The Philippines and Taiwan
These two countries were added to our itinerary when Russia, China and Myanmar were scratched from it.
DAY 145 Thursday, June 18
Manila, The Philippines
I was interested in visiting the Philippines, as I know a number of interesting Philippinos back in the States, and my father served in Manila during WWII. Manila is a totally different city from the one Dad saw; it was pretty much destroyed during the war. I’ve heard so much about the “jeepneys” of Manila I thought it would be fun to ride in one, so we booked a tour with one, an “executive” model.
DAY 146 Friday, June 19.
Salomague, the Ilocos area in northern Philippines. This is beautiful farming country.
DAY 147 Saturday, June 20
Kaohsiung, in Taiwan, is a prosperous port. Clean, easy to walk around in. They have built an amusement park at the lake in the middle of the city. It features characters from their mythology—a dragon and a tiger you can walk right into. In the middle of the lake is a huge statue of their equivalent to Neptune, god of the sea.
DAY 148 Sunday, June 21
Keelung, Taipei’s port, itself an interesting and enjoyable city. We enjoyed a street-food tour during the day, then booked an outing to a quiet village in the surrounding hills in the evening. On the railroad tracks that go through the town we and another couple shared a lantern which we inscribed with our wishes to take them to the sky.
So now we know the mystery behind the Chinese ‘spy’ balloons!
I visited Taipei in 1978 on a whirlwind tour of SE Asia that I’ll never forget.
Have fun as you wrap up your circumnavigation!