At this point in our trip, we are both exhausted. The tranquility of Keemala was perfect for a relaxing morning before we competed the Thailand portion of our trip. Or so we thought. At 5:01am we were sharply yanked out of our slumber by a call to prayer from the local mosque. It must be coming from a mosque but it sounded like loud speakers were blasting it right into our room. Just as we thought it was done and we could try to fall back asleep, it started up again. I had been unaware of the Islamic influence in Thailand but both in Krabi, and now in Phuket, it seemed like the town was completely inhabited by a Muslim population. The early morning wake-up call was cruel to our rest and made for a less relaxing morning than we had hoped.
Once we finally crawled out of bed, still exhausted after having spent the last couple hours trying to sleep more, all we really had time to do was get breakfast and pack our bags. I had hoped to make it to 7am yoga and a 9am photo tour of the property, but no. The blaring call earlier that morning made real rest elusive and getting out of bed at a decent time next to impossible.
The breakfast service at Keemala was far superior to their dinner. In addition to a small buffet, they had a full a la carte menu from which we could order as much as we liked. All included as part of our stay. It drove me crazy as the waitress insisted on hovering over us as we tried to read through the expansive menu but I think that may just be the culture here as we often had servers hover. I was excited for a “Nature’s Elixir” of coconut juice, ripe mango, pineapple, yoghurt, turmeric, cinnamon, and chia seeds but it was in fact, quite gross. I couldn’t even drink it. The rest of our meal was stellar.
I was sad to leave Keemala but we are happy to start making our way closer to home. The Phuket airport was an easy 45 minute drive. But again, returning the rental car was a challenge. I would not recommend ever renting from Hertz in Thailand. Trying to locate them for returns was a major challenge in both Bangkok and Phuket as they do not have a return area and instead you must call as you approach and find a meeting spot. Especially in Bangkok, many other rental car vendors are more accessible. Sorry Hertz, but you’re a pain in the ass here.
The Phuket airport was impressively efficient. Except for the minor detail that none of the currency exchange counters had USD and it took us three counters to exchange back the equivalent of only $100 USD. Check-in, security, passport control – all a breeze. We were cleared through and at the gate in no time. Today we would be flying to Taiwan, booked through Cathay Pacific. The first leg of our flight was from Phuket to Hong Kong on Cathay Dragon.
Stepping onto the plane was an unexpectedly sensory excitement as beautifully scented air was being piped in; you could actually see the puffs of perfumed air wafting through the cabin. It was delightful. They served a meal of chicken and potatoes with a chunky taro ice cream for dessert. The food was eh, edible but not great. The “ice cream” was confusing as the first two ingredients were sugar and vegetable fat. It tasted good but I didn’t eat it as I have a rule to try to avoid anything where I know sugar is high on the list. And I cannot wait to escape sugar. Neither of us can. It is astounding how much sugar is incorporated and how sweet food is in these countries. At home, we eat very clean and I can pretty much guarantee we have both ingested more sugar in the last two weeks than cumulatively in the previous two years. And we can tell. We both feel like we’ve packed on a few pounds this trip and are craving a return to clean eating.
Our layover in Hong Kong was tight, only 45 minutes. When I booked the flight it even came with a warning message that the layover was shorter than recommended for Hong Kong. We had packed our carry-on bags with overnight essentials just to be safe in case we, or our luggage, didn’t make the connection in time. The captain had announced that we’d be landing about 20 minutes early so our confidence levels rose, now we’d have 35 minutes instead of 15 to make it to our next gate before they began boarding. And just as quickly, our confidence sank when the captain announced that due to airport congestion we were in a holding pattern before we could land. And so we circled. And then we finally began our descent, and then circled some more. So much for any breathing room.
The Cathay Dragon entertainment screen was kind enough to show gate numbers and locations as we were coming in for a landing. Had we not paid attention to the instructions on screen, we would have been screwed as the airline attendant we asked to direct us at the arrival gate pointed us in the wrong direction, opposite of where we needed to go. The Hong Kong airport smelled great and transfer security had a very short line, allowing us to make it to our next departure gate with minutes to spare. There was enough time before they started boarding to grab two bottles of Fiji water and a fresh watermelon juice from a coffee shop adjacent to the gate. I love watermelon juice; I can’t wait until it’s back in season at home so I can go back to juicing it all the time. I didn’t know the Hong Kong currency and had no clue how much it had cost. Pulling up my currency app, I was pleasantly surprised that HK$59 was only $7.57 USD; at any US airport the total would have easily been closer to $20 USD. But then we realized that it was 230 Thai baht and were appalled since in a Thailand airport it would have been closer to 60 Thai baht; it’s going to be quite an adjustment easing back into US costs when we get home. It must have been cold in Hong Kong since we were the ONLY people in the airport not bundled up. Brandon was in shorts and a t-shirt, I was in small shorts and a tank top, and everyone else around us was in pants and sweaters or full on jackets.
