Teacher Trekker

Flying to Taipei, Taiwan was much easier than the first leg. I said flying was not getting into the country. This connecting flight was only approximately 3 hours, but it felt more like 4.  Maybe I did my math wrong while converting the time or the layover was shorter than I thought.  Either way after two delays it was now very late. With a flight at 7A.M. I felt that staying at the airport might be an easy option, but I had a free hotel room, and I still had to get my bag on the other side of Customs.

The airline offered to check my bag all the way to Vietnam, but if you have been on the site before, you may remember I do not always have the best of luck with baggage arriving safely when traveling internationally. Well not me, but my traveling companions, so I feel it’s bound to happen to me sooner rather than later. If not, see my trips to England where someone I was traveling with did not get their bags until they arrived at the Port of Dover, some two days later for the Baltic Cruise, and the same person’s bag was also left behind when traveling to Thailand. That’s why I packed a large carry on backpack to avoid checking my bag despite them forcing me to check it anyway. Whatever, I needed to go through Customs and get my gear, because at this point a shower at a free hotel sounded great.

How was it free you ask? Actually, I had some issues with my flight and wanted to extend my trip so I called China Airlines back in May to see what they could do for me. After extending my trip by a week, the woman on the phone asked me if I booked my hotel rooms yet.  I said no, and she said that was a good thing. The airline offers a free complimentary room at the Tauyuan Hotel and shuttle service to and from the airport for anyone with an overnight layover.  Excellent! The only problem I had with that is the fact that if I didn’t call, I don’t think they would have told me about the free room for the layover.  I’m sure it was somewhere in the fine print, but now you know, because clearly I missed it, and I read all of that legal jargon looking to see how any company is going to get over on their customers. I was more than grateful to save some money on rooms and cabs over the course of my extended overnight layover in Taiwan.

After the flight everyone obviously had to pass Customs, but first I and a few other travelers needed to confirm the hotel, get stickers and our receipts. This put all of us at the back of an already long line. We talked to pass the time, and there was plenty of it. There were 20 stations open.  Thirteen were for nationals and seven were for non-residents. What logic, and it gets better! The most I counted was a line of 5. Even after they all passed through Customs, they did not send anyone to the open stations. I watched immigration agents clean their nails while their friends dealt with foreigner after incoming foreigner. As you can see from the photographs the line was deep.  I slowly snaked my way to the front of the line after an hour of shuffling my feet to stop and go like rush hour traffic. Once I got to the front of the line, the woman shuffling people onto lines finally sent people to the empty residents only stations, but somehow I still ended up behind a family that was bigger than a baker’s dozen (that’s 13 if you are unfamiliar with the term) and I’m not even trying to exaggerate.

I had no issues once I got to the checkpoint. I was cleared in less than a minute. My bag was sitting next to the conveyor belt waiting for me once I got down the escalator. Oh, so my bag made it, but anyone could have taken it, since no airport workers were checking bag tickets. The group of us going to the hotel found the hotel liaison who directed us to the cab driver.  We packed up, jumped in and then our cab driver disappeared for around 10 minutes.

By the time we got to the Tauyuan Hotel, checked in and sat down to relax, it was already past 1 A.M.. One of the people staying at the hotel was a NYC fireman (Fire Department of New York – FDNY) traveling on his vacation to visit friends in Thailand.  We actually talked on the Customs line as I spotted his FDNY T-shirt. We agreed to get to our rooms and quickly shower to meet up downstairs at the hotel lobby to explore the neighborhood.  Something had to be open.  We had two options: (1) sit outside in 85 degree heat eating locally prepared street cart food or (2) go inside a bar with air conditioning and World Cup soccer. We’re men, so clearly we chose option 2 while hoping option 1 was available after the game. It wasn’t!

It turns out he grew up in Glendale, New York not far from some of my family and probably knows some of them and friends who also work for the FDNY. We watched the game and shared travel adventures. Since the food stand was closed on our way back to the hotel, our only option was 7-11, 7-11 or once again 7-11. The one we just passed, the one we were standing in front of or the one just past the hotel. Obvious choice there. We must have passed 100 to and from the airport.  There wasn’t a corner store style deli like back home anywhere. We grabbed some snacks, walked back to the hotel and parted ways. I chose not to sleep and instead opted to crash during the entire plane ride to Vietnam.  I reorganized some gear and suddenly the 5 A.M. wake up call was blaring in my ear. Good morning to you too! Or better yet, what day is it?