Luckily, we did not miss our connecting flight to our first destination after landing in Taipei, Taiwan. Yet when we arrived in Vancouver, BC, we realized we didn’t receive our final ticket. We realized that we booked our connecting flight at a different airport in Taipei (Taipei Songshan Airport) than the airport we were flying into (Taiwan Taoyuan Internation Airport). This meant we had to enter the country through customs, find a way to the other airport, and then exit the country again; all within four hours since our final flight was leaving at 9am and we would be in Taipei around 5:00am.
We were able to take a cab to the airport and in the 40 minute ride, we watched the sun slowly climb the mountainous hills. The city looked huge yet empty since it was still early morning. Looking at Taipei on a map, there looks to be many scenic and pretty sites to offer. This ride was our only chance on this trip to see Taiwan. It will be our missing connection since we didn’t get a chance to spend a whole lot of time in the city where there’s a delicious street food scene and neat sites to check out.
We learned that when booking flights and trying to get the best deal, to take note on which airports you fly into in each city. We completely overlooked that we had a connecting flight at a different airport since we were only looking at the city we were going to be flying out of. In the end, it wasn’t the worst thing and it gave us a chance to see some of Taipei and learn a little Mandarin to get around. We were excited to get to our final destination and our first stop on our adventure!
Nice, Laurie! Owen went to Taipei last summer, where his girl friend, Nicole, has family (and her mom spends her summers there). I’m sure he would be sorry you didn’t have more time there, but at least you got to see something of it!
What an interesting way to start your adventure. Glad it all turned out for you two. Thanks for the great blog!
Glad you made your connection in Taipei … if that is the worst thing that happens, it will be a great trip!