The final hours

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Ronald and I took the bus from Taipei Main Station's West Bus Terminal (you have to go out a special exit and it's not really connected to the metro) and paid 90 NT for the bus. It took an hour and dropped us off at Terminal 2 (it goes to both terminals) and the driver was...interesting. He was chewing on a betel nut half the time and we were sitting in the front so we could see everything. Normally when the bus is stopped at a green light and you're sitting in the back, you just assume there's something in front preventing the bus from moving. When you're in the front, however, you can see how the driver just isn't paying attention and is trying to charge his cell phone/mp3 player/etc.

Checking in was fast and easy and we waited in the airport a while before I went through security. In the arrival section they have two big waiting areas with couches and a couple of tvs that show the people coming out of the exit! Pretty neat.

The flight from TPE to LAX was 9 hours and from LA to Dallas was another 2.5. I'm glad to be home and I'm glad I travelled to all the places I did.


All in all, I think Vietnam was my favorite, but the people in Taiwan and Malaysia were the friendliest. Singapore was not the place I had in mind to visit on this trip, so wasn't too thrilled with it. It's a nice place, but it's sort of like visiting any other large city. I think If I had to do it again, I would start in Taiwan and do it all backwards. The only tricky part would be Thailand -- a 15-day visa is too short, so maybe it would be best to apply for a real tourist visa to be able to explore that whole country before heading to Laos.

That's all for now...just waiting for my next adventure! Chao pescao a poto pelao!

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