Back from Taiwan
Posted by Stuart at 04:09 PM on April 19, 2007We have made it back safely from a great 6-day trip to the island of Taiwan. I'll try to go back and fill in the details and post some pictures of our trip soon, but suffice to say we did a lot in those six-days: visiting temples, eating great street food, taking train rides through the mountains, witnessing a sunrise over fog-filled valleys, exploring an excellent museum with Chinese art, soaking in hot spring spas...
We were surprised that we didn't see many tourists. I must have seen 10 white faces the entire week. I guess Taiwan hasn't spent millions of dollars on marketing like Thailand has. So for now, it's a hidden gem for sure.
Not that we want it to be filled with tourists. We liked it just the way it was, thank you very much!
Oh, no...you just let the cat (*ROWR*) right out of the bag! I've always found it interesting when someone advertises something as "the best kept secret." Of course, then it isn't anymore.
One time, I recommended a little dive of a restaurant to someone, cause I liked the pizza and he was new in town. Shortly after, it was jammed every night.
The guy I told said, "Yeah, I've been telling everyone how great the pizza was; Thanks for telling me." As reservations were then difficult to get, I was reduced to calling in and waiting an hour for takeout. And the quality of the pizza started to suffer, so I stopped going.
Don't do it, man!
there's LOTS of tourists in Taiwan....from Japan mostly, but also Korea, Hong Kong, etc....
I am glad you liked Taiwan. I love my home.
Jon, when I said "tourists", I meant western tourists. We saw a lot of Thai people in Taiwan as well (or, at least, heard them speaking Thai). But you are right. I should clarify myself and say that I didn't see many white faces, and perhaps that is because Taiwan has not done as much marketing to western tourists as say, countries like Thailand have.
Welcome back, y'all! I've been to Taipei, conquered the 101 and all but didn't get to rare jewels you have described. So, I wanna see pictures of the fog-filled valleys and hear about your experience at the hot spring spas!