it’s like day six or seven of our taiwan group travel tour and it’s been cray cray to the max.

internet’s been hard to come by, due to the nature of our roving itinerary and long, long days. wish i had time to upload photos and write about the trip! there’s SO much to share it’s not even funny. each day has been jam packed with memory (and sometimes misery) making.

currently in taidung (tai dong) near southern tip of the island at this hot springs resort/hotel for just one night, then leave for hualien (hua lian) tomorrow. feel guilty for being online since we should be soaking in the springs, but it’s such a luxury to be able to hop on a computer!

the initial two days of the tour were blatant slaps in the face reminding me why i absolutely detest traveling in groups, but the negatives have been tempered by the two positives: practicing my mandarin and being amongst wonderful, endearing chinese couples (mostly in their 40s-70s).

almost all of them are touchingly affectionate with each other. the oldest ones have more youthful vigor than i could muster up at my liveliest peak. they’re amazing, fun, fascinating — a real blast to be around. i truly wish you could see them. one night they started twirling around and ballroom dancing on the sidewalk while waiting for a bus on a super raucous night　(it was national day) at sun moon lake. that was pure magic.

i guess you could say they’ve also reminded me how, um, crucial it is to marry someone who’s really really awesome. cuz you need to be with that person for the rest of your life. ideally.

today we went to this aquarium near kenting national park and i saw a BELUGA WHALE and a WHALE SHARK! i can cross that off my list.

the national parks / forests here are breathtakingly gorgeous.

anyway, we’re being herded like sheep day and night. it can be a bit maddening. wake up calls are as early as 5:30 am, and there are hundreds of tour buses just like us on the same itinerary. it’s insane! imagine what the scene is like in the hotel lobbies upon arrival. mobs and mobs of tired people storming the elevators with their luggage.

if you want to see pix, you can peep the ones my sis took on her facebook.

better go soak now. thanks for reading!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 12th, 2008 at 8:06 am and is filed under asia, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.