I Made it to Taiwan

Well, it was a LONG trip and had plenty of problems, but I made it to Taiwan. To write about it, I will put it in the daily format along with all that has happened since my last post:

Saturday, May 26, 2007--Talkeetna to Anchorage

It was cloudy and sometimes drizzly today. We were so lucky that most of our days have been sunny. We encountered people who had been in the same places we had visited and had experienced heavy rains.

It was the birthday of our hostess at the Talkeetna Chalet B&B which I have already written was one of the best of our trip. She made us a fantastic breakfast with banana waffles sprinkled with powered sugar and covered in the center with sliced bananas. Along with those were juice, coffee, tea, and other fresh fruits.

We cleaned up and left for Anchorage as soon as we finished eating. The drive was fine. It actually cleared up some and the highway was dry. We had an afternoon of activities planned that we had left for this day which is also our departure day (but in the late evening hours).

We went first to the Federal Land Management Museum. It had been closed for installation of new lighting when we had been in town before. It had very nice displays of stuffed animals and good literature and maps. It also had a good display of stereoscopic images and stereoscopes (the predesessor of the Viewmaster) of old Alaska. We saw a very good film about a bear sanctuary where many bears come after hibernation each year to eat salmon and gain weight.

We went to Costco for lunch. We bought a large pizza and ate half then and saved the other half to have for dinner. I intended to buy a new camera memory chip while there, but we completely forgot about it. Instead, we went back downtown to see the Anchorage Museum. It was also a good place to visit. The quality of the art from Alaska is impressive--both the native crafts and the fine arts. We also saw a film there which was about gold mining. It told the story of the thousands of men who went to the Yukon under great hardship only to find the gold was all gone.

We stopped at the mall downtown to pass time until we needed to eat and then head toward the airport. Then I remembered my camera chip. We rushed to Costco and got there at 7:03. It had closed at 7:00. But the exit door was open. I rushed to the manager I could see inside and said, "I am leaving the country for 4 months and just need one item!" He said, "If you are leaving the country for 4 months, you won't really need it." Then I said, "Yes, it's a computer memory chip for my camera." He relented and told me to go get it. I even managed to get checked out before the last customer who had been admitted to the story before they closed, so that made me feel good about having begged my way in after hours. With the new chip, I let Wes take home the chip with the 120 Alaska pictures we took, and I now can take 1000 more photos on my travels for a total of about 2000 photos with my other 3 chips I have with me.

We ate our leftover pizza at a park. Then arrived at the airport around 8:45. It took us some time to repack things in our suitcases. Wes was taking back some things for me, and I needed to reorganize based on my departure for places with warmer weather than Alaska. Then I had my first hassle of the trip. I went upstairs to check in at 21:30 for my 23:50 flight. I had a paper ticket (required for around-the-world tickets), and was sent to a special line being worked by only one person. It was the line for purchasing tickets, too. Well, it took an hour for them to work through 3 of the 4 people in front of me. Two of them were purchasing tickets. One of those had a suitcase that was too heavy and had to redistribe her weight so both suitcases would be under the limit. Another was a family moving out of Alaska. They had about 10 pieces of luggage and a dog. The next person was checking in a minor to travel alone, but I lucked out when the first class agent walked over and asked me to come with him. When I saw the sign above his counter (not viewable from either of the lines I had been in to wait to check in), it said that it was also available for silver elite passengers which I am! I could have gone there all along if the counter had been visible for me to see or if the employee who redirected me had asked if I were silver elite.

By the time I put my luggage through security and got back to Wes, my flight was scheduled to leave in 50 minutes. I had to say goodbye and go up to deal with going through people security!

Then Disaster #2 occurred. Our plane had bad part. They sent for a replacement and put it in. The replacement needed an o-ring, and they had gotten the wrong one. So they had to send for the right o-ring. By the time it was repaired and we were ready to go, it was obvious that I would not make my connection in Denver which meant all of my other 3 flights (Denver to San Francisco, San Francisco to Nagoya, and Nagoya to Taipei) could be made. But we took off for Denver with word that the changes in schedules would be made while we were flying and that someone would be at the gate to give them to us.

Sunday, May 27, 2007--Anchorage to Denver to San Franciso to the Pacific

I managed to sleep about 4 1/2 hours of the flight from Anchorage to Denver. Also, I had been sitting in the front row of Economy Plus seating on the flight and was the first one off the plane and through the door. Guess what? No one was waiting there for us with our revised plans as promised. I rushed to the nearest Customer Service counter. As I approached the lady, she asked, "Why are you here?" in a tone that sounded just a bit like I was a hassle, so I couldn't help myself saying quickly in response, "Why were you THERE!!" Then I explained that we were late and what we had been told would happen. Fortunately, the scheduled had been changed and she found my new one in the computer and printed out the new boarding passes. I headed to my gate for my new flight which was leaving in about an hour.

Then Disaster #3 occurred. Our flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours! It was a strange explanation--something related to air traffic flow. I've read that the FAA is short of traffic controllers and that some of them have been complaining, so I wonder if they created a slow down or just stayed away from work. Anyway, my connecting flights were in trouble AGAIN!!

I rushed off the plane in San Francisco and to the shuttle bus to the international terminal. I arrived at my gate with most people already on board my flight, but I made it! Then one good thing happened. The lady from the gate called me back and said I had been upgraded. (Could someone really have been paying attention to all the problems that had been occurring with my flights?) Anyway, she gave me a new boarding pass for a business class seat on my 10-hour flight from San Franciso to Tokyo (a new routing since my one through Nagoya was missed). At least I was able to travel in more comfort than I would have had in Economy Plus seating. The seat reclined almost flat and was wide. But I still could feel that my knees and legs were not as comfortable as they should have been.

Monday, May 28, 2007--Pacific, Tokyo, and Taiwan

We crossed the International Date Line over the Pacific, so it was suddenly Monday instead of Sunday. During that long 10-hour flight, I watched 4 movies, read the newspaper, and slept about 3 hours. The films were mostly forgettable--rather typical of current American films, I think. And two were rather depressing. I saw Music and Lyrics, Children of Men, The Freedom Writers, and Pursuit of Happyness.

The flight from San Francisco left late, too, so I had another rush to make my connection in Tokyo within only 25 minutes. I swept right in as soon as I reached the gate. And finally I was off on the last segment of this too, too long series of flights to get me from Anchorage to Taiwan. I watched another film which proved to the best of the five I had seen: Miss Potter about the children's stories authoress.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the luggage claim office already knew that my suitcase was not arriving on our flight. Usually, they make you wait until the last suitcase comes off the plane before they will let you complete the paperwork. Instead, they knew who I was and expected me when I went to their counter to see if they would make me wait. They even said they had tried to reach me before I left the door of the plane but I had gotten out early due to being in the front row of economy plus. Anyway, we completed my paperwork, they called the people to meet me at my apartment, and they wrote in Mandarin the directions for taking my bus and the metro to get there. I was out of the airport before most people on my plane had their luggage.

It was an easy trip by bus to downtown. Then I easily found the metro and bought a pass for it it. I caught the train I needed, and there was a woman waiting for me when I took Exit 4 from the metro station as I had been directed. She walked me to the apartment and introduced me to Karel (a Czech who manages the place). He gave me the choice of two rooms and my keys. I paid for the week. And that was that. My trip was over!!

The room is not as nice as I had hoped. But it is okay. It has an air conditioner that freezes up. And it is a bit noisy being on a major street. But it will be fine as home for the next 5 days. It's very cheap compared to hotels here. I'm paying less than $15 per night. It has free Internet. I have to share the bath, but there is only one other guy staying here for the moment. It is conveniently located in a major part of town. And my window even has a view of Taipei 101, presently the tallest building in the world.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007--Taipei

I slept fairly well considering that my nose was really acting up in terms of the new environment. I was quite stuffy all night. I got cold after a while, but then the a/c froze up and it became hot. Anyway, just having a night of sleep was so good.

I had to go to 7-11 this morning. I needed a towel (not provided by the apartment) and toiletries to get me through the day. My bag will not arrive until tonight. And it may not be delivered until tomorrow morning. I'm having to wear the same clothes I have been wearing now for 3 days of travel! But I am here and ready to see the city. I will call Ignatius, a medical student who has been communicating with me for several months. He finished his exams last week and said he would show me around the city. So I hope we can meet somewhere this afternoon. In the meantime, I have marked my guidebook and can go out on my own to see the sites if I don't make contact with him today. But first...it's time to take a shower and try to feel better by being clean again!!