Who would have ever thought this Arkansas boy would someday find himself in Taiwan? The only thing I knew about Taiwan was that they made a ton of cheap stuff and shipped it to the U.S.
After a day at sea, we arrived at the Port of Taipei about 7:00 AM. We got ready for our shore excursion and had breakfast before departing the ship. Our tour was scheduled for 9:00, so we headed down to the gangplank about 8:30.
Our driver was a young man about college age. He served as both driver and guide and was a likable fellow who laughed a lot. His English skills were fair—we could understand part of what he was saying.
Because our gro
up of seven is getting a little older (except for Eric), a little worn out, and also because we had already heard a ton of information about dead kings, dynasties, Buddhists, Catholic churches built since 1975, temples, pagodas, and the like, we decided to adjust the tour just a bit.
Debby told him that perhaps one temple would be sufficient and asked if he could suggest a few other things. He mentioned a changing-of-the-guard ceremony, and we immediately jumped on that with a big “yes.”
Following our tour of Taiwan’s national hero Chiang Kai-shek’s Memorial—a huge facility in the heart of the city—we were open for options.
Our guide, Ryan, suggested getting a view of Taipei from high up inside the 101-story building they call Taipei 101 Tower. We arrived and took a few pictures out front. Ryan told us the cost to go to the top would be $20 U.S. per person. We budget-minded travelers quickly decided we would rather keep our $20 each and just go shopping instead. And so we did.
Watching the changing of the guards turned out to be a good choice. Besides the ceremony at Chiang Kai-shek’s Memorial, we drove our crowded eight-passenger van to another memorial site to watch a second changing-of-the-guard ceremony. It was pretty impressive to see their routines—high-stepping marching, rifle spinning, standing motionless on one foot, and precise hand movements—all performed in perfect unison. They had obviously practiced quite a bit.
For lunch we went into an upscale shopping mall and headed downstairs to the food court, which offered just about everything you could imagine—and then some. I, for one, sampled a Big Mac at McDonald’s, of all places. I wasn’t the only one.
After lunch, Eric and I headed for the gigantic Apple Store on the first floor. It was spacious and brightly lit. They had every Apple device imaginable on display. We looked at the iPhone 17 Pro Max. At about $1,400 U.S., it was comparable to prices back home. I was also intrigued by the Vision Pro device but couldn’t see a demonstration without making an appointment. Maybe later. It was a beautiful piece of equipment for around $2,500.
Another stop took us to a Taiwan souvenir market that was extremely crowded. I reasoned that most of these people must be tourists, because no local in his right mind would go shopping for trinkets on such a busy day. Later, as we arrived back at the ship, we noticed another cruise ship parked across the bay. That answered a lot of questions.
As our tour ended, Ryan returned us to the port, where we headed back to the ship. We had dinner at 5:20 in the International Restaurant—except for Debby and Eric, who sampled the buffet on the 14th floor.
Debby was also kind enough to do our laundry so we could smell good as we cruise to Japan over the next two days!
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