Here I am in Taipei, my feet destroyed by underestimating the scale of some guidebook maps. My journey was about par for the course; minor delays, unexpected niceties of flying in Asia, and so on.
At the airport my check-in took about 25 minutes—with no line—because “something was wrong.” I was half-expecting to find myself extraordinarily rendered, but it seems that “something” was taken care of. The flight was barely over an hour and a third on a very empty, very new EVA Airwarys Boeing 777-300ER, in their “Premium Economy cabin” (which they don’t mind if you sit in with an Economy ticket on short-haul flights). I can see why they didn’t mind—there couldn’t have been more than 60 people or so on the plane. I wonder why?
EVA seems to have its own (or nearly its own) little terminal at TPE. Immigration was surprisingly quick, even for non-citizens, but I guess that happens when you have just 60 people coming off a wide-body jet. After wandering around the airport, finding an ATM and a bus company, nothing exciting happened until I arrived at the Taipei train station… around midnight, requiring a painfully expensive roaming call to keep the hostel’s doors open.
I’m in the Happy Family Hostel III, a decidedly basic place with a nice owner. Maybe I’ll remember to take a picture or two of my quarters before leaving.
Today I’ve seen Taipei 101, the Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Halls, the 2-28 Peace Park, City Hall and its Discovery Center… hmm… lots of big streets… OK, I don’t remember everything. Maybe my pictures do. I’ll try to upload some from here.
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