Imagine for a moment that you were a foreigner traveling to the USA for the first time. You hoped to take in in a few weeks to a few months as much of the country as you could. Beginning from what you knew, your list of places to go and things to see might be quite brief: Disney, Vegas, and New York City. How would you plan? How would you go about discovering that in California you could also take in the Redwoods? That from Disney to Vegas, you could swing by the Grand Canyon? What is the optimized way to cross the vast West and Midwest? What on earth is between Vegas and New York, and what of all of it is worth seeing? How might you come to discover that Boston is near New York City, and IF you could find out about any of the historical significance of Boston, would you even be able to appreciate it without a good lesson in American history? Would you think to visit Washington, DC? How about it's neighboring historically rich destinations?
Now imagine adding to the challenge of getting to know a whole country so well that in your imagined one shot to see all the U.S. and soak it all in, that you planned to do and see it all, or as much of it as you possibly could, with 4 kids in tow, ages 12-3. Not only would you need to figure out how to make each destination memorable and meaningful to the span of interests and attention capacities, but you must also add to your schedule adequate down-time so littler people don't become so unpleasant that the whole experience is lessened for everyone
That is the challenge I've embarked on: to know Taiwan like the back of my hand - to know not only what it has to offer, but what experiences will mean the most to my family and to pull it all of in such a way that we can stay rested, healthy, happy, and engaged for about 20 days.
And I'm pleased to announce after months of study that I have a plan! Click here to see the map! I look forward to reporting on the successes and failures of this plan. But here is a brief preview of where we are going and why. (There are rest days, down days, cultural days, entertainment days, and travel days mixed into these destinations. I'll share here only the destinations, as I'm sure I'll be commenting on each as we experience them in the context of how rested, or exhausted, or sick of seeing temples, or hiking, or whatever else we are at the moment of the experience.)
First stop: Travel Recovery.
We leave in the morning one day and arrive in the evening of the next day. Some of that length is accounted for by crossing the international date line, but nevertheless the journey is long and will be exhausting, AND we will need to adjust our bodies to being awake when we were used to being asleep, and sleeping when the folks at home are awake. I've chosen to stay near the airport for this recovery period, first because I wanted to get to beds and space as soon after arriving as possible. Secondly, car rentals near the airport are most convenient, so the farther we get from it, the more hassle it will be to get our family into a vehicle. (We will not be renting a car when we first arrive. I shudder to think of managing tired selves and tired kids at night for the first time in Taiwan's CRAZY traffic.) We're taxiing to our beds, and will probably taxi back to the airport to get the car.
Destination One: Lugang.
After (hopefully) getting our feet under ourselves, we drive about 1.5 hours south to the city of Lugang. Lugang is called a "living museum." It was once the most used harbor between Taiwan and China. I've read this city is used often as the set for historical films, as many of the buildings from the Qing dynasty (400 years ago) have been preserved or restored. So I hope we might feel a bit like time travelers as we walk down Old Market Street where merchants have sold their wares for centuries; enjoy Breast Touching Lane (what!?) - a street so narrow two people can't pass without, well, rubbing breasts; and visit the Folk Arts Museum (home to daily-life artifacts now, but home to a Japanese Imperial Scholar when it was built) and the Longshan Temple (built in the late 1700's!).
Destination Two: Sun Moon Lake
Sun Moon Lake is the largest body of fresh water in Taiwan, but that, of course, is not why we are going. Hop on, hop off boat rides, beautiful vistas, a gondola ride, and an aboriginal cultural village/amusement park with aboriginal themed shows of singing and dancing (maybe similar to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii?) sounded a bit touristy, yes, but SO my kids' kind of thing!
Destination Three: Alishan
Modern development of this mountain region began with the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. The Japanese built a narrow-gauge railway up the mountain to access the cypress trees. This railroad still operates today (though for tourist and not logging purposes) and it's ascent through 3 climate zones (tropical, sub-tropical, to temperate forest) is only rivaled by similar lines in the Chilean Andes and the Indian Himalayas. So a ride is an obvious bucket-list item. We'll also hit surrounding day trips to amazing hikes, tea plantations, a train museum, and a grove of square bamboo!
Destination Four: Tainan
I'm excited to hit Tainan because of our Dutch heritage on both sides. This city, Taiwan's oldest, was first settled by Fujianese in the late 1600's. The Dutch came when the Qing dynasty booted them off the Penghu islands, and it was the Dutch who encouraged Chinese immigration here by their trade. (Eventually the Dutch were defeated by a Ming general, Koxinga, who had been defeated by the Qing on the mainland, and who hoped to get back to the mainland and keep the Ming in power. Foreshadowing for Taiwan's political future?) Anyway, we hope to hit Taiwan's first Confucius Temple, the Chihkan Towers - a fort with foundations laid by the Dutch, the Anping Fort - lost by the Dutch to Koxinga after a 9 month battle, a handful of temples and the Anping Tree House - a former merchant house overtaken entirely by a banyan tree strangling it's walls (experiencing first hand why the Little Prince was so diligent about guarding against these trees).
Destination Five: Kending
This is another stop for the kids (and for adults to REST) summed up in one word: BEACHES. I don't know how my kids can be the beach bums they are. They didn't get it from me. I'm bored at a beach after about one hour. But I LOVE watching them play in the sand, and in the water. And maybe after our adventures to this point, sitting and watching other people entertain themselves will be about all I can handle.
Destination Six: Yuli.
This one was almost skipped. We were going to take the drive from the southern tip of Kenting all the way to the national treasure, Taroko Gorge in one swoop, but counsel from friends and the insight on a friend's blog who had done Taiwan with HER family convinced me we needed a stop. A few in fact. On our way up the east coast, we'll stop off at Chihben to see the trees, and at the Platform of the Three Immortals (a series of arched bridges leading to a coral island) and finally to Yuli and the Walami Trail. My friend raved about this hike and the Lonely Planet book calls it a must-do. Apparently not only is it kid-friendly (my kind of hike!) but "along the path there are high waterfalls suspension bridges, lookouts, sections cut straight into the cliff walls, and the constant sound and occasional sight of monkeys crashing through" the jungle. COOL!!! We may add stops (another beach, an observation tower?) once we get back down to the ocean side highway on our way north.
Destination Seven: Taroko Gorge
I took my mom here when she and I came to Taiwan. I knew I needed to return with Q, and he and I hiked and hitch-hikes all around for days in this gorge. It is lovely! It is an 18km, marble-walled canyon cut by the deep blue Liwu River. Words fail to describe the beauty and camera lenses can't capture the stunning panorama and height, contrasted with the deep blue of the water, the white of the marble cliffs, and the green of the jungle clinging to them.
Final stop: National Center for Traditional Arts
This place brings 1920's Taiwan back to to life with street performances, parades, and artisans that let you try your hand at their craft. LP called it a "must-see" for anyone interested in folk-art and customs. Think Chinese operas, dance, acrobatics, and even toy-making!
NO Taipei? If you've heard of Taiwan or ever been for business, chances are Taipei is where you spent your time. It's the largest city and the capitol. Yes, we get to Taipei too. We're staying just outside it in a city linked to Taipei by the MRT (mass rapid transit). Once we settle in the north, we can use public transportation to take in weeks and weeks worth of other destinations. Some of those include Taipei 101 (the world's second tallest building), Baby Boss (a museum for little people to try on contemporary careers like airline captain, news broadcaster, or beautician), the National Palace Museum (home to all the art and artifacts stolen by the KMT from the Imperial Palace and Forbidden City in Beijing as they fled China), the Mormon Temple, and Chiang Kai-shek's Memorial hall and park (think Lincoln Memorial but with different historical figure). AND our home base backs up on the Yangmingshan National Park (more hikes, hot springs) and we're around the corner from a puppet museum and Fort San Domingo (which passed from the Spanish to the Dutch to the Chinese to the Brittish to the Japanese, who kept it closed through WWII after which the Brittish resumed using it as a consolate until 1972!).
So goal is to get in all the rest in our first 20 to 21 days. Phew! Pray for us! I'm nervous about driving. Q pointed out the vehicle we'll drive, seating all 7 of us will be one of the biggest on the road, so if we can stay alive, pray we don't kill any crazy scooter driver trying to zoom past. Pray we stay well enough to keep up the pace, and that we don't get lost! We'll be praying to have the time of our lives and create a meaningful and memorable experience for our kids! We have our work cut out for us!
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