Friday, October 5, 2007

Taitung, Taiwan

We caught a bus and a train, that was very comfortable with hardly any passengers, to Taitung (pop 117,000). Taitung is famous for its fruit and everywhere we saw custard apples or 'Buddha's fruit' for sale.

The hotel that Karen, Clare and George had booked for us was beautiful. It had a great view over the city and surrounds and the best breakfast we have had for 7 months!

We visited the National Museum of Prehistory and spent over 5 hours there. It presented all sorts of facts on how the Taiwanese tribes lived their lives; their rituals, housing etc. The exhibitions were presented in innovative ways and with the audio guide we could punch in the exhibit number and listen to descriptions about the exhibit in English. Some of the exhibits come from an archaeological dig in the city and it can be visited too so you can see the ongoing excavations. The Puyuma tribe lived here almost 5000 years ago and the remnants of that time were discovered while they were carrying out excavations for the new railway station. If you ever thought that you would like to be an archaeologist then this museum would inspire you to do it! Welcome dance by local tribe
While walking around the streets we heard some loud music and discovered this mobile puppet show!