We landed safely in Taipei on July 30th. There were so many times on our trip that we were truly blessed. When we arrived at the airport, the airline charged us much less in baggage fees than we anticipated. They also needed more carry-on room on the plane so we were able to voluntarily gate check one of our bags for free. This meant less baggage to drag through all the airports.
On our flights we had at least 1-2 empty seats beside us at all times (including the 13.5 hr Atlanta to Tokyo flight). So we were able to spread out and not be cramped. We had excellent flight attendants and the in flight entertainment was good too.
When we arrived in Taipei, we made it through customs quickly and without issue. We each received a 90 day visa for free. When we picked up our bags in baggage claim, they were all there. PTL! We were a little worried about our gate checked bag but it turned out it was the very last bag on the belt so there was nothing to fear.
After departing customs, we found our driver waiting for us as planned. He didn't speak English but he was very nice and we had directions prepared in Chinese to give him. He found our hotel without issue and we were able to check in with the owner, Sam. Sam spoke English well, and made sure we were all settled and had everything we needed.
Our stay in Taipei (2 days) was fun. We went around and did some tourist-y things. We had fun and were able to make it back to our hotel each night.
On Friday morning, the same driver who picked us up at the airport came back to drive us and our bags to Taichung. The drive was beautiful and took a little over two hours. Upon arrival we were able to check into our temporary housing. This was a little challenging as they didn't speak much English but we managed.
The last two days we have been busy running around Taichung with our new found friends Kyle and Jenny Mulaney who have been invaluable in setting up our new apartment. I don't know how we could have done all this without them!
Now as we sitting here waiting for the phone/Internet guy to come, I am writing to you. Thank you, God for our new friends. Thank you for everything we have been able to get accomplished in the past two days and the chance to relax in Taipei. PTL for our save travel and for all our baggage arriving in one piece. Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures soon so you can see what we have been doing.
Grace and peace,
Christiana
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