Taipei Part I: Travel and more Travel
Kevin and I caught the 100 bus from out in the sticks where we go to school to the closest city, Taichung. We arrived at the Taichung Train Station about 40 minutes before our next bus was scheduled to leave, so we had plenty of time to get breakfast and wander around the area. We found a little vendor where we picked up a dan bing [蛋餅] for Kevin (a kind of crepe served with egg, scallions, and soy sauce) and some cha dan [茶蛋] and juice for me (literally “tea eggs,” hard boiled eggs cooked in tea, anise pods, soy sauce, and other spices). The girl who made our breakfast was super-nice… although she did ask Kevin whether I was his girlfriend or he was a tour guide for foreigners like me in Taichung!
The bus, when we finally caught it, was nicer than any bus I have ever ridden in the States. Large, plush seats with huge padded arm rests, automatic seat adjustments, free water bottles and multi-channel TV screens for every seat. Competition is apparently huge for bus companies in Taiwan, I suppose in part because the motor scooters on which so many Taiwanese rely for daily or intra-city transportation are not appropriate for inter-city travel, so that the market is much larger than in places which rely more on cars.
posted by Kelly @ 5:58 PM
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