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HomeSingapore TravelSolo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims — A 22-12 months-Previous’s First Expertise

Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims — A 22-12 months-Previous’s First Expertise


Classes learnt from solo travelling in Taiwan — from a Muslim woman who doesn’t converse Mandarin 🙊

muslim girl walking around da'an park - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

Seeing my older sisters solo journey has impressed me to have it on my bucket checklist as nicely. They’d come again with the best tales — like being ‘adopted’ and fed by a Korean household whereas mountaineering up Hallasan.

As luck would have it, certainly one of my assignments at The Journey Intern was to solo journey in Taiwan!

I felt a complete mess of pleasure, nervousness, and apprehension. How was I to navigate a rustic I’d by no means been to and whose language I didn’t converse?

gongming street - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

One other concern I had was the largely non-halal delicacies.

To my shock, Taiwan is an underrated Muslim-friendly vacation spot! On prime quality of Halal licensed and Muslim-friendly eateries, locals are conscious of Muslim dietary restrictions and are blissful to advise you on whether or not one thing is permissible to eat.

Solo travelling in Taiwan for the primary time was simpler than I anticipated. The pleasant locals and accepting vibe of Taiwan makes it the proper vacation spot for a first-time solo travelling expertise for Muslims.

1) Individuals are type and able to assist

taipei main station signs to prayer room - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

It was nearly 10PM after I arrived at Taipei Essential Station and I couldn’t discover the exit to my lodge. Pacing round a bit, studying the station map time and again, I used to be beginning to sweat a bit.

girl in hijab throwing a peace sign with a helpful stranger - Solo female travel

A sort soul noticed me struggling and requested if I wanted assist. Due to him, I discovered that my lodge’s exit was solely accessible by stairs. He led me to the closest exit with an elevator and walked me all the way in which to my lodge to ensure I made it safely.

I don’t know if it’s as a result of I used to be alone, as a result of I’ve an “I need assistance” face or if the Taiwanese are usually pleasant, however I seen folks have been type and able to assist every time I wanted it.

Bus - solo travelling in taiwan for muslims

My first time driving the bus was barely nerve-racking.

The station bulletins have been in Mandarin — and it wasn’t matching the stations on Google Maps.

I turned to a stranger to ask if I used to be heading the fitting method and he or she shortly checked her cellphone for instructions. She confirmed that I used to be going the fitting method and provided to tell me when it was my cease. She gave a pleasant, “Bye-bye!” after we parted.

The worst factor that’ll occur while you ask for assistance is a ‘no’. So don’t be afraid to ask for assist or obtain assist as a result of more often than not, persons are fairly cool about it!

2) You don’t have to know Mandarin to get round Taiwan

assembling a beef shao bing from uncle ma's - solo travelling in Taiwan for Muslims

Whereas dinning at Uncle Ma’s, I needed to separate the marinated beef from the Shao Bing. My verbal request was met with a clean face so I attempted to make elaborate gestures.

When gestures didn’t assist, I resorted to utilizing Google Translate and that solved the confusion.

On one other event, a retailer attendant at Huashan 1914 Inventive Park began to speak to me in Mandarin and I didn’t perceive a factor. Seems she was simply telling me that I may attempt something within the retailer. We laughed it off as soon as we understood one another by way of Google Translate.

tourist information directory in taipei - solo travelling in Taiwan for Muslims

Though Taiwan primarily speaks Mandarin Chinese language, communication wasn’t a problem for me. Youthful locals have a great grasp of English whereas older ones perceive key phrases.

Don’t be afraid to take your time to make use of an app like Google Translate too. It’s fairly an environment friendly technique to talk — I used it every time I had particular or distinctive questions.

3) Your group will discover you

congregants during friday prayers in taipei grand mosque - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

Every time I journey, I worry I’d be racially profiled. I’m a woman and I put on the Hijab — an prompt goal. I believed I’d stick out however one thing that took me without warning was the quantity of native Taiwanese Muslims within the nation.

I’m used to assuming that Muslims are largely from the Center East, South Asia or the Malay Archipelago. So, I used to be all the time shocked and excited every time a Taiwanese individual — largely house owners and staff of Halal eating places — greeted me with “Assalamualaikum (Peace be upon you)”.

It’s a small factor, however it all the time made me really feel much less alone.

In one other occasion, I used to be given a free dessert from Kedai Bakso Ma’e — despite the fact that I solely bought a small snack.

girl in hijab holding up chendol with a shop owner in kedai bakso ma'e - Solo female travel

As I used to be leaving, the Indonesian proprietor requested if I needed chendol — which I used to be able to pay for — however stated she’d give it to me “GRATIS (FREE)”! How candy! She informed me she simply needed to help one other Muslim and was blissful {that a} Singaporean got here to dine in. She then wished me success in life 😭

4) Locals are nicely knowledgeable about Muslim dietary restrictions

Halal Yellow Beef Noodles storefront - solo travelling in Taiwan for Muslims

My hijab was useful as an indicator of my dietary restrictions. Solo travelling in Taiwan for Muslims couldn’t be simpler with the Taiwanese actually taking their ‘Muslim-friendly surroundings’ severely — locals are fairly educated on our dietary restrictions!

man selling mushrooms at raohe night market - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

I had an occasion the place a vendor at Raohe Evening Market insisted that I couldn’t eat his meals because it contained pork, whereas one other avenue vendor stated “You Muslim, okay!” to guarantee me that his meals was vegetarian.

However apart from counting on the locals that can assist you out, it goes with out saying that you need to all the time do your analysis concerning the halal meals obtainable.

halal food resources from taipei grand mosque facebook page - solo female travel

Previous to my journey, I reached out to the native Muslim group for Halal meals strategies in Taipei. I used to be outfitted with web sites and apps that exposed a plethora of Halal meals obtainable — even the lesser-known and conventional spots!

I additionally ready a cheat sheet of mandarin phrases concerning the Halal standing of meals in Taipei. This was notably useful after I visited a conventional Shao Bing store.

The menu was meatless and seemingly vegetarian — candy pastries and scallion bread. I nearly thought every thing was good to eat till I requested “这个有没有猪油/Zhè ge you méi you zhū yóu (Does this have lard)?” Sadly, the pastries contained lard 🙃 — actually dodged a bullet there!

As lengthy you do your analysis and ask the fitting questions, discovering Halal and Muslim-friendly meals isn’t an excessive amount of of a problem — particularly with the assistance from locals.

5) It’s straightforward to make pals alongside the way in which

two people looking towards bali island in tamsui taipei - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

Though this was a solo journey, I used to be by no means actually alone for a full day throughout the journey. By some means, I all the time ended up assembly somebody.

On my day journey to Tamsui, I bumped right into a participant from a strolling tour I attended the day prior to this. We ended up exploring the city collectively and even visited Raohe Evening Market collectively the following day.

Whereas I take pleasure in solitude again house, being alone abroad was totally different for me. I’m used to sharing abroad/trip recollections with somebody so experiencing it with an sudden good friend helped me really feel rather less lonely.

6) Individuals are friendlier while you’re alone

Girl looking out on Elephant Mountain towards Taipei 101 - solo female travel

For some cause, folks discover it simpler to method solo travellers.

I used to be taking footage in Uncle Ma’s and an aged native man was interested in the place I used to be from and stated, “Welcome to Taiwan!” Their intentions are normally pure so I’ll gladly speak to anybody who strikes up a convo.

However typically, personalities don’t go the vibe test.

A girl approached me on the mosque and though it was good to attach, she was a bit too chatty throughout the Friday sermon. She needed me to cancel my unique plans — which was to hike Elephant Mountain — to go to the zoo along with her as an alternative.

I ended the interplay by saying that I used to be on a piece journey and that my firm insisted that I needed to hike this mountain. I could have exaggerated concerning the ‘insisted’ half however it labored.

One of many issues I loved whereas solo travelling was how simply folks approached me however it’s all the time good to be clear together with your boundaries to guard your self.

7) You will be versatile together with your schedule

girl taking a selfie in a snoopy themed 7-11 - Solo Travelling in Taiwan For Muslims

An apparent good thing about solo travelling goes anyplace, anytime at your personal pace — and I took full benefit of that.

I went all out throughout my first two days — I began early and ended late to make full use of my days, went at my very own tempo and walked lots.

On my third day, I awakened with a nasty headache.

Solo travelling means with the ability to alter your schedule nonetheless you need. As a lot as we wish to maximise our journey, we must always recognise when to decelerate. There’s no level becoming extra actions into your day for those who’re over-exerting and never totally having fun with in a wholesome method.

Take That Leap of Religion

girl walking in da'an park - female solo travel

The toughest a part of solo travelling is actualising it.

Previous to my journey to Taipei, I all the time discovered causes to not embark on solo journeys — not sufficient cash, security issues, not sufficiently old, and many others. I held again on the concept and all the time thought, “subsequent time.”

As a Muslim solo travelling in Taiwan, my essential issues have been discovering halal meals and speaking with the locals — which weren’t massive points ultimately!

This solo journey to Taipei was simply the push that I wanted to grasp that solo travelling is kinda like a day trip — albeit in a foreign country. With pleasant locals and simple navigation, solo travelling in Taiwan is an efficient place to begin for any first-timer!

In case you nonetheless want that push, listed here are some reads to persuade you to go on a solo journey:

Muslim-friendly 4D3N Taipei Itinerary — A Solo Traveller’s First Time in Taiwan
9 Sensible Advantages of Solo Travelling That Have Nothing To Do With “Discovering Your self”
A Learners Information to Solo Travelling For The First Time

Know of another locations good for first-time solo travelling? Tell us within the feedback beneath!


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