Taiwan: Travel Days

On December 16, at about 3PM, we began the nearly mile long walk through our neighborhood to the closest light rail station. With each of us assigned a backpack and a rolling bag, we made the trek in the pouring rain. This was the beginning of our grand Asian adventure. The flight to Los Angeles was uneventful. The flight from LAX to Hong Kong was the one we had been worried about because at 15 hours in duration we had no idea what to expect. But, by the time we landed in Hong Kong we were surprised at how fast those 15 hours had passed by. Cathay Pacific was a wonderful airline and treated us marvelously. We had personal television screens and access to plenty of movies and television shows to keep us entertained, not to mention plenty of food and drinks to keep us fed and hydrated. It was a great flying experience!

We were in the Hong Kong airport for a few hours, enough time to stretch and have a meal, before hopping on a short flight to Taipei. We landed on Friday, December 18, in the late morning/early afternoon. Mike's oldest brother, Chad, was there to greet us and help us get through the last leg of travel which would be via high speed rail to Kaohsiung, where Chad and his family live.

We arrived in Kaohsiung approximately 1.5 hours later, high speed rail shortening a 5 hour drive to a mere 90 minutes (why don't we possess this technology in The States?). Chad's wife, May, picked us up at the "Kiss and Ride" (aka passenger loading zone) and we were "home" shortly afterwards. Our "room" at Chad & May's was actually an entire floor (the 3rd) and perhaps the nicest place we've ever stayed. Their entire house is gorgeous and super comfortable. It exceeded all our expectations.

Our first night in Taiwan was spent exactly how we had envisioned: we received a tour of our immediate area, went on a short walk, had a traditional meal, and experienced a bit of local culture by attending Chad & May's youngest child's dance program at her school. It was a lovely evening.