Itâs been a dream years in the making, and we have finally spread our wings and flown to the other side of the world for an adventure of a lifetime. Departing from Victoria, BC Canada on December 27, 2017, we began the 60 hour, 5 flight  journey to Bagan, Myanmar.
After a 12 hour flight we arrived in Taipei to a 16 hour layover. Luckily, Taipei may be one of the worldâs best airports to wait in – not only equipped with a Starbucks in the food court (a decadent treat for the un-rested backpacker) there are also free city tours running twice a day from both terminals.
We signed up for the 8am tour after our flight landed at 5:30am, which included a free ride into town and stops at three destinations in Taipei.
The first stop was the Qingchui (Divine Ancestor) Temple. Beautifully nestled on quaint cobblestone in the Taipei district of Senxia, every inch of the open-air temple is beautifully and elaborately decorated. Stone carvings, paintings, inlaid designs and incense offerings make even the most austere tourist stop and appreciate the complex artistry.
Outside, we bought a snack of traditional bean curd (tofu) smothered in a garlic chili sauce, onions and cabbage for $3 – a cheap and delicious feast for the senses.
Other stops on the tour included the pottery district, featuring beautiful stone streets and amazing pottery, and a pottery factory where we watched these creations be hand-carved, painted and glazed. We also saw (and stayed clear of) the world’s most expensive (and possibly largest) vase before heading back to the airport.
The rest of our layover was spent in a free lounge we traded credit card points for (coincidentally we had been trying for years to use them and this was the only airport we have been able to use then at) and treated ourselves to short (and very affordable) massages by a blind masseuse in the terminal. Feeling perhaps a little more pampered than we should at this point, we embarked on our next flight to Bangkok later that evening, fighting to stay awake so that we would adjust to the time change and sleep promptly after our 1:00 am arrival.
The next day we flew from Bangkok to Mandalay, Myanmar, before embarking on the last leg of our journey from Mandalay to Bagan, where we arrived (after an extensive series of delays) at 9:00 pm local time.
Even as we arrive at our destination, it is only the beginning. Over the next year we will visit over 30 countries and countless cultures. We will loop around SE Asia before experiencing India for two months in a two month circumnavigation of the entire country. We will then journey to Nepal and Tibet and immerse ourselves in China for another 2 months. From there we will travel along the Silk Road through the Gobi Desert, the âStans, Georgia and Armenia to Turkey. We will then travel North through Eastern Europe and finally do the Trans-Siberian Railway from St. Petersburg through Russia, Siberia and Mongolia before ending I’m Beijing.
Follow our journey at tenacioustravelers.com, or on Youtube, Instagram or Facebook
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