After our brief foray into South East Asia we left Bangkok for Taiwan, excited to see what East Asia will bring! Taiwan is the first country that we have visited on this trip that none of us had been to before – I had been to all of the countries bar Egypt and Craig had been to them all. 

From the airport we spent a night in Taoyuan before catching the train south to Taichung, Taiwan’s largest city. Our first task was to buy coats as we have been living in shorts for the past 4 months and the cooler climate was a welcome shock to our systems. I was very excited to find myself a neon North Face in the flea market for 100 NT$ (approx £2.45) which had the added benefit of making me easy to spot in a crowd (not been mistaken for a builder in a high-vis yet).

We visited the birthplace of bubble tea – Phoebe’s favourite drink. Chun Shui Tang is known for inventing the drink of milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls. Our reviews were mixed – Craig liked it, I prefer my tea hot and Phoebe prefers the fruity versions from Pearls. Sophie played it safe and stuck with toast.

We loved our introduction to Taiwan. We ate at many convenience stores (Family Mart being the favourite) and found a delicious vegetarian Chinese restaurant. Taiwanese food is pork heavy which is challenging for veggie Craig. The girls are loving the cute characters and animations that pop up everywhere.

We learnt some of the new year customs, such as giving red envelopes that contain money as a gift to friends and family. The envelopes symbolise good luck and wishes for the new year. Phoebe became an expert at wishing everyone ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai!’ 

We left Taichung on Lunar New Year Eve for the start of our road trip.