I chanced upon Life of Taiwan when I was looking for a customized tour. The advantages of having a tour guide when you are having a short vacation are that you can save time and effort. You can also explore farther places. At first, I wasn’t sure it was legitimate but after doing some researching I haven’t found any bad reviews about them so I emailed them and they were very quick to reply. They are legitimate guys! You will have to pay upfront in full but rest assured they are legitimate. The first price of the tour was pretty steep so I told Gloria about my budget and she worked a really good itinerary for it. She met my needs halfway without judgment and that is the best thing I liked about her. I also like the fact that the driver is the guide. I informed Gloria of what I want in a tour for my mom’s birthday and she really delivered. I didn’t know what to expect from the bed and breakfast but I just trusted her. When we came to the site, it was perfect! Gloria is an itinerary genius! The first bed and breakfast was the forest house and there, we met the most hospitable grandpa and grandma. It was one of the best experiences we ever had. The other was in a glass house in Alishan. The hospitality, the surprise wine, and cake for my mom’s birthday are perfect…not to mention the owners of the bed and breakfast we stayed are part of the indigenous people and shared their culture with us through songs. We haven’t experienced anything like it so it made my mother’s bday special.
We spent 7 days in Taiwan. Patrick, our guide was very informative, sensitive and aware of our needs. He patiently waited for us to take pictures (he also took our pictures a lot) and showed us the specialty food the cities have to offer. He’s also a very good driver. We went to Alishan with almost zero visibility because of the fog but Patrick really did a great job of driving safely. We didn’t feel any stress. (The trails for hiking are amazing! I actually see tourists on skirts, heels, and business attire while hiking in Alishan Forest but they managed pretty well, (mind you it was also raining!) We stayed in a 3-star hotel, the best bed and breakfasts ever and two 4 star hotels. Talk about experiencing the best of both worlds. It was foggy to sunny real quick. Nature trip to city real quick. We briefly explored almost half of Taiwan in 7 days. Our experience in Taiwan is priceless.