Taiwan

Emma
Nov 30, 2016
8 min read

Taiwan was never originally on our travel itinerary. It wasn't until we heard that Rich's cousin, Jon got engaged to his Taiwanese girlfriend, Wei-Nu and that they were to be married in Taiwan in November, that it crossed our minds that we might be able to go to the wedding. It worked out rather well as firstly they got married on the Isle of Wight in September, which we were able to go to and it just so happened that their wedding ceremony in Taiwan would coincide with when we would be in Asia. It was perfect, so we invited ourselves along to not only their wedding, but to their honeymoon road trip around the whole country with them and Jon's parents. We felt very honoured to have been able to celebrate both of their wedding days with them and for them to include us in their travel plans.

Our time in Taiwan didn't exactly start very smoothly. We had a rather long and arduous journey from Myanmar, which involved transiting through both Thailand and Malaysia. We left Yangon very early in the morning and flew to Bangkok without any major problems. Once in Bangkok and ready to check in to our flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, we were told by the Air Asia check-in staff that we would need an onward flight, a visa and two passport photographs for Taiwan. We were not aware of this and subsequently we hastily booked a flight from Taiwan to the Philippines and panicked about not having sufficient visa requirements. After checking in and getting some breakfast and having some time to calm down after the panic, we soon found out that not only did we not need an onward flight from Taiwan but we also did not require a visa, so the man at the check in had made us panic for no reason. Not only that, we had booked the wrong date for our flight to the Philippines in our haste.

Our flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur was delayed, which added to our panic as we didn't have very long to connect from KL to Taipei. Once in KL, we dashed off of the plane, found the transfer counter to be told to, 'try our best' to catch the flight and were asked if we could run to make it! We ran through the airport at high speed, desperately trying to make our flight, for which boarding was shortly closing. I've never had to run for a flight before, preferring to get to the airport nice and early and now I know why. It was so stressful and we were so hot and bothered and I was not happy that the Air Asia staff were somewhat less than helpful, even though it wasn't our fault that the flight from Bangkok was delayed. We made it in the nick of time, but unfortunately our baggage did not follow us to Taipei. We arrived very late at night to be told that our bags were still in Kuala Lumpur. All we could do was shrug it off, laugh and hope that our bags would be delivered to our hostel the next day as promised. Our bank then decided to block our card as we tried to draw money out of the ATM, so the next challenge was trying to call them up so they could unblock the card and allow us to get some money out. It was all such a nightmare and we didn't get to our hostel and to bed until 2.00 am, having left Myanmar at 6.00 am the previous morning. It had been a very long day getting to Taiwan!

Our first task in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, was to find something to wear to the wedding, which would be the next day. Thankfully we hadn't already bought something as we didn't have our bags, so we didn't know if we'd even get our stuff back in time for the wedding. We set out on another long day, traipsing around the city trying to find something suitable for a wedding that wasn't our backpacker clothes and hiking shoes. The biggest problem was finding something cheap and something that would fit around our big, Western tummies as a lot of the clothes, designed for Asian people, were too small for us! Finally at around 10.00 pm, we both found some outfits, and feeling knackered and relieved, we headed back to our hostel to try and get a good night's sleep ready for another long day for the wedding. We turned up to our hostel to find that our bags had been delivered, thank goodness! I've never been so happy to see my backpack.

As with everything at the start of our time in Taiwan, we were staying in the wrong location for the wedding, so on the morning we had to leave Taipei at 5.30 am to make the journey to Zhongli. Once again, we were very panicked about whether we would make it there in time as we were informed we needed to be at the hotel by 9.15 am at the latest. Thankfully, we made it to the hotel by 9.00 am and finally we could relax and enjoy the Reading wedding, part two!

It was such an experience to witness and be a part of a traditional Taiwanese wedding ceremony. They conduct the ceremony itself in a very different way to that of a Western culture. The actual ceremony was held in the hotel room and Wei-Nu had to perform a number of rituals to be accepted into her new husband's family. Even though there was a language barrier, I could still feel the emotion of the bride being given away by her family and being accepted into a new one. It was very emotional and it's so powerful that we do not need to understand the words spoken to comprehend what is happening in a situation. The bride's father was crying, full of pride and love for his daughter and it was so emotive, I couldn't help but shed a tear. After the ceremony, we went to another venue for the reception to eat and to toast the newly married couple. The whole day was over by around 3.00 pm and everyone just got up to leave. It was very different to a wedding back home where the wedding only really starts at 2.00 pm and lasts late into the night. We followed up the day with a trip to KTV - Karaoke TV, which is a big thing in Taiwan and absolutely hilarious.

The following day we began our road trip with the newlyweds and the groom's parents, David and Sandra. We had a minivan and a driver called Jason who would be taking us around the island. Rich and I were very excited that we had the opportunity to join them all on their adventure. It gave us the chance to see Taiwan, a country we may not have visited otherwise and to see it from a local's point of view.

We were travelling the country for just over a week and we packed in so much. Wei-Nu certainly didn't let us down when it came to showing us the sights and making sure we saw as much of Taiwan as possible. We stayed in each place for only a night, ensuring that we saw the whole country in the short time we were there. We left Zhongli for our first stop, Sunmoon Lake. Wei-Nu also made sure that we stopped every so often to take in the sights and of course to eat. Food in Taiwan is a massive thing and you'll never be left hungry as the Taiwanese like to be eating as often as possible. We were given lots of Taiwanese treats and delights to try. The good thing about travelling with a local is that they will help you to try lots of unusual things that you might otherwise miss.

Whilst in Sunmoon Lake we went to watch an aboriginal dance show, which was interesting but also absolutely hilarious as Rich, David, Sandra and myself got pulled up onstage and were taught some of the dance moves, which we then had to perform in front of loads of other viewers. It was definitely an experience!

From Sunmoon Lake, we went to Kaohsiung, Kenting, Hualien, Yilan, Ximending and lots of other stops in between. We stayed in some amazing hotels throughout our road trip, which felt like an absolute luxury to Rich and I as backpackers. One of the nights, Wei-Nu had organised a room for David and Sandra to have a private swimming pool as a surprise. Rich and I had a Jacuzzi in our room, which was incredible enough and we were very impressed with our accommodation. When we were summoned to the other room, we were amazed to find they also had a Jacuzzi, a steam room and the pool as well. It was amazing! We ordered pizza and drank wine and swam in the pool with a beautiful full moon shining over us. It was such an amazing hotel and it felt like we were kings and queens with that sort of luxury after staying in basic, sometimes grim guesthouses on our travels. Our backpacks felt a little out of place in our hotel room, I have to say. Another one of the hotels we stayed at had its own hot springs, which were amazing to swim and relax in of an evening. We felt very spoiled to be staying in that kind of accommodation.

Wei-Nu wanted us, as guests in her country, to leave feeling as though we'd seen and done everything, or at least as much as possible. I certainly felt that this was achieved. We soaked up so much of the culture and she took us to places that we may have missed if we were travelling on our own. It was a great experience to see the country with a driver and to be part of a road trip with Rich's family. I felt like I got to know them all more and it was nice to be able to share the experience with them.

Throughout our time in Taiwan we visited temples, museums, went snorkelling, went to the beach, went to amazing night markets with so much street food (the fried Oreos were the best thing I have ever had!), hired electric buggies, walked around cities, went to valleys and waterfalls, enjoyed hot springs and so much more. We saw so many of the famous sights in Taiwan and did so much that's it hard to write all about everything. There were lots of places that were specifically designed for pre-wedding photo shoots and so many places for photo opportunities; those Taiwanese certainly love a good photo!

It's crazy to think that we spent just twelve days in Taiwan. We travelled from the north, right around the west coast, down to the most southerly point and back up the east side, all in just over a week. We had such a brilliant time and we packed in so much every day that it feels as though we were there a lot longer. Our days were so busy and we felt knackered a lot of the time, but that was a good thing as it meant we were seeing as much as possible. We packed in lots of activities and attractions, ate lots of weird and wonderful food ('stinky tofu' being the weirdest and most disgusting smelling and tasting thing ever!), and learned a lot about the history and culture of the country. It was a great experience and we are so thankful to Jon and Wei-Nu for letting us be a part of their beautiful weddings and for allowing us to join them on their road trip around Taiwan. It was a very clean, well developed and very civilised country, which was beautiful and very different from any other country I've ever been to before and we thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. Until the next time, Taiwan, I'm sure we will be back!