This is my sixth trip with the company Backroads; they always exceed expectations. We stay in nice hotels. And they cart our luggage ahead while we ride gondolas and trains, and hike on less-traveled trails. Fifteen in our group, and everyone is active and fun. Oh, and they’re all younger than me.
Riding trains and gondolas, I go up, up, up! A cliff walk attraction was spectacular. And I topped-out today at 11,332 feet when I reached Jungfraujoch. They call it the Top of Europe. The panoramas here are absolutely magnificent; you really can’t totally capture them in photos.
My first time here, and Taipei has it! A 101 story skyscraper of recent fame (rock climber Alex Honnold scaled it live on Netflix), plus night markets, boba milk tea, and dumplings and wonton (Din Tai Fung!). There are temples, memorials, a super efficient metro, a weekend jade market, and so, so many motor scooters.
The little island nation of Taiwan has so much going for it, and yet it exists under a big shadow. It’s the underdog to gigantic China, and I root for the underdog.
