It’s official, we’re crazy. Just prior to leaving for the airport, my good friend Sara, The Flying Pinto, asked me how long the flight to Ho Chi Minh City was…and I didn’t know. What I did know, is that we had an 8 hour layover in Taipei, and that I was more than a little interested in leaving the airport to galavant around town for a bit, rather than spending that time in a boring airport. makes sense, right? Sure…if you hadn’t already endured the travel olympics, it probably would.
Travel olympics you ask? Well, yes. You see prior to said layover in Taipei we had left our house at 10pm to make the 15 minute walk to BART (subway), we road BART 1 hr to get to SFO, we then waited (flight delayed an hour) until 2am in the airport, at which time we discovered that the mystery flight (part 1 to Taipei) was 12 hours and 55 minutes, of which we proceeded to sleep about 4 hours…maybe? Now you know I didn’t do this math prior, so let’s review shall we? That’s roughly 17 hours and very little sleep since we left home. What to do?
Hello Taipei! We got off the plane, went through immigration (1 month free visa upon entry!) left our backpacks at a baggage storage desk in the airport, hopped an express bus (1 hr) into downtown Taipei, and walked past the sea of Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, McDonald’s, etc., and into a beautiful park to kill some time before Taipei 101 opened. What’s Taipei 101? THE TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD. And because we hadn’t had our fill of transportation, we hopped on the subway to get there.
We don’t usually go out for the ultra-touristy sites of a city, but when you’re talking about THE TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD and about 2 minutes to be in town, then well, okay. And I have to say, it was really great!
We enjoyed ourselves so much we nearly missed our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. We hopped in a cab to take us to the bus station to take the express bus, that would take us the 1 hr. to TPE (airport) so that we could rush in, grab our bags from storage, go through customs, security, and finally…get on the other mystery leg (3 hrs., 25 minutes) to Ho Chi Minh City. At which point we could take a rickety old city bus 1 hr. to the “backpackers ghetto,” hop on the back of a motorbike to check out a guesthouse, walk to another, more pleasing guesthouse, and finally…up the 4 flights of stairs to a room where, after spending 30 hours on the go since we left home, we would sleep for the next 10 hours. Crazy, yes, but worth it!
Sounds like a great start!! Good for you, going into TPE…can’t wait to hear more: )Have fun!!
Hey…Ho…Hey…Ho…Ho Chi Min, put yo hands in the ayeah if yous a true playah. Hehehe! Aahh international travel, isn’t it great! We are so excited to hear about more adventures. Man if the trip getting there was that great imagine the rest of your trip. Have a piping hot bowl of pho for us! BTW, rode by your house, everything is great. Have fun!
You guys are simply amazing. I’m jealous of your latest adventure. Keep writing though!!!
I feel I’m living vicariously through you two. Stay in Vietnam -I need a really long vacation!! he he…
what would you advise: i arrive TPE 7:45 am and leave @ 4:15 pm. obviously there’s baggage collection, early checkin etc, but still, i figure i have 5-6 hours of hang time. is it worth it to bus into the city for a quick look-see and maybe lunch? thank you!
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for writing. I definitely felt it was worth it to have a little “snapshot” of Taipei. You have the same amount of time we did! I would suggest checking luggage at the luggage storage at the airport as we did, taking the express bus into Taipei, and then (if money is not too tight) taking a cab directly from the bus station to Taipei 101.
http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/en/OB/about/info.asp
Alternately, you could take the subway, which was clean, cheap, easy and fast (but wouldn’t allow you to see the city between the bus station & Taipei 101 like a cab would. I enjoyed the area around Taipei 101 more than the area around the bus station, and wished I’d skipped the first part and had more time there.
You may have about a half hour or so to check out the area nearby before Taipei 101 opens (10am). The view from the top is absolutely spectacular, and the recorded guide gave some good context. They also have a cafe where you could grab some lunch, or you could check out a place close by. Whatever you chose, in hindsight, I’d recommend making it a one-stop journey so as not feel so frazzled.
All told, you’ll probably have to plan to be back at the bus station around 1pm to give yourself enough wiggle room to get back, get your luggage and go through security, etc. but to me, 3 or so hours in Taipei and getting to see the landscape to and fro beats waiting in an airport. Have fun and write to let us know how it goes! Best, Lorna
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