Having decided to go to Taiwan for our three-week honeymoon – a first for us, both in terms of the occasion and the destination 😉 – we started the research process by looking for on-site travel services that would lead us around the island on shorter tours, which we preferred because we wanted to spend some time at the beginning and end of our trip exploring Taipei and its surroundings on our own. MyTaiwanTour was the first travel agency that we found on the Internet, and ultimately the one that best suited our intentions. Judging by the standard tours they offered, from one-day city splashes to 5-day country tours, as well as the general tone and layout of their ads, they seemed to be offering the perfect mix for frequent travellers like us who wanted to mark the occasion by spicing up the freedom of independent tourism with the treats of guided travel: a bespoke 10-day tour around the East Coast and Central Taiwan, complete with a personal guide and car! Negotiating accommodation (3 or 5-star hotels, which the agency booked but we paid for separately) was a bit of a headache, but the guide and tour we ended up with soon dispersed any doubts that may have arisen during the intense back-and-forth of emails and quotes in the run-up to the trip. Gordon, a well-travelled twenty-something from Taipei with a top knot and a penchant for Taiwanese rock, was as experienced and talented a driver as he was a tour guide. An old hand at his trade, he effortlessly navigated any obstacle in our way, from bad weather – which marred half of our trip, leading him to continuously adapt our programme on the fly – to bad hotel food, which he took as an incentive to take us out to discover the local breakfast offerings. Even a prolonged stay in Hualien due to a bad stomach (the consequence of overenthusiastic indulgence at the night market, so to speak) posed no problem for his organizational skills. In the end, it was Gordon and his unassuming yet always impeccably professional attitude that made our trip the thoroughly enjoyable experience it was. We can wholly recommend MyTaiwanTour as a first contact point for exploring Taiwan and its wonders – as their slogan goes: Your Journey Begins Here, indeed, this is where it SHOULD begin! Needless to say, Taiwan is in every way worth a honeymoon! 😉