Taiwan, Day 1: Taipei
After so many days convincing my sis to go somewhere abroad this fall, I finally had her to travel with me to Taiwan, my fav place recently just because of Mayday. We booked a 4D4N tour by Nam A Chau on Tiki because the it offered the lowest price possible.
We spent the first night on the VietjetAir plane. The tour leader brought us some snack (breads) but we didn’t eat them all because we were so tired that we just wanted to sleep. Lately, I’ve brought some music with me so I could rest easily. But this time I still couldn’t have a good night sleep on the plane after all. Thanks to the ushanka, I kept my ears warm enough on the plane. This should be a must-bring hat for me on all flights from now on.
Was it the first time I welcomed dawn on a plane? I don’t remember. But the aurora really lifted my mood after 3 hours. After clearing customs and getting my booked SIM card at Taoyuan airport, we headed to the double-decked bus for our first meal in Taiwan. Our female tour guide was a Vietnamese who used to work in Taiwan for many years then later married a Taiwanese, so she explained the geography and cultural differences of the Northern, Central and Southern Taiwan so well. I thought she was the best tour guide I’ve ever met. I bet this tour would be a great experience which would change my perspective on traveling in a tour group.
Just like in Australia, all people in the bus must fasten their seat belts. The tour bus today took us to Shifen where we visited the waterfall and released a hand-written lantern to the sky. It’s my birthday today, so my wish was for health and peace, written in Chinese-Vietnamese.
After lunch, we went to the Yehliu Geopark and then the famous Taipei 101. It was good that Taiwan tourism was limited for Chinese mainland people. I hardly saw Chinese people invading these tourist spots.
After having dinner in a basement restaurant, we came to the Look Hotel for some rest. The tour guide helped us find the way to the Ximending night market where we strolled packed streets of food carts and musical performances. Finally, I took a sip of the real Taiwanese tea from 50 Lan brand. Such great tea with delicious toppings!
