Our second full day in Taipei was split between the National Palace Museum and Jioufen. The National Palace Museum houses many valuable Chinese artifacts, moved to Taiwan from the Forbidden City at two points in time; the first prior to World War II to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands, and then in the late 1940s as the Chinese civil war was taking place. We particularly enjoyed the Religious and Sculptural Arts special exhibition showing many incarnations of Buddha, and the carving exhibition with carvings made from rhinoceros horns, bamboo, wood (mostly boxwood), and ivory.

Jioufen (also spelled Jiufen and Chiufen) is a small town north of Taipei built into the mountains. The town is known for its historic district and spectacular views of the pacific. We wandered around the Old St. browsing shops and trying some street food while enjoying the mountain and ocean scenery, even with the low cloud cover and threat of rain.

Henk and Mavis wished us goodbye on our last morning in Taiwan in the same manner they welcomed us; with delicious food! We enjoyed some award winning beef noodles for Saturday lunch before heading on to Vietnam. Goodbye Taiwan! We definitely hope to return someday. Thanks again Henk and Mavis for your hospitality!

It was a short flight on Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi. “Due to alarming levels of taxi scamming,” and Ryan’s concern for our personal well being, our hotel arranged a driver to meet us at the airport. The scamming is said to involve shady drivers holding placards with our name copied from other official placards. So when we noticed 2 people holding signs with Ryan’s name, we immediately went to the secret code method our hotel provided. They both had that too. It turns out they were together, one driver and one person who spoke a little more English.

Our 1 hour evening drive into Hanoi city center passed a number of rice paddies with small fires burning. These are apparently the stalks of the rice harvest that are burned to make good fertilizer for the next round of planting. They are also a big problem for air quality and airplanes that want to land. The government is trying to limit the number of fires, but the thick air still blanketed our lungs and almost resembled a heavy fog during parts of our drive.

Our fancy hotel welcomed us with fresh watermelon juice when we arrived. We spent the evening wandering around the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake, stopping at what looked like a local joint for some delicious pho with beef and vegetables and a Bia Ha Noi for Ryan.

Update on Ryan’s ATM card: It met us as advertised in our Taipei hotel, but without the new PIN which is sent separately, and not through next-day mail. According to the credit union, it could at least be used to get a cash advance, although we’ve read nothing about how to do this without a PIN.

(Jointly written with Ryan)