Wonderful accommodations!

Our journey was to take us all across Taiwan with 'our footprints touching all of this beautiful country.' North to Taipei, along the east coast to the city of Hualien, over the mountains across the exact center of the country to the west coast city of Kenting, to the southern tip, then north to Gary's home city of Tainan. All of this in less than a week!

Connie did an incredible job arranging our accommodations. We stayed in Taiwan's version of bed and breakfasts called 'home stays'. Each night found us in a different home stay in a different city all of them with uniquely breathtaking views.

One night our room was the 4th floor VIP room with a large canopied bed, a patio overlooking the city, and a clawfoot slipper tub. I felt very decadent taking a bath before dinner for no other reason than that I could.

The next night we stayed at an aboriginal village located in a valley surrounded by mountains. The guest houses were fashioned Japanese style with low platform beds, a large stone-floored walk in shower, and our outdoor living room had the most breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains.







We stayed one night in the city of Nantou otherwise known as Little Swiss. Before even knowing the nickname of the city, my thought was it felt very much like one would imagine Switzerland. This is the only place we stayed that had fireplaces in the rooms as this area is high enough in the mountains to actually get snow. Our room had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the valley below.

My favorite location of Kenting is located on the west coast and is a tropical vacation paradise. We stayed in a 'home stay' with gorgeous gardens and koi ponds owned by a British man who originally moved to Taiwan to build boats. Twenty years later, he's married with a couple of kids and owns a 'home stay' and two somewhat westernized restaurants. It was interesting talking with him - he's really living life.

After Kenting, we spent a night in Tainan at Gary's brother's house before taking the high-speed train back to Hsinchu.