown Taipei and I was actually  gonna film the entire process of getting out  

of the plane and getting into downtown because I  heard it was actually quite complicated but it was  

really straightforward and this is Taipei City  Mall Station which is where I basically got off  

the train from the airport and right behind me  over there is the hostel so I'm going to go in  

and hopefully be able to see Damien for the first  time which is really exciting I feel like I'm on  

an awkward tinder day or something out I'm gonna  go meet someone that I've never met before but  

check this out this is the hostel yeah we chose  this because it's right in the middle of downtown  

easy to get to from the airport and they've got  a bar so that's always good look who I can see

what was the letter e hello little brother  hey man Oh give me a hug ease what page do  

they have on drafts that looks good are you  feeling breakfast can I have some breakfast  

too can I have one of these please thank  you well how it's got air column here and  

everything registrants are they okay  good health and here's to a safe trip

well that is lovely what is that floating light  yeah it was so great to finally meet Damian and  

we spent the first hour just catching up and  getting to know each other but yeah after a  

day's worth of traveling it wasn't long until  our bellies started to rumble so we made our  

way into the neon tainted streets of Taipei  on the hunt for a local street food supper

don't drink too much okay

that's IQ I know I know okay well  like I have no a clue just what  

does that distinguish there's things -  okay Wow look how fabulous that lives

Wow

I can order some food where we get sip  then we have some beautiful okay get in  

my belly Dameon starving and semis so we just  thought let's just get something I've actually  

accidentally got some chicken feet and snail  salad okay a little bit yeah Oh chicken feet  

and then what are we going for here just  for some military because you know military  

that's the control defines Taiwan for me but  nobody's here can we have some milk to have  

some and this is what I love about travelling  the most is that first impressions that first  

evening when you're out exploring all the new  foods all of the new smells and all of you

oh that is colle do that again look  at this oh it looks like a snake

but threesome between the squid the shrimp  and a port so the cool part about 7-eleven  

family marks here in Taipei is that  you can one of your food reps of beers

I'll get the beers Damien you want a local one

Cheers oh I miss this place

yes last time I was here I fell in love  with Taiwan so when petit invited me to  

come along on this last-minute  adventure I immediately said yes  

and I was excited to explore much  more of the island on this trip

so after our late night dinner  and a walk around the city we  

just decided to call it a night  because we want it to be full of  

energy to enjoy tomorrow our first  proper full day in Taiwan together

no first

good morning everybody and welcome to the first  proper day here in Taipei last night was really  

good fun obviously I don't know Damian I've  never met him before this is our first trip  

together and it was really nice to meet him get  to know him it's really good because basically  

we just enjoy the same things we both like good  food cold cheap beer and just yeah like enjoying  

being young and healthy and fortunate enough to  come to a place like Taipei good morning you're  

handsome man good morning what are you doing  I'm ordering a cappuccino from this what is  

it it's a robot and see that's how it works  cappuccino some Chinese characters what's  

happening change the language to English yeah  here sure is the anyone flashing okay and now  

I'll scan the QR code at the aimbot machine  okay yeah this is very over complicated I  

just wanted coffee I just wanna cuff damn it can  I talk to the manager oh that's right way no way

Oh going for the syrup

do away that's a foolish thing hey  buddy oh he's waving ass not a drop  

spilled come on don't mess it up  don't mess it up don't mess it up

how is it it's perfect wow what an experience  it's a lot of fuss for just one cappuccino doe  

but yeah it might have been a lot of fuss but  we really needed the caffeine boost as jet lag  

was hitting us really hard we made our way on  the local underground and headed towards the  

very center to see what we could find however  upon getting back to street level the weather  

had flipped 180 and it was pissing down  rain and blowing a gale little bit wet

we had no option to just try our  best to get shelter from the bad  

weather and we've ducked into a cheap  noodle place to help boost on morale

it's actually perfect on a rainy afternoon spicy  of our soup I need some soup yeah okay buddy

the rain was relentless for the rest of our  first day but it did look like it might clear  

up so we headed over to meet a friend of mine who  teaches here in Taipei this is Alex he's a cool  

dude from Canada with a dry sense of humor and  plenty of experience of cool places to check out

we're having the same store man I might  not the work tomorrow and as the weather  

brightened up in the afternoon we headed over  to a place that Alex said we had to check out

we are coming to which is quite possibly one of  the most popular things to do in Taipei right  

elephant hill right Elephant Mountain they  mean you've been here before that's a nice  

viewpoint right yep perfect place for sunset we  have seen a lot of people in sport wear so we  

probably won't be alone on this summit yeah I'm  hiking so seriously yeah you never know I know  

each one's like a walking advertisement for Under  Armour and okay you're looking for the star of the  

trail look for the big crowd okay it says about  15 minutes 400 meters to the top easy it's a good  

job Damien's got these bad boys I love isolated  mountains like this just exploring the jungle

we've emerged as a viewpoint so that's  the first viewpoint I think a lot of  

people would probably just stay here so we're  gonna keep going up can I get a better view

quick little quiet getaway just outside the  city eventually we made it to the highest point  

and even though it was also completely overrun we  just decided to commandeer a little spot and soak  

up the views it was pretty steep so bring water  like we did and if you're extra savvy bring some  

beers it will be really worth the extra effort we  guarantee and once the stunning Taipei's skyline  

had finished transitioning from a moody afternoon  to a striking neon light sky we made our way back  

down the steps towards some street food however  on the way down we could hear the sweet sound  

of a smartly dressed Taiwanese man singing  soft karaoke on the side of the mountain pass

after resting and listening to this  hero singing away he actually kindly  

invited us up to join him and we could not resist

just as long Oh in Taipei samurai

windy afternoon here in Taipei  that archway is next level

one of the questions that you ask yourselves when  you come to Taiwan like I did and Damien did when  

he first came here is like what country am i what  country am i coming to am i coming to China is  

Taiwan a country is it not and we're not gonna get  too political obviously but it's an interesting  

question to know and Damien knows a little bit  more than me and he's been explaining a little  

bit so Damien just you know in your own words like  because it is important like he's been telling me  

it's important to know because you don't want  to offend the locals and you kind of start to  

get a better understanding of what you're seeing  around you when you understand what is Taiwan  

at the moment so where does this story start  basically this is not a History Channel we're  

not I'm another expert in the Chinese history  or whatever but the quickest way I can put it is  

there are two governments right now that claim to  be the real China why is that because in the 50s  

the civil war in China Chinese civil war between  the Communists internationally it's ended the  

Nationalists they lost and they their government  fled to Taiwan the leader of the government was  

called Chiang kai-shek and at the moment we are  at the Chiang kai-shek memorial so let me tell  

you something more about that guy so that's what  she got the memorial we made our way over to the  

memorial which by the way is completely free  to walk around and it's absolutely stunning and  

Damien told me more about the history of this man  and his huge significance to the Taiwanese people

so yeah like I said there was a civil war  and Republic of China lost and retreated  

to the island of Taiwan so the leader Chiang  kai-shek who lost took his government with him  

as well whilst the leader of the victorious  Communist Party Mao Zedong instituted a new  

government in mainland China under the new  name the People's Republic of China the  

reason that the names of both governments are  so similar is thanks to the fact that both of  

them claim to be the legitimate and only China  current People's Republic of China sees Taiwan  

as a part of their territory but Taiwan sees  the People's Republic of China as an illegal  

States occupying their former territory so even  though the occupation of China is still to this  

day disputed and highly controversial it is  comforted to know that this current standoff  

is peaceful and the Chinese are welcomed in  Taiwan as tourists and visitors without trouble  

but one small piece of advice don't call people  in Taiwan Chinese just call them Taiwanese just  

know that Chiang kai-shek is a very significant  person and this memorial side is highly important  

to the local Taiwanese so come here and check  it out and learn more about what happened here  

and during our walk around the museum we could  see that a lot of people were checking their  

phones and leaving apparently the typhoon that  was swirling around the South China Sea which had  

originally been on cause to hit North in Japan  had apparently turned west and was due to smash  

into Taipei in less than 24 hours so we decided to  join the mass exodus but not before recapping this  

super important landmark so thank you Damien for  giving us a little bit of historical information  

it is a bit of a mess isn't it it is like to  answer the question we saw with you know is it  

China is it not China it's complicated yeah that's  the only answer we've got for you yeah if they  

were on Facebook their relationship status would  be it's complicated you need some basic knowledge  

about this place you don't even necessarily know  everything but you need to know a little bit about  

the history to understand the people in their  culture and what's going on and what's going on  

and stuff like that and what's going on right now  there's a typhoon behind this look over here it's  

like a really nice sunny day but the typhoon is  right behind us coming and it's nice because it's  

super hot and humid but it's raining guys look and  the tide foods coming okay we didn't have to run  

just yet but things were getting worse later that  evening we met up with Alex again and took shelter  

in a local flower market however the approaching  weather was causing him to pack up early so I told  

the guys to go to his really beautiful temple  which in my opinion is totally worth the visit

welcome to long shank temple is over  300 years old and has a wonderful mix  

of different faiths with Taoist  Buddhist and Confucian elements

Taiwan prides itself on its inclusive attitudes  

towards religion and long shank  temple is the perfect example and  

for that reason even in bad weather it's  always busy and tonight see no exception

that's luck has it it's like a typhoon rolling in  and here you never know if it's gonna stay or flow  

into the sea I feel bad for these guys it's great  plans but I picked him up at Dom mark and we took  

shelter in the Jade market and that was kind of  cool but they were packing up and it's getting  

kind of lame so we came here to lung Shan temple  and you Damien have already been here before yes  

in your travels and he's been telling me some  stuff that I had no idea yeah so can you tell us  

a little bit about this place so I was here last  year I was here for two weeks and I visited this  

long Chinatown for multiple times and they have  like different deities here that they preach so  

the way they prayed to them is first they take  three sticks of incense which about three times  

put it on their forehead then you can see  that their lips are moving because they're  

introducing themselves to these deities and after  they introduce themselves they kick they think  

these wooden blocks look at happening kinder they  throwed on the floor and they asked a question  

to the gods after they should have introducing  themselves if they can ask for a favor a question  

so it depends how they're oriented yeah depends on  how the blocks are oriented if it's yes the gauzy  

yes you may ask a question or no so basically it's  like it takes a few steps for these people here  

to even ask for a fearful to God I like that I  like that there's a small process you have to get  

her to get an answer that's the cool part about  traveling that you go somewhere else and learn is  

completely different traditions and cultures that  you would have never known if you just stayed home  

and played for tonight hey I'm for tonight I'm  gonna add you Meaghan we're gonna smoke some news