Taiwan makes an awesome vacation

I recently came back from a trip to Taiwan. If you've never been there, it's an awesome place, and I'd highly recommend it.

It's a tropical island, hot and humid. We went in late June, so it was particularly hot, but we found ways of staying cool. Pretty much everywhere we went was beautiful, and if you're a tea person, Taiwanese oolong tea is famous for being fantastic. Boba tea (also known as bubble tea) is another Taiwanese treat that is becoming world famous. It's good just about anywhere you have it, but we've yet to find American-made boba tea as good as what you can find in Taiwan.
Here's a few snapshots of what Taiwan is like:

Sunrise over the city

A local park

A mountain stream is ice cold and surrounded on all sides by
lush tropical foliage. It's a popular destination for river trekking.

The Taiwanese coast

Temple and beautiful mountain overlook

Historical city gate to the old city of Hsinchu.

Amazing ramen can be found even at the shopping malls. So good!

A city street

The Hsinchu glass museum. It's well-known for its glass art exhibits. There are also several other museums and a zoo nearby.

Piece of artwork in the museum

Nearby park early one morning, before the heat of the day sets in.

Taiwanese countryside. It's a very crowded country in the urban areas, but there are also sprawling rural areas.

Taipei 101, which was for a few years the tallest building in the world.
It's still a huge tourist attraction.

View from Taipei 101, overlooking Taipei. Taiwan as a whole is very mountainous.

Lotus flower blooming. Lotus grow all over in Taiwan.

Fish seller at the day market. You can buy pretty much anything
at the markets. Some of the stands sell whole fried roosters--
heads, feet, and all.

One of Taiwan's famous night markets. Games, toys, clothes,
jewelry, food—it's a carnival every night, so long as you
are willing to travel to the nearest night market.

It was a wonderful trip, and if you ever get the chance... well, I'd say you should make the chance, but perhaps I'm not entirely objective. Still, it really was a wonderful trip, and it's an amazing country.