Our Cathay Pacific flight to Taipei was less than two hours. I pulled out my iPad to write and Brandon plugged into the in-flight entertainment system to watch a movie. Watching previews for I don’t even know, what he was laughing out loud before we even took off; I love listening to him laugh. They served a meal of fried fish over rice. We were both skeptical but it was actually quite good! A pleasant surprise in the airplane food universe. The coolest thing about the Cathay Pacific flight was the under-plane camera we could live stream on our entertainment screens. Watching the view from the belly of the plane as we took off and the wheels pulled in, and again as we landed and the wheels dropped down, was seriously fascinating.
Taipei is a major hub and the airport was congested. Getting thru passport control and getting our bags took the longest of any of our flights so far this trip. As we stood in line for passport control, I talked about hiking trips I wanted to plan for next year (Norway or Spain or ???). Brandon stared at me, “You’re like a German shorthair pointer that you just can’t wear out.” I’ll take that as a compliment! Baggage claim is a mess in Taipei. While some luggage carousels stood empty, others (like the one our bags were coming out on) had four or five flights worth of bags coming off at once and kept stacking and piling higher and higher.
I am so grateful that Uber operates in Taiwan. Being able to punch a destination right into the app and not having to stress over a language barrier with the driver is huge! Though I was amused that Uber sent an email titled “Required Notification” in English but the rest of the contents were in Chinese. Fair enough, I guess they’re required to send a notification but they aren’t required to send it in English. It was a welcome relief to be on a large highway that was actually moving instead of stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The Éclat Hotel Taipei is a little boutique hotel now on the Hyatt network. Checking in, we learned that we could have rented a mini fish tank to have in our room for the night! I can’t lie; I was tempted. Bronze sculptures decorate the lobby and hallways; most of which include penises. The room was tiny but high-tech. And the toilet; that was the shining star! With a full control panel, the seat was always warm, it automatically opened and flushed, and included multiple spray, bidet, deodorize, and dry options. I never knew a toilet could be so entertaining; it was amaze balls. And I’m definitely putting one like it on the list for our bathroom remodel.
One of the few things we had on our list for Taipei was visiting a night market. After getting settled, cleaning up, and peeling ourselves away from playing with the toilet; we walked down the street to the Linjiang Street Night Market. It was about 10:30pm and we were hungry. And now we had a new language barrier to deal with. A busy vendor had a variety of sticks on a cart. Any and every part of a chicken, beef, lamb, squid, vegetables. It had labels in English and looked good so we were down to give it a go. Buckets were stacked on the front of the cart and we mimicked others; filling a bucket with sticks of interest; chicken legs, skin, and ass; beef wrapped around some green veggie; and mushrooms. We handed over our bucket, paid our TWD$333 ($11 USD), and were told “20 minutes.” What?! We knew the beef was raw and had to be cooked but we figured the rest was just grab and go. It was worth the wait though; when we arrived back at the cart 20 minutes later our taste buds were grateful. Everything had a crispy finish with a sweet salty seasoning and was decadent. Later, we stopped at a small sushi restaurant to complete our meal.
The night market was fascinating. Similar to ones we’d seen in Thailand but at the same time very different. It had a flea market feel but amongst the shops were arcade games and store front upon store front of rooms filled with machines where you’d put in change to get a chotscky in an egg basically. Stores were filled with knock-off brands and oddities. One store was completely dedicated to dog clothing and it made us really miss our babies back home. Following a bathroom sign, we found ourselves wandering down a narrow, but well-lit, alley off a side street until we did indeed find a public bathroom. It felt creepy and I made Brandon come in with me. We almost made it all the way through the entire stretch of market but were forced to turn around when we encountered a nauseating stench. I thought it smelled like a rotten pig. Something was being cooked somewhere and it was about to make me hurl.
Around midnight the night market started to close up. As we walked back to our hotel, Brandon pointed out a commotion, “Something must be going on, there’s all sorts of police cars and fire trucks over there.” Yes, dear – we are in front of a police and fire station. We were definitely exhausted. Tonight is our last night abroad. Tomorrow we have the entire day to explore Taipei before catching an 11:50pm flight back to the US. It has been one hell of an adventure so far but we are ready to wrap it up. We miss our puppies, kitties, home, clean-eating (our hotel even has a lobby candy bar), and regular life.
Taking On the World 
Taiwan could be your next hiking destination you know. The trails here are spectacularly underrated internationally. (And that terrible smell would have almost certainly been stinky tofu – I went from having your reaction to now salivating at the smell of it!)
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