dailygaelley

Like Miyakojima, we opted to explore Taiwan on our own. Since we had more time in Taiwan, we chose to travel to Taipei and visit Taipei 101.

We docked at Keelung Port and spent a couple of minutes taking photos of the beautiful scenery. Miyakojima made me feel like I was in one of the anime films my siblings and I watch. Keelung, however, made me feel like I was in a scene in a local set of a movie. Everything about it seemed local. It didn’t scream tourist and I guess that’s what I like most about it.

It was a busy yet small town. We disembarked at around 7:30 and the city was already busy. We saw the professionals rush to their jobs. The streets tightened; making us know that the city was waking up.

After taking a substantial amount of photos, we looked for the train station to Taipei. It wasn’t easy as the locals barely spoke any English. Luckily, we met a couple of fellow tourists who guided us towards the train station. The fare from Keelung Station to Taipei Main Station was around 56 NTD/ person, if I recall correctly. From the Main Station, you ride the metro to Taipei 101. That set us back around 60 NTD/ person.

The Taiwan metro station was extremely busy. Filled with both locals and tourists, I could see different lives walk around me. You could tell one person was late and how another person’s taking their time.

When we arrived at Taipei 101 station, we immediately took photos of the facade of the 508 m-tall tower. Looking at it, I never felt smaller in my life. My initial thoughts went to how I was going to get out of going up the top floors. My grandparents, however, decided that our 45 min trip made them hungry and looked for somewhere to eat. We went in and I honestly was at awe of how clean and high end everything looked. I wasn’t able to take photos of the food court because they had wi-fi & we were internet-deprived the whole cruise.

I took a lot of videos, though. Riding the world’s fastest elevator was an interesting experience as it made my ears pop twice.

The trip was an adventure. We met new people along the way and explored something alien to us. I loved every minute of it and I look forward to experiencing more trips like this soon.

For videos of the trip, visit my nextbeat: https://nextbeat.co/r/kG18/1