Kaohsiung: My First Love in Taiwan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from traveling solo, it’s this: the best journeys begin with a bit of chaos and end with a lot of magic. My Taiwan adventure kicked off with both. I flew in from Macau expecting a smooth, direct landing in Kaohsiung. But nope-our plane had other ideas. Turns out Kaohsiung airport was too busy to let us land, and we didn’t have enough fuel to keep doing lazy loops in the sky.

So, in true “plot twist” fashion, we made a surprise pitstop in Taichung to refuel. I was half-asleep and fully confused as we casually touched down, refueled, and then took off again-all while everyone acted like this was the most normal Tuesday ever. Taiwan was already keeping me on my toes, and I hadn’t even officially arrived yet. Eventually after 3hrs of the original scheduled time I was in Taiwan and it was officially my country number #86.

My introduction to Kaohsiung downtown from the airport was via the metro and I had to alight at Formosa Boulevard Station, and wow-it didn’t feel like a train station at all. It felt like I had stepped into a kaleidoscope. The “Dome of Light”, a sprawling glass installation at the heart of the station, was absolutely mesmerizing. It made me pause. Literally. I stood there like a tourist cliché, neck craned, mouth slightly open, just soaking in the colors. After navigating my way out of one of the umpteen number of exits at the station, I reached my hostel which was hardly a 5 min walk away. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).