How far can one travel?
Other than sharing her 10-day Taiwan tour story, I have also asked Hazel to share her thoughts on how wheelchair-friendly she felt Taiwan was.
... How wheelchair-friendly is Taipei, Taiwan? ...
To share some ideas of navigating Taipei the city, and the island of Taiwan. So that similarly physically-challenged visitors will know what they may meet and expect when enjoying the island – amid the obstacles.
That they too, may be able to explore and travel beyond where their wheelchair (or other aids) cannot.
Heart to go farther?
This is the final story in this very special series of posts by a guest in TaipeiDreams. I hope you enjoyed the stories greatly – and you are touched enough. Enough to think about and actually begin touring with your heart.
Will you inspire another?
Do you know a friend who may find this rare info handy? Feel free to share this inspiring set of stories. You can empower your friend. It is easy. Here’s how..
See this little icon at the end of every story?
• Click it. Not this image, but the icon itself at the end of this article. Share this Tour Beyond Wheelchair series or any of the stories (click their ShareThis icons) in any way: via email, or FaceBook, or a whole lot of other online sharing sites!
• Or simply email this series page to share. Copy and paste to email this URL:
http://taipeidreams.com/2009/10/laugh-or-cry-a-special-taiwan-travel-story-for-you-taipeidreams-com-readers/
Thank you for helping a friend travel farther. :-)
Here is Hazel’s observations.
Hey there, thanks for the sweet comments!
It all boils down to planning, execution by your trusted ones and enjoying the trip with an open mind. It helped greatly that the weather was kind. I didn’t have a wet weather plan because should it rain, I didn’t know what to do other than hiding indoors.
For the whole trip, I didn’t wheel myself; my brother pushed me.
I think it’s not easy for one to wheel himself around Taiwan, because even in Ximending alone, on the older streets around the perimeter of Ximending, in between shops, there were some slopes gradients that could be too steep, or it was a step disguised as a slope. The way to get round comfortably is for someone to prop the front wheel up from behind, like how you would push a pram up a kerb.
At times, the street could get very narrow, one have to go on the road. For example, the part near Toilet restaurant in Shilin was quite narrow, just nice for me in my wheelchair only.
Taroko was ok because I had a (hired) driver.
The pavement outside Yanzi Kou got too narrow, so I had to go on the road. But it was not dangerous at all, thanks to the crowd and their buses. The gravel pavement was a super bumpy ride!
I had difficulty looking for a minsu (homestay) with rooms on ground floors, or had lift access.
But I didn’t want to stay in hotel all the time mah.. Only Ocean Bed n Breakfast had a room on ground floor. Even for Neijiang hotel, the lobby and lift were so small that I didn’t know how a lone person can do it because there was no room for turns at all.
Shopping centres are the safest.
I did not go to the washrooms in restaurants and streets. Therefore I had to plan my time and liquid intake very carefully so as not to turn into a preserved prune or make a mad rush to a wet, narrow and possibly life-threatening washroom.
I love all the washrooms I went to. The Taiwanese people were disciplined too, they wouldn’t use the washroom reserved for the physically-challenged unnecessarily.
Based on the places I went and help I had, I would rate the wheelchair friendliness as 4 out of 5.
Thanks for all the help you have rendered directly and indirectly. Dreaming about my next destination now! :D
